Mythos Global Closed Beta Preview

T3Fun announced it would be launching Mythos Global’s beta only about one month after Frogster closed Mythos Europe.  This turnaround has been met with a lot of praise, though European players are understandably upset since Mythos Global blocks all European IP addresses.  MMOHut had an opportunity to test out T3Fun’s iteration of Mythos to see how it compared to the previous version.

Game setup was needlessly complex.  After installing the client, we also had to install a web browser plugin.  Clicking on the launcher for the game takes you to the website, where we logged in, only to have to click “Game Start.”  We also had issues with the game not recognizing it was properly installed.  Some simplifying of the install and game launching process may better serve players.

Once we logged in, we immediately created a character.  Character creation in Mythos involves selecting gender, race and class, as well as customization options like hairstyle and hair color.  One noticeable change from Mythos Europe was the curious absence of the Satyr race. We chose to play a gadgeteer, because who doesn’t like gadgets and guns?

The game offered us an immediate tutorial on how to interact with NPCs.  The woman in front of us has a problem with some wildlife.  We can handle wildlife!  After going through the nearby cave and eliminating some wolves, we return triumphantly to the NPC and she gives us a cloak for our hard work.  We don said cape, because it’s a cape and we’re a hero.

Next up, we were off to help another NPC kill a bear.  Bears may seem intimidating to a new adventurer, but like the wolves before, the bear fell over with a single blow.  We leveled up, assigned five stat points to our dexterity since it affects our ranged damage, and assign our two skill points into making our ranged attack speed increase.  Faster firing means faster killing, right?

A few brief “talk-to-everyone” quests later, and we were given a crafting tutorial.  The reward was an object with no use except to be scrapped for parts, so we dismantled it (and some of the unneeded items we had been carrying) and checked out the crafting interface.  While we didn’t actually craft anything, it was very interesting to see such a system in a Diablo/Torchlight style game, where any player can create runes, weapons, armor, and more.

Our next quest was to eliminate some more wildlife in a cave and fetch a flare gun for the mayor.  He apparently needs the flare gun to alert the kingdom’s guards, but we’re the only hero he can count on.  Everything so far has died in a single shot, but an actual, full dungeon had the potential to change that.  The quest even spoke of having to eliminate a giant bear.  Sadly, even the mighty boss fell to a single shot from our starter gun.

At this point, we were level four at this point in time, and had put all of our stat points into dexterity, which may explain why we seemed so powerful. For a hack-and-slash game, however, it was very disappointing. It’s very possible the game is being re-tuned, but if so, this seemed a bit excessive, and left a lot to be desired in the fun factor.

Still, with the items we received from doing these quests broken down or sold or equipped, we continued on.  We were asked by a guard to defeat some wolves that were attacking the town that they couldn’t deal with: the exact same wolves we’d been killing since the start.  Thanks, game.  Except, this time, we were told to go to the next village over.

We’d again hoped for a change of pace, but alas, everything died in a single shotgun blast to the face in the new area.  We don’t recall having this much firepower on our side early on, but it’s also possible that’s how the gadgeteer starts, and things will even out and get challenging later on.

For players of Mythos Europe, take heart: Mythos Global does not differ much, if at all.  In fact, it seems many of the bugs associated with Mythos Europe are being resolved.  However, the scaling seemed to lean toward simple grinding, and not a challenging hack-and-slash.  Open beta is scheduled to begin on January 12, 2012.