Wildstar

Game overview

Unlock the mysterious and unknown treasures hidden around the realm of Nexus, in this massively multiplayer, sci-fi fantasy online role-playing game.

Wildstar takes place on planet Nexus, where a powerful race known as the Eldan have disappeared, leaving behind wealth and technology for you to explore - and now it’s completely free.

Wildstar was created by Carbine Studios and went free-to-play on September 29, 2015, removing its required subscription-based feature.
After 8 long months of redevelopment, Carbine is now handing every player a metaphorical key, in which a fictional world filled with action-based combat awaits you.

➔ Main points:

• Relaunched as a free-to-play online game after a subscription-based start
• 5 PvP options, including epic 30vs30 fights.
• A fair and balanced game with no pay-to-win feature
• Diverse character customization options
• Choose among 4 different paths (explorer, scientist, soldier, settler) to get path-specific incentives and questing opportunities

Full review

A Fresh New Start

The transition to a free-to-play MMORPG was certainly a daunting task for Carbine Studios.

Over 100 employees were hired to recreate this game and make it completely accessible for players everywhere.

However, a balance had to be kept in order to keep the veterans of Wildstar and the newbies on the same page. This is apparent when first logging onto Wildstar. You will be prompted to select an option: if you are a veteran or a new player. After doing so, a helpful tutorial is provided to help ease your way into the game.

The character creation itself has been improved since its 2014 launch, giving you the opportunity to create a more unique character.

You are able to choose from 6 classes, four paths and six races. Certain classes have restricted races you can pick from, however the race feature is solely aesthetic and doesn’t effect your in-game experience. Unlike classes, the path you pick will affect any extra quests that can become available to you.

As an explorer, you will be asked to seek out hidden objects around your planet.

The scientist is responsible for finding lore objects in an attempt to unveil the mysterious events taking place on Nexus.

If you choose to be a soldier, you’ll be challenged with combat events such as timed-survival or killing a certain amount of enemies.

As a settler, your job is create outposts and provide your team with buffs.

These character options allow you to experience another aspect of the game while providing you with path-specific incentives.

Leveling Up & Combat

Introducing Wildstar reloaded for a zero dollar price tag certainly reeled in a massive amount of new players. But as a new player, you may find yourself a little overwhelmed with this game’s large learning curve. When compared to other games in the same genre, Wildstar reloaded takes a decent amount of time to get use too. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing however.

The emphasis on getting to know your character and learning about your class adds to Wildstar’s rewarding experience.

Feeling challenged by a game is a great way to motivate its players to practice and log on more, thus adding to its longevity.

Wildstar uses a level-system comprised of quests, PvP, and dungeon raids that provides this challenging experience.

However, I have found that the level grind from levels 1-50 could benefit from a 15-20% speed up. The process to reach level 50 takes a little too long and is slightly flawed. This won’t be a big problem for those with signature accounts (due to your automatic 25% experience gain) or for those who don’t follow quests in order. But for players who prefer chronological questing, you may be penalized for doing so.

Your character can over-level in a specific zone leading to less experience gained and a lengthier leveling process. Participating in quests unveils a main portion of the story-line and a game that discourages these actions ruin the player’s depth and insertion.

Wildstar’s various PvP battles are not the most efficient way of gaining experience but the options provided are a lot of fun. Players can participate in organized battles such as:

Arena: Small teams (2v2, 3v3, 5v5) with a set amount of respawns kill the opposing team until all their respawns are used.

Battlegrounds: Large teams (15v15) are given a set of objectives and a victory is dependant on the completion of the tasks asked of each team.

War Plots: The largest teams (30v30) create warplots and must capture the opposing team’s warplot to win.

These PvP events provide a fast-pace, challenging and intensive battle that you will not be able to step away from. The level of attention needed during these battles really help players feel more engaged and involved.

Alongside all of this, your character is free to roam in what seems to be an “open” world environment looking for dungeons and expeditions to go on. The dungeons and expeditions provide another unique form of game-play as well as experience points to help you reach level 50.

However, throughout my travels I have found that Nexus is more disconnected than it seems.

Zones are mainly connected through loading screens which is slightly disappointing. Looking at the map you see an expansive world but when you cross a bridge/border you reach a loading screen instead of physically walking over it.

Carbine studios has really come along way since this games 2014 launch. Wildstar already had some wonderful aspects to it, from its vast character customization options to its even more expansive PvP and PvE events. The future of these features have become unknown as players are demanding Carbine to speak out in its plans for even more updates. But there is plenty for its players to keep entertained with. Hopefully Carbine keeps up the good work and constantly keeps improving upon Wildstar so many can continue to enjoy it.

Graphics

Wildstar reloaded has managed to keep its colorful, attention-grabbing art style throughout its development and birth. The creators did go back and do some minor adjustments to the lightning, skyboxes and viewing distances while they had the chance. This helped to illuminate the more subtle details of Nexus’s world. Overall, Wildstar’s use of bright and vibrant colors add to its signature look.

Final Thoughts

Carbine Studios managed to improve upon almost all of the things that went wrong in the original Wildstar. The gameplay offers an amazing, intense, fast-paced experience that is both engaging and humorous. The story-line can sometimes be over-looked when questing due to its flawed leveling system, but the game makes up for it in its PvP battles and dungeon options! If Carbine Studios can keep improving and updating the world of Nexus, many players, new and old, will continue to enjoy it.