6-May-2004 Can you imagine 10,000,000 people playing the same game? In my tiny brain, it's hard enough to picture 10,000, but that's the number of players it's claimed BiosFear can support within its online walls, should it ever be necessary to house such a number. Roughly the population of Belgium. Or Wales if you include its herbivorous occupants.
In reality, those numbers are far fewer. Half a million regulars are signed up in the game's native South Korea (known locally as Laghaim), where it's still being supported some three years since the initial release. Since that's a rather respectable sum of players, it's something of a surprise to learn that here in the UK, the total number of players online at any one time rarely exceeds 500. Something has clearly been lost in translation.
Spawn Star It's not hard to see the appeal of the game. Compared to the likes of EverQuest, BiosFear is relatively simple to ease into, closer in scope to the likes of Diablo than anything else.
After a thorough examination of the online player's guide, you can, in the space of a few hectic hours, get a character up to the dizzy heights of level 20 and have 10,000 units of currency (the infamous 'limes') sitting in the bank waiting to be spent. Plus, there are only four character classes to choose from and a handful of stats to ponder. Monsters spawn so quickly outside the safe starting city of Laglamia that you immediately get the impression you're cooking with gas and perhaps the fabled level 90 you need to attain in order to foster an AI sidekick doesn't seem so far away after all.No sooner have you mastered the basics, however, before it all goes awry. Having dispatched literally thousands of armoured mice, wolves and poisonous crabs (sounds itchy), the time comes to find a more lucrative way to earn some experience, namely through accepting quests. Problem is, where do you go and who do you speak to in order to get a mission that will earn you a fat stack of cash and experience?
Why, you visit a trader, buy a mission receiver, equip it and activate it of course. How do I know this? Well, after pouring through the online guide and being none the wiser, I ended up having to trawl the player forums. To add insult to injury, to complete my first quest I had to travel to some place called Dekardi, which again wasn't in any of the local guidebooks. I wandered about for a couple of hours, got ignored by a couple of locals and died twice before finding out (thanks to the forums again) that I'd been traipsing across the Plains Of Dekardi all along. For a game that claims to offer an easy introduction to the genre, this is just one of many aspects that are unnecessarily complicated and poorly signposted.
However, complicated isn't a criticism that can be levelled at the graphics. Without wanting to appear rude, they're dated to the point of extinction. Day to night transitions are sudden, weather effects are basic and the creatures you meet in the wildernesses, though varied and numerous, are derivative and uninspiring. More importantly, there's a real lack of individuality to the player characters and you'll often see numerous people wearing the same clothing and wielding similar weapons - a state of affairs that does little to foster any long-term aspirations on your part.
Warcraft Is Coming All of which points to a lack of any real depth outside of player interaction. The storyline is decent enough background material, but has little impact on the day-to-day advancement of the world. Major events, though frequent, are anarchic and favour advanced characters over newcomers, all of which leaves little for you to do but grind your way through the levels and try to work out a few quests on the side. The journey is eased if you can find players to team up with, but this is hardly a unique selling point in this genre.
As an introduction to the wonders of online role-playing, the 14-day trial is excellent value. What's more, if you opt to stay beyond that, compared to the competition, BiosFear is a very cheap and stable alternative to the mainstream MMOGs favoured in the West. Had it arrived soon after its home debut three years ago, it might well have caused a minor stir. Now, with its biggest rival - World Of Warcraft - just around the corner, we'd be surprised if anyone will be playing it in six months time, home or away.
PC Zone Staff
// Overview
Verdict
By today's standards, this is basic
Uppers
Low technical requirements Helpful community Cheap
Downers
Dated graphics and poor sound Basic features Poor documentation
Playing through BiosFear, I was bemused as to how so many people got to command such high-level characters. Expensive robes, oversized guns and shining suits of golden armour adorn most of the players, so clearly there's something positive in the game that warrants attention. The answer lies not in the mechanics of the game, but in the personalities of the people that play it. In all my travels online, rarely have I met a friendlier or more mature bunch of people willing to aid the new player. Thanks to them, the idiosyncrasies of the interface and game mechanics soon became clear and I was lavished with special items. Even in combat against other players, there was a courtesy afforded to me that I found rather refreshing. Gawd bless 'em.
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Low technical requirements
