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How Metascores Are Calculated
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Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games. |
Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that takes the player into lush forest planets, volcanic moons, and exotic alien civilizations. Face off against powerful alien soldiers, armored mechanoids, and vicious creatures! Use a wide range of weapons and unique alien powers to help the Allied Free Sentients (AFS) in their desperate fight against extinction. Tabula Rasa combines a vast, persistent game world and ongoing storyline with fast-paced action, resulting in a new approach to the design of multiplayer online games. Richard Garriott’s Signature Creative Vision – Features a rich storyline with culminating experiences, immersive tactile environments and a persistent plot. Take Role-playing to the Battlefield – Fast-paced action involving skill, stealth, and strategy combines with character growth and development (RPG) on a massive multiplayer scale. Unleash the Power of Logos – Alien technology allows you to harness the very fabric of the cosmos for healing, attacks, and more. Ethical Parables – Encounter ethical decisions while attempting to complete goals or missions that affect the people and environments around them. Battlefield Control Points – Entrenched positions on a given battlefield can change hands over the course of a battle and affect spawn points of both enemy and friendly characters. Character Cloning System – Innovative class system allows you to explore different character classes without leveling up a new character. Crafting & Economy – Participate in crafting and selling items. Player-vs-Player – Challenge other players in voluntary PvP mode. Integrated Voice Chat – Allows hands-free communication on the battlefield. [NCSoft]
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more... 90
Strategy Informer
This is a game that's worth immersing yourself in. There may be a few bugs now, but they'll inevitably be fixed in a patch soon, and there's more than enough here to keep you coming back for more Thrax-spanking action.
 86
GameZone
Whether running with a group of warriors, or trekking alone, TR has a very nice pace that will keep players on their toes and checking their ammo supply.
84
Cheat Code Central
Overall the game is solid, fun, and action-packed. The production values are great with excellent graphics, animation, voicework, music, and sound effects. The game itself is almost as impressive as the cutscenes.
84
Games Master UK
An action-orientated MMORPG, with tons of great ideas. [Feb 2008, p.82]
83
Pelit (Finland)
A promising FPS-flavoured MMORPG, which suffers from some bad lag and minor design flaws, such as lack of proper auction house and a bit useless crafting. [Jan 2008]
83
PC Gamer UK
While it's an MMO, it managed to make me forget it was, and I started treating it just as a wonderful place to explore, full of monsters to shoot, friends to defend and stuff to pick up. In other words, a world. Which was always the idea of this genre, but I'd lost the ability to see it in a fog of numbers and impeccably managed levelling curves.
83
GameShark
Tabula Rasa has some flaws, but ultimately the deep and engaging combat is what makes the title shine.
82
Play.tm
Despite the strong competition of World of Warcraft and Everquest 2, Tabula Rasa manages to add some unique and innovative features to the genre such as the cloning system, and hopefully with a few more patches under its belt (adding extra features); it will be guaranteed a strong player base for many years to come.
81
PC Zone UK
It has a fantastic atmosphere, a good backstory, and a combat system that, when stable, is more fun than other MMOs'. It fails to break the MMO Quest/mission structure though. [Jan 2008, p.70]
80
Game Chronicles
Yet hope for new patches springs eternal, and Garriott's crew promise to release player housing, new planets to explore, vehicles, and a more robust PVP system in the near future. How the developers capitalize on those promises will determine whether Tabula Rasa becomes a true sensation, or just a cult classic.
80
Boomtown
Despite all of the points I’ve raised, however, the only true measure of a MMORPG is whether you are still enjoying and paying to play at the end of your ‘free’ 30 days, and as of the time of this writing, I am doing precisely that.
80
AtomicGamer
Tabula Rasa does a lot of things right and only a few things really wrong, but I still find it tough to recommend this one except to those anti-fantasy RPG fans who feel they must be holding a gun rather than a sword in their games.
80
Gamers' Temple
Tabula Rasa evolves the MMORPG formula just far enough to make things interesting.
80
PC Format
Deliver on your promises, Mr. Garriott, and it'll be a winner. [Feb 2008, p.100]
80
GamingExcellence
Overall, Tabula Rasa is a very fun MMORPG.
80
GameStar
The outstanding feature of Tabula Rasa isn't it's futuristic setting, but it's fighting system. Instead of the usual clicking on symbols, it offers real time battles. Richard Garriott's latest creation may have its weaknesses, but it's a MMO with personality.
80
Game Almighty
After all, if the creator of many popular videogames can’t stop playing his own titles, that’s probably the best statement that they are worth your time as well.
80
2404.org
A surprisingly solid product, and gamers that have waited long for a decent sci-fi MMO should check it out. If you’re already into another MMO, however, I don’t see this pulling you away from it unless you’re a big Garriott fan (Ultima fans will find nothing here of interest). On the other hand, there is no harm in spending at least a month or two in the world of Tabula Rasa because this game will likely influence others for years to come.
80
Eurogamer
Massively multiplayer games are all evolving things, and we're very, very keen to watch Tabula Rasa's evolution. The initial launch is incredibly promising, more than anything else.
80
GameDaily
It will appeal to both hardcore gamers who want to spend hours exploring every square centimeter of this immense world, as well as the casual gamer who only wishes to play for 20 minutes at a time yet feels like they accomplished something.
80
GameSpy
While the lack of an auction house hurts the game, the awesome combat, intense battlefield action, fun missions and interesting character progression is more than enough to keep players coming back for a good long while. A well-realized science fiction setting in a genre overflowing with elves and orcs doesn't hurt either.
80
Games Radar (in-house)
If this genre has intimidated you in the past, Tabula Rasa is the perfect entry point with its user-friendliness and swift tempo. Calling it a clean slate may be a bit of a stretch, but Richard Garriott has certainly provided gamers with something unique.
80
Total Video Games
A definite attempt at evolving the MMO genre after a decade of gameplay clones and the unmitigated success of WoW in the last three years, Tabula Rasa feels like the baby steps towards the next stage. It doesn't have the same 'wow' factor of Blizzard's mighty MMO, but it's a pretty solid foundation from which Destination Games (and Richard Garriott) can build upon.
80
Game Informer
Should you cancel your WoW sub and pick it up? Perhaps not, but blowing away aliens with a laser chaingun sure beats the pants off of farming old content that got stale months ago.
79
IC-Games
Overall Richard Garriot's Tabula Rasa is not your average Massively Multiplayer title, although the basis is firmly planted in that genre, whether it will appeal to everyone and have the same clout as the likes of EVE or any of the other sword and sorcery MMO's is debatable.
75
YouGamers
Not a complete disaster, but lacks in scope and ambition, and fails to keep the interest up as the quality of available content falls as you level up, and the high end game is just promises at this point - while the newbie experience is fine, the "meat" of the game that would keep you playing for months seems to be still under development.
75
IGN
The original sci-fi story also helps distinguish it from others of the genre, but rather than obliterating the old dirt road and starting entirely from scratch, Tabula Rasa takes what has been laid out and travels a little further.
75
GameSpot
Richard Garriott's newest online creation has its problems, but it's still a good amount of fun.
72
PC Gamer
With its fast-paced combat, Tabbula Rasa offers a fantastic change from the usual elvish offerings in the MMO landscape. However, its lack of community-building tools and single-path progression may hinder its long-term appeal. [Feb 2008, p.78]
70
GameTap
If Ultima Online was essentially "immerse yourself in an alternate universe and live," then Tabula Rasa is a much more focused "jump into an alien world and fight."
70
GamePro
Tabula Rasa is a fun game, but frustrating enough that you are left with a feeling that the fun parts are mocking you from their inaccessible tower guarded by the lag monsters, poorly designed controls and the never ending kill-or-be-killed pacing.
70
games(TM)
It’s an original and fun game that will influence the scene, it just lacks the expected Garriott magic. [Chrismas 2007, p.130]
65
1UP
My chief concern is TR's longevity. At present, the game offers maybe three or four months of content. With little in the way of engaging PVP, useful item crafting, or other distractions for veterans who've hit the level cap and cleared out all their quests, the game could easily fade away.
58
Game Revolution
A slightly better than average example of the MMO's out there, and brings a lot of the breadth of play from World of Warcraft along with some gameplay that is similar to City of Heroes. Despite my general disdain for chewing on my feet, I have to give this game two detached toes up.
[Anonymous] gave it a0: Brandon gave it a4: Mark M. gave it a9: Eric E. gave it a6: Mike B. gave it a10: N K gave it a3: John gave it a6: |
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