Maybe you've been studying screenshots, videos, previews. Maybe you read every word on the main web page, or maybe you've just seen a few to many ads and articles to ignore, whatever the case, you've probably caught wind of the hype from this point and click. Of course, how could you not? It's a new title from Perfect World intl. While coming from perfect world gave it a head start on the fan base, That doesn't mean that it lives up to it's company name. Right? See for your self in my closed beta review of Perfect World's Battle of the Immortals.
This is only closed beta, so alot is expected to change, but for a closed beta, this was a bit more than a great job. Forget bugs, I didn't see so much as a TYPO, and for a game being localized from Asia, I'm impressed. But onto the game it self, Battle of the Immortals Gold does nothing nothing to foreign when it comes to basics of gameplay. Point, click, go through your hot keys in consecutive order. Do that once or twice, kill between 10-70 monsters that way, jump on your mount and run back to turn in a quest. Just note that from levels 1 to 20 are essentially a tutorial. Right after that you get to use the stat system, the difficulty gets bumped up, you do instance dungeons, etc.
You've seen the game, so I shouldn't really have to tell you how beautiful the armor designs are, how complex and well thought out, and how much work the modelling team clearly put into each and every character design. The graphics in BoI somehow grow on you. The more I played the more I noticed the uses of lighting and the amount of detail put into this world. Speaking of the world, the world in BoI is HUGE. It may take a while for you to realize just how much is packed into one map, and how long you can spend doing all the quest in one area. Leagues and leagues of monsters that are revealed to you as you quest. Maps that I first thought were tiny made their vastness known quite quickly as I quested more and more. And the area's you could end up staying in a certain environment for much, much longer than you'd think. You wouldn't think it, but you'll spend the majority of your early levels underwater. The music ranges from beautiful tracks to under water ambiance you'll probably turn off within the first loop.
When you first jump in game, your biggest fear will probably be of the User Interface. The User Interface is terrifying and there isn't a tutoral on everything so you will go several levels only half understanding your screen. A little hint though, go to the game performance option and change up the resolution. If you don't you'll find your gameplay making you a little bit Claustrophobic.
