Karos Online

Overview
Full Review
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Area: Global
Official Site: Karos Online
Publisher: NHN Corporation
Developer: GalaxyGate
Platform: Web Browser, Microsoft Windows

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Overview

“Karos Online” is a 3D MMORPG featuring a unique and complex alternate progression system, guild battles, territory domination and mass PvP.

Features

5 different races and 9 original classes, evolving into 36 different specialized classes
Guild wars, territory control and large-scale castle siege battles
Dynamic, evolving dungeons with shifting paths and surprises
Breathtaking 3D graphics and combat action effects

Area: Global
Official Site: Karos Online
Publisher: NHN Corporation
Developer: GalaxyGate
Platform: Web Browser, Microsoft Windows

Review

Reviewed by Mister Sieg

Great things come in small packages. Usually, what's outside the box doesn't clearly define what's inside. We may call it deception, but in the world of business, it's more like creative packaging. The MMO market is somehow similar. We expect a lot from games, but our expectations fall short or are greatly exceeded. One clear cut example is the much-anticipated Karos Online. After a couple of closed beta phases, what does Karos Online have to offer to the weary MMO gamers? At first glance, Karos Online looks like your very much typical MMORPG.

First to note is the very restricted character selection. The job classes were frustratingly gender and race-locked. Regardless, the four usual archetypes were present and accounted for: Rogue, Blader (warrior class), Bowmistress (archer type), and Mystic (magician class). Skills are handled just the same as the other games. You're given skill points to distribute among a certain skill tree. Characters are also granted the right to specialize into different subclasses at a certain base level. It's a welcome consolation to see more than 30 different specializations across all classes (both available and unreleased ones). We're talking diversity here, people! Your character's job isn't forever set in stone. You can imagine a different career or role for your character here. Karos Online felt like an incomplete game, with features absent from a typical MMORPG.

At the time of the 2nd CBT, Karos Online lacked the marketplace feature. Players couldn't post up shop or sell via an auction house. Instead, everyone was forced to spam the chat window for any sale. The game also has this shortage of emoticons. Heck, no one in the game knows how to sit down. On the other hand, we've got party and guild system similar as other games. Guild wars are held for the purpose of mining field takeovers, reminiscent of RF Online's chip wars. PK is also a toggled option available at level 10. Naturally, there are dire penalties for being a serial killer. Quests are your usual monster-killing and item-gathering duties. Thankfully, quests are given in chains and are usually plentiful every level.

That'll give players a lot of time to play and explore the Karos world. What makes Karos Online so special and a cut above the rest? For starters, the game is dependent on a certain energy called Fletta. First, it's an alternate character progression system. Your character's stats do not increase as you level; add that to the absence of a stat point distribution too. Instead, Fletta is spent to modify certain attributes, similar to how certain items give stat bonuses. But unlike a full stat distribution, Fletta modifications only provide partial bonuses. Players still have to rely on equip bonuses to realize the character's full potential. Second, a certain amount of Fletta can also boost experience points. Third, in connection with the first, Fletta gems are fused with equips for more bonuses. Fourth, Fletta energy is spent in executing high-level skills. Fifth, Fletta mines are the reason for conflicts in guild wars. Technically, this energy is the source of everything in the game. It's your reason for existence in Karos Online. And instead of focusing on Karos's story, you'll be more hooked at gathering enough Fletta to build your character.

I can actually foresee huge guild conflicts with Fletta mine takeovers. Plus, it opens a new window for imbalancing characters at higher levels. How NHN and GalaxyGate will handle these problems may be answered once this game goes commercial. So far, the Fletta system is an innovative way for gamers to revolve around the world. Another winning feature of Karos Online is the dungeon system. The game divides the dungeons into three different kinds: Normal, Event and Maze. Normal dungeons have nothing special in them, though. The place is not instanced, making it a free-for-all monster-killing frenzy. The game shines with the event and maze dungeons. Event dungeons are instanced and are dependent on player actions. The dungeon changes to what the players trigger during the course of the event. The dungeon paths, difficulty, and loot options change dynamically with player decisions. Maze dungeons are also instanced and also have changing paths. Just as the name implies, the dungeon is a maze with changing walls, making it a chore and a challenge to get to the end-boss.

The variety of dungeons and the dynamism gives players more control over the challenge. It would've been nice to escalate the dungeon run into a raid type too. Karos Online has impressive graphics. With keen observation, the environment and character models are at par with Perfect World or Soul of the Ultimate Nation. There are minor collision problems though, such as players or items getting stuck at precarious places. Sounds are nothing close to Howard Stone's masterpiece in Soul of the Ultimate Nation, but it's definitely blending in with the environment. However, it falls silent every once in a while. These are minor quirks, but overall, the game looks and feels amazing. The low system requirements and relatively small client size makes up the final set of Karos Online's package. Bundled together, the game overshadows the features it lacks. With a little more polish, Karos Online will shine like the luminous Fletta gem. It did generate a lot of hype before the testing days, and surely, the game lived up to that hype. If the lacking features turn you off, then wait out a bit for further updates before taking the game for a spin. Nonetheless, Karos Online should be on your 'to-play' list.