Vindictus

Vindictus Review

By Erhan Altay

Vindictus was first announced soon after the release of Mabinogi. During its long development cycle, the game took on the name Vindictus after ditching the original title, which was Mabinogi Heroes. The game maintains the Celtic theme, but is in most respects is completely different than its anime-styled predecessor. Vindictus is a realistic, action-packed brawler with high quality graphics and high production value all around. No MMORPG gamer should miss it.

Not What You Expect

Korean MMORPGs have a reputation for being repetitive and shallow, but Nexon went all out with Vindictus. The game runs on the Source engine which allows for gorgeous graphics and extensive interaction with the environment. More important than the visuals is the overall production value. Vindictus has great voice acting, dialogue that actually makes sense, and enough detail to make the world feel as in-depth as a Bioware RPG. The game offers extensive display options, and the options menu should look familiar to anyone with experience in other Source games like Counter Strike or Left 4 Dead. Like other Nexon games, Vindictus must be launched from the official website. Once the game starts up, players can chose from five playable characters which each represent a different class and playstyle. The characters are gender locked, so the dual wielding warrior Lann is always a male and the defensive Fiona is always a woman. While only three characters are currently available, the others will be patched in later.

Giant Spiders are Always Trouble

Players get a taste of everything Vindictus has to offer in an optional prologue mission that doubles as the game’s tutorial. It can be skipped at any time, but players won’t be able to go back to it unless they create a new character. Accounts have plenty of character slots, so players can experience the different playstyle each character offers. Some classes are easier than others, but the game does a great job of explaining this during character creation through the use of text and short videos. Character creation in Vindictus is actually broken up between two parts. Players choose their character before logging in, but name their character and customize their appearance after completing (or skipping) the prologue. The prologue itself starts with a cinematic where a group of mercenaries are getting ready to do battle with a giant spider which is ransacking a nearby village. A sultry oracle tries to prevent the mercenaries from killing the spider, as it was formerly her pet and the town’s guardian. Unknown dark forces are at work driving the arachnid crazy and summoning a bunch of hostile gnolls in the process. Needless to say, things go awry and it falls on the player to defeat both the gnolls and the spider, while also saving the oracle lady from danger.

The Emerald Isle

After the prologue, players get a chance to customize the appearance of their character. There are plenty of options available including my favorite, the breast slider for the female characters. Hair color, hair styles, height, make up, eye brow, eye color, and more can be customized. Vindictus was developed by Devcat, the same studio behind Mabinogi and both games are based off Celtic mythology. While the animated style in Mabinogi was distinct, the more realistic feel of Vindictus does a much better job bringing the era to life. The town of Colhen where players begin their adventure is filled with wooden buildings, and small details like stray dogs that follow players around. Even the outfits players wear fit the medieval setting. The terrain is well rendered, and the interface is neat and organized. There’s a chat box located on the bottom right, but chat bubbles also appear over the speaker’s head. Like other brawlers, including Nexon’s own Dungeon Fighter Online, only the towns in Vindictus are persistent. Only in certain regions can players interact with others, form parties, trade, or chat. Even the buildings in Vindictus are instanced in a sense. Players can’t walk around inside them, instead they are greeted by a still image of the interior and can chat with the NPCs which appear as portraits. Its a bit odd at first, but gives the game an oldschool RPG feel. It is from these NPCs that players unlock new ‘battles’, which are the instanced stages in Vindictus.

Longboat Adventures

Like most MMORPGs, players will be going solo for the first few levels. It is possible to experience most of what Vindictus has to offer alone, but it is much more fun when played cooperatively with a group of friends or even strangers. Rather than simply show a list of available stages or portals, Vindictus does a pretty decent job of incorporating the instanced aspects into the game world. Players board longboats and head off towards certain destinations and return when they’ve completed what ever task they had to do. Yes, it’s still instancing, but it feels more fluid than simply entering the same portal as everyone else yet ending up in different places. The deck of the longboat acts as the waiting room while a bulletin board near the docks serves as the lobby. Players can wait around on the ship and mess around by breaking crates, barrels, and throwing around fruit while waiting for others to join their ‘room.’ When ready to start the stage, the host can hit the appropriate button and the party can be on its way.

Hack and Slash to Victory

If the prologue wasn’t enough, the first mission in Vindictus also serves as a sort of introduction to the game. The redundancy can be excused because of how different the game is from most other MMORPGs. Like Divine Souls, Vindictus has fast-paced, hack and slash combat. This means players will be manually controlling each swing of the sword of each spell cast. Two control schemes are available, including mouse and keyboard movement. In this case, serious gamers should stick with the mouse option since that’s the one in which W,A,S,D control movement while the mouse controls the camera. In my humble opinion it gives players more precise controls. The left and right mouse buttons control the two main attack types, but other keyboard keys also play a role. The ‘e’ key grabs objects or opponents, and ‘r’ is used to deal finishing blows on enemies. There’s no way to jump in Vindictus, hitting the space bar causes the character to roll forward like Link from a Legend of Zelda title. Players only have to worry about fighting wooden dummies during the first level, and on-screen prompts do a good job explaining the controls as the stage progresses. A boss awaits at the end of each stage, and stages can be set at three difficulty settings. There are many variables that determine the reward at the end of a mission including Oaths of Honor, which are additional challenges players can take on to increase the BP (battle points) they receive. These oaths come in many shapes and sizes, but some simple ones include finishing the battle within a time limit or with a certain number of players.

Making Progress

One of the most original aspects of Vindictus (something that sets it apart even from other brawler MMORPGs), is the ability to interact so thoroughly with the environment. This feature is due in large part the the Source engine on which Vindictus was built. The crazy physics capabilities that the Source engine is capable of pulling off were first displayed in Half Life 2. Players can pick up and throw various objects, ranging from barrels, to broken pillars, and even monsters. That’s right, players can pick up one monster and chuck it towards another. Better still, its possible to grab one opponent and use it as a shield against arrows that another foe may be firing. Besides picking up and throwing stuff, Vindictus also has destructable environments. While this serves mainly a cosmetic purpose, it does allow players to take alternative paths or reach hidden items during some stages. Most monsters don’t drop loot in Vindictus, so there’s no ‘vendor trash’ that players have to unload at the end of each mission. Instead, loot is few and far between, but almost everything dropped is used in crafting. Empty bottles are used to make potions, while leather and other resources are used to fashion new equipment. The experience rate is pretty slow, but players earn AP by completing battles and can use them to upgrade their skills. Players cant max out every available skill and must choose how to specialize their character. The only fault I could find with the skill system is the need to purchase skill books. It’s a feature common to MMORPGs, but what’s the point?

A New Standard

There are other nitpicks to be made with Vindictus. It feels a bit odd when enemies seem to be equally hurt whether hit by a stone pillar and a wooden barrel lid – but these are small issues. Overall, Vindictus is a top notch game that can be enjoyed by fans of both traditional MMORPGs and action gamers who previously shied away from the genre due to the normally slow-paced gameplay. A common complaint with Asian MMORPGs in particular is the laughable English translations and lack of story, but that is not the case here. The dialogue flows smoothly, so much so that I actually found myself reading it! Text is kept to a minimum and only presented one line at a time to avoid wall-of-text syndrome. The story it self isn’t anything special, but it gets the job done. As with any free-to-play title, Vindictus is a constant work in progress. So far, I am pleased to say the foundations are strong. Where Nexon takes the game from here will determine how well it holds up.

Final Verdict: Excellent

Vindictus offers a fresh gameplay style combined with great graphics and a well crafted world to explore. Like other brawlers, Vindictus makes heavy use of instancing, but makes the process feel more realistic. The gameplay is fluid, and the ability to interact with the environment adds another layer of depth to a game that already oozes with production value.

Vindictus Screenshots

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Vindictus Videos

Vindictus Official Teaser Trailer

Vindictus Lore Trailer

Vindictus Gameplay – First Look HD

Vindictus Links

Vindictus Official Site

Vindictus Wikipedia Entry

Vindictus System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:
OS: Windows XP
CPU: Single Core 2.4 GHZ
RAM: 512 MB
HDD: 5 GB
Graphics Card: GeForce 5600

Recommended Specification:
OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7
CPU: 2.5 GHz Dual Core or better
RAM: 1024 MB (1GB)
HDD: 6 GB
Graphics Card: GeForce 7600+