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TERA Review for PC

TERA Review for PC

WoW Finds Competition

TERA isn’t a World of Warcraft killer, but it’s not just another World of Warcraft ripoff, either. It’s more like a World of Warcraft supplement, or a World of Warcraft successor: If you enjoy WoW and are up for a change of pace, TERA will be perfect for you. Most of it will feel immediately familiar, but there are enough changes to keep you interested, and all of the adjustments are for the better.

It’s basically Saint’s Row to WoW’s Grand Theft Auto. You should never forget where it came from, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Nearly all the basic infrastructure here is stolen directly from World of Warcraft. You’re given a constant barrage of quests to accomplish—kill this, fetch that—and in the process you explore new areas one by one. You can team up with other players to take on dungeons and bosses that are too powerful for you. You collect new gear and sell your old stuff. You craft items you can’t find. Even the color palette, the creature design, and the basic landscaping of the world have a distinctly Warcraftian feel to them, and the quest names are rife with whimsical pop culture references.

TERA Screenshot

But there are some real differences, too, and the first and most important is the combat. All the clunkiness of fighting in World of Warcraft—and most other MMOs, for that matter—is gone, replaced by an action-based system that controls like an FPS. You can’t just select a nearby enemy and tell your character to attack; instead, you have to place your crosshairs over your foe and press an action button. In addition, each character comes with a simple defensive maneuver you can use to avoid damage—and, of course, as you progress through the game you’ll unlock plenty of extra spells and moves. TERA doesn’t quite feel like an action game—I noticed that my projectiles still sometimes curve to meet their target—but it’s a whole lot closer than WoW. At last, you feel like you’re controlling your character, rather than just giving him instructions.

The precise mechanisms of combat will depend on which class you choose at the game’s outset. I went with the archer, an easy-to-use damage dealer who specializes in ranged combat. The other options are berserkers (melee damage dealers), lancers (tanks), mystics (support healers), priests (primary healers), slayers (melee damage dealers), sorcerers (magicians who specialize in ranged damage dealing), and finally warriors (tanks and/or melee damage dealers).

TERA Screenshot

Your race matters too. Different races come with different bonuses, different back stories, and different looks. The Popori are a particularly striking bunch; they’re animals that have been made magical.

The underlying story here is somewhat bizarre—it starts with two gods dreaming up different races of creatures. But the bottom line is that your world is emerging from a contentious past—many of the races here faced serious challenges, including slavery. But now, all seven groups must work together to face a new enemy. The Argons have emerged from the underworld, and hope to take over TERA—which stands for The Exiled Realm of Arborea.

Of course, TERA comes with a full suite of multiplayer features—or at least it will , eventually. You can team up with other players through a matching system, or by joining guilds for organized raids. Unfortunately, the special PvP battleground areas won’t be added to the game for about another month, but there are still PvP realms, deathmatches that take place right in the normal game world, and duels.

TERA Screenshot

TERA also surpasses World of Warcraft in terms of graphics and sound—as it should, considering its higher system requirements. The visuals are a solid step up, with a bit more detail and clarity than WoW players will be used to. The sound effects and music are terrific, drawing the listener in to a fantasy world like few other games can.

If there’s an area in which TERA falls short, it’s that it can sometimes feel like more of a grind than WoW. I can’t quite put my finger on the reason, but I think part of it is that TERA’s quests are much heavier on basic errands—kill quests are a bit more entertaining than “run over there and talk to this other guy” quests, especially when the combat system is a huge selling point.

Of course, another part of it just might be that the game will feel familiar to any WoW player. But whatever the reason, I occasionally got the feeling that I was just running back and forth between markers on the map, rather than engaging in an epic quest with fascinating combat. These spells never lasted for too long, but they did detract from the experience.

TERA Screenshot

One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is that while TERA is new to America, it’s been around in South Korea since January of last year. In fact, some media sites have reported that it cost more than World of Warcraft to develop, and all of the effort shows—TERA is very, very polished. The only problem I encountered in my hours with TERA was that I managed to get my character stuck between some invisible walls once; there’s already an “unstuck” feature to fix this when it happens. The American localization was handled exceedingly well, and aside from the normal jitters (some people reported account problems, I got kicked out of the game once, etc.), the launch went swimmingly. En Masse, the company in charge of bringing the game to America, did a great job.

Unfortunately, TERA is also rather expensive; in a world where so many MMOs have gone free to play, TERA demands an up-front $50 investment, plus a subscription fee of $15 a month. It’s clearly targeted toward the MMO faithful—and for the MMO faithful, it looks like a good buy from the hours I’ve spent with it.

I almost hesitate to lavish so much praise on TERA. Given how much it has stolen from World of Warcraft, TERA is standing on the shoulders of a very tall, very strong giant. But the bottom line is that TERA fixes the very worst aspect of WoW—the lame combat—while making some improvements to other features and doing a good job of emulating the basics. If you’re looking for a new MMO, TERA is an excellent choice.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.5 Graphics
A solid step up from World of Warcraft. 4.5 Control
TERA controls just like an FPS. 4.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
From the music to the effects, this game sounds great. 4.2 Play Value
It’s basically World of Warcraft plus fun combat. 4.2 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 – 1.9 = Avoid 2.5 – 2.9 = Average 3.5 – 3.9 = Good 4.5 – 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 – 2.4 = Poor 3.0 – 3.4 = Fair 4.0 – 4.4 = Great 5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

  • Enter the world of Tera as one of seven player races, each with its own history, lore, and point of view. These are the races of the Valkyon Federation, leading the way into a new era of unity as they face a battle for their very existence.
  • The eight player classes of Tera each contribute their own style of combat, their own method and approach to tactics, and their own unique abilities in solo and group play. Get to know them here—their fighting styles, their tools, and their talents.
  • Tera is a world born of conflict. It’s a place where gods scheme, armies clash, and the world can change in the blink of an eye. Thousands of years have passed since the two titans, Arun and Shara, lay down and dreamed the world and its inhabitants.
  • Your enemies are many and varied. Some are strong, some are intelligent—all are dangerous. Consider this your pre-mission briefing on beasts and bad guys. Get to know them, where they come from, and how they fight.

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