The Chronicles of Spellborn scores 8/10 in an early review

by William Dobson Dec 8th 2008 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Launches, New titles, Reviews, The Chronicles of Spellborn

Although a great deal of the world is still playing the beta version of The Chronicles of Spellborn, continental Europe has had access to the retail copy since the 27th of November. Since Eurogamer has had a couple of weeks to put the game through its paces, they've posted a review. Now, we're sure you know the various problems with MMO reviews in general -- the two biggest being that most (good) MMOs are updated frequently post-launch, and that there's usually too much content to get through to provide accurate insight to all levels and areas of a game -- but it's worth nothing that this one comes with a rather healthy eight-out-of-ten score at the end.

The art style and environments get an approving nod in the review, and so do the action-based combat mechanics. The "Skill Deck", which is the replacement for the traditional action bar you might be used to from a huge number of other MMOs, is both praised and knocked for its complexity. The primary criticisms that the review levels against TCoS are that it can be a bit generic at times, and that it lacks the glossy polish that you see in big-budget titles. Obviously these complaints were not significant enough to stop the reviewer from enjoying the game, and we look forward to seeing how it shapes up by the time it's released to the rest of the world in January.

Tags: acclaim, art, art-style, chronicles-of-spellborn, combat, eu, europe, review, skill-deck, tcos, the-chronicles-of-spellborn

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Rollins said on 1:57PM 12-08-2008

Us Yanks aren't even playing the beta version. Acclaim hasn't been able to get its shit together yet.

Vulturion said on 2:10PM 12-08-2008

An interesting read, though "It's not just about leaping about and circle-strafing" is a turn of phrase that strikes terror in to my gaming heart.

I'll wait for some more reviews I think...

P.S. Why on earth didn't they mention the sales & subscription model ?!
It would seem kind of relevant to anyone interested enough to read the review that they can download the client for free and player around in the starter zone ( if my understanding is correct ).

caldruid said on 9:56PM 12-08-2008

Very much looking forward to taking a stroll in this game.

craylon said on 3:23AM 12-09-2008

as one of the lucky ppl that can play the game since i live in germany, i really have learned to like tcos.
i have been playing it for 1 week now and still find ways to optimize my skilldeck.

the subscription model here is
- you can just download the client and you can play as long as you like but your char can only get to level 7 and is kind of limited to (a rather big) starter area.
- if you want to subscribe you do not have to buy a box, you can just subscribe from your free trial account
- subscrption fee is 14euro for a 1 month subscription
- you can buy 2 different boxes in store : regular edition = cd with client and 1 month subscription fee for 14 euro) and collectors edition = cd, handbook, artbook, poster-map and 3 month subscription for 39 euro

Harmen said on 3:55AM 12-09-2008

I've been playing for a few days as well (lvl9), and so far it's a nice PvE experience. The world is pretty and fellow players are generally friendly so a little group is easily formed. I'm not sure how they want to keep things interesting till lvl 50, but time will tell.
And any game which only charges for the subscription and not for the client scores extra points.