Online game "Broken Ranks"

Sometimes browser games become so popular that they are turned into big projects. That was the fate of the MMORPG Broken Ranks from the Polish studio Whitemoon. The developers debuted with The Pride of Taern, which any gamer could run in the Chrome tab, but this format was not enough for the ambitious Poles. And then they continued the same story, preserving the entourage, combat and role systems, as well as many characters, only this time they made a much bigger scale. Improved the graphics and effects, added stories, wrote additional dialogues - in a word ennobled their brainchild. Let's see what can interest the game in less than a year after its release.

The game is available for free, and all you need is to download the client from the official site and register an account with the linking email. And then choose a server and create a character. You can choose from seven classes, specifying in advance their strengths and weaknesses. Barbarians, for example, have good health and deal a lot of damage in close combat, but are defenseless against mental attacks. Knights hit very accurately (a useful thing, considering the impact of luck on combat) and rely more on dexterity than strength. Fire mages burn enemies at a distance, though they are not serious at close range - unlike archers, who can shoot and dagger, but are vulnerable to spells and poorly able to withstand a blow with their edged weapons.

The set also includes voodoos that weaken enemies, master melee shids, as well as druids that do little damage but can heal your squadmates. In principle, there is an option for all tastes and styles of quests, and in addition - a choice of two genders. However, the character editor is modest. The reason becomes clear from the first launch of the game, when you get into the virtual world. The thing is that the whole adventure is presented in isometric projection, that is, with a top and side view, as in the classics of the genre. So it doesn't really matter whether you control a blond or a brunette, whether he's tall or chunky, and what color gloves he's wearing.

The prologue picks us up right where The Pride of Taern left off. The warriors of the kingdom of Uthor have invaded the state of Taern, whose defenders have fought the enemy at the gates of the capital. The battle ended with the king of Taern killed and his knights forced to retreat. Not sparing anyone in their path, the forces of evil approached the coastal fortress Talia, in the vicinity of which just live your hero and his father. Noticing the enemies, his father instructs his child to take his feet in his hands and run as fast as he can to the defenders of the fortress to warn them of the impending disaster. It is done. We rush towards Talia, and there we witness a breach in the defenses and the death of everyone around us. All that remains is to board the last ship and flee to distant Trentis to bring the allies news from the front.

Already on board the ship, the game shows that the quests in it can be carried out in different ways. For example, when the hero tries to find out where worms came from in the chowder, he finds out that the cook is carrying his dead wife's head in one of the fish barrels. In Trentis, they say, there are such magicians who can revive a part of his dead wife's body and allow him to say goodbye to her in a human way. And here two ways open: either help the cook out of sympathy, or pawn him off on the bosun - with the subsequent severe punishment for the perpetrator of unsanitary conditions. Further stories turn out to be just as varied and original - fantasy Whitemoon writers do not borrow. Let's say to clarify that in some conversations you are offered up to ten possible answers. In addition, the dialogues are interspersed with strong language, which creates an atmosphere of serious adventure.

The adventures of the hero are divided into two parts: the exploration of the world in isometric projection and the battles in a separate window with a side view. There are also special menus for boosting, inventory, a tab with the global map and a quick access panel, from where you can at any time take the necessary potion or start a rest by clicking on the icon of the fire. Such a rest allows you to replenish health and stamina between battles, so you should not forget about it. If you enter the battle with insufficient strength, there is a great risk to lose even to the weakest opponent.

The hero's demise is also interestingly designed. You don't just get to the loading screen and are reborn in the city, but you go through a whole ritual. The ghost offers to choose one of six cards with random penalties - yes, you can't visit the afterlife without being punished. They can take away a handful of coins, experience, or an item. But the old woman with the scythe won't strip anyone to the skin, and will take very little so that the next time the user will be more careful and not take unnecessary risks.

Whitemoon staff chose a very unusual format for MMORPG battles - they are turn-based and somewhat reminiscent of the classic game series Disciples. All characters have the initiative, which determines the turn, as well as 12 action points, which can be distributed in five attack and three defense cells. For example, assign three sword strikes with a power of two points, put three points on blocking physical attacks, and another three points on dodging shots. As you can easily guess, there are plenty of options for such tactics, especially considering that there are different strikes: if you don't want to hit with a sword, throw a stone at your enemy or shout to scare him. There is also a retreat, where you have to put all the OD.

The order of action is chosen immediately after the start of the battle - you have only 10 seconds to do so. Don't have time? Then skip your turn and suffer a beating. You can also change tactics between rounds if you're not happy with the initial tactic, or if you've run out of stamina needed to land a blow. And if you can't cope with it all on the fly, the game lets you create two patterns beforehand and simply choose the one you want during the fight. Two additional tactics can be created for a fee, but this solution is suitable for multiplayer and late campaign chapters - a beginner will suffice with a couple of tactics and his own head on his shoulders.

It's even surprising these days that someone is releasing a multiplayer game with such a clever combat system, allowing you to win through wit and planning rather than dumb onslaught. Nevertheless, luck is of great importance here: not all attacks come to the target, not every block works as it should. That's why it makes sense to increase one or another chance. Without the threat of mental attacks, you can, for example, completely weaken this kind of defense in order to invest in the defense against shots. Chance is never a hundred percent, but it is quite realistic to make it high.

And that's not all, because up to four partners and pets can travel with the hero. You can't control them directly in battle, but you can use their resources and develop them. It is worth noting that the battle window sometimes shows the same adult things that are glimpsed in the dialogues: the soldiers chop each other into pieces, unwinding guts and spilling pools of blood, so that the arena after the fight often looks like a butcher shop. Usually artists hide such details, but in the case of Broken Ranks the Poles decided to act boldly - and thus added to their project identity.

Despite the original combat system, character development in the game is done without any frills. All enhancements are bought with experience points, earned for feats of arms and quests. There is a common for all classes enhancement of different types of attacks, special class tricks, such as "Plucking" and "Ram" for barbarian, passive skills and, actually, characteristics of the character - like strength, dexterity, ability to magic, the value of physical damage and defense effectiveness. With each new level you can allocate 4 points in the last tab, and at the same time invest in some general or class ability - for example, sword strike, fist, stone throw or battle cry.

The other side of the coin is equipment. At first you can get gloves, boots or necklaces by completing minor quests. Helped a mother on the dock in Trentis to find her son - keep the item with an increase in strength. But all the armor eventually deteriorates, so they need to repair or buy new ones from the merchants. The better the properties of the item, the more expensive it is, and the more quests you'll have to run to accumulate gold. There is also a store where everything is available for real money, but then everyone decides for himself. In principle, the missions in Broken Ranks are interesting enough not to miss them at the expense of the bank card.

Here the project presents another surprise. Every now and then you will meet heroes under the control of other gamers in different locations. You can chat with them through one of the numerous chats: world, for newcomers, trade, march, group, personal or local, where the replicas of the characters and logs of tasks are also stored. And after chatting there is nothing to prevent you from taking your companion with you on any case - then in the battle window you and your partner will be displayed together. But you can also act on your own, but with this approach, events develop more slowly. The game even has skills designed for single-player play - a rare MMO flaunts such loyalty to players who do not need the company.

Nevertheless, traditional entertainment for the genre is presented, such as joint raids on bosses, clan competitions and duels in the arena. If you want - take your friends to mine flax or ore to create useful items together, and if not - wander with them across a huge map in search of adventure. After all, away from the peaceful locations of the loners have a hard time because of the free PvP, that is, any hero of a high level can attack a beginner - and no penalty for it will not be. Only it is worth noting that when the group performs tasks, the achievement of the goal counts for the leader of the squad, so the commanders will have to be assigned in turn.

Being conditionally free, Broken Ranks offers non-linear quests with a share of grim naturalism, turn-based battles where you have to move your wits, not just press one button, and a time-tested role-playing system. Such a combination alone attracts a fan of the genre, and if you add a good localization, beautiful symphonic music and design in isometric style, we get one of the most unusual MMORPG on the market. Launch it at least for the sake of familiarity is worth everyone who knows a lot about role-playing games.

Zarium. January 2023