BLADE MISTRESS

An extremely simplistic 3D MMORPG in which every character uses the same model, the only equipment is weapons, monsters don't move, and combat is automated. It's 100% free to play. Get those Grungy Carvings!

You have 12 points to spend across three stats (Physical, Magical and Creative), then spawn in the middle of large field, which could be anywhere, since the world consists solely of large fields of varying colour (if you're really lucky, there might be a rock!). These fields are broken up into squares, and you move your character from square to square, then trade blows with whatever monsters are on the square until one of you dies. Monsters, 90% of which seem to be retextured minotaurs, drop random pieces of treasure, including Skeleton Meat, Plain Sticks and Grungy Carvings. These are either sold for cash, or used to make new items. I put all my points into strength, so I didn't see how those aspects worked out.

Skills are bought from a trainer, and then they just sort of level up according to... I'm not entirely sure, but my Dodge skill went up by 200 points in about ten minutes, so I must have been doing something right. HP regenerates over time, and there's no penalty for dying, which is good because it's impossible to tell how strong something is unless you've fought it before.



Like Adventure Quest, it strips the genre down to its most basic components. Unlike Adventure Quest, you don't need to sit in line for hours to play it, and there's something resembling exploration. The elimination of all equipment sans weapons and the mystifying skill system might annoy people, but the lack of micro-management (or any management, really) makes everything play much faster, which suits the style and stops it becoming turgid.



Anyone looking for a particularly deep experience is going to be disappointed, obviously. While the game world is quite large, exploring it on foot is painfully slow, and teleportation is expensive. There are some lag issues.



Nobody's pretending this is the next World of Warcraft, but for what it is - low bandwidth and free - it works fine. It's hardly an absorbing experience, but it makes for an entertaining diversion.

Three and a half Notorious BIGs out of five.