DEVELOPER: Mythic Entertainment

PUBLISHER: EA Games

SYSTEM: Windows XP/Vista

PRICE: $49.99

ESRB RATING: Teen

REVIEW RATING: 4.5 (out of 5 stars)

For over 20 years, people have been escaping their everyday lives and plunging into the fantasy realm of Warhammer. What once started out as a tabletop game reserved for only the most, ahem, studious teenagers has now blossomed into a fantastic massively multiplayer online game known as "Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning" ("WAR").

In this supernatural universe filled with mighty warriors, mythical creatures, and devastating magic, the mighty forces of Destruction face the grand army of Order in a never-ending battle for supremacy. War is everywhere, and this fact is reinforced by the disturbing visual aftermath of conflict as well as a vast number of skirmishes the player encounters.

Potential heroes must create a character and ally themselves with a side. Will you choose a Greenskin, Chaos, or Dark Elf race and serve the forces of Destruction? Or do the Dwarfs, Humans, and High Elves of Order suit your taste? Personally, I love the Greenskins because they are so humorous. Nothing is dumber than an Orc, and Goblins are wonderfully insidious and creepy.

Ten unique careers are available for each Army, totaling twenty. Sure, some careers are similar, but you won't find a Shaman or Warrior Priest on both sides. Each career can be customized in a number of ways, such as using the skill tree or activating skill-enhancing buffs called Tactics.

Even more customization can be achieved by allocating Renown points to boost specific stats. Renown is accrued by engaging in RvR (Mythic's version of Player vs. Player), which is the main focus of the game. RvR comes in two distinct forms, scenarios and, my favorite, real-world combat.

Scenarios are independent RvR battles in a controlled atmosphere where each team fights to accomplish specific tasks, like capturing the enemy's flag or maintaining possession of a sacred item. Eliminating enemy players gains renown points, but most are earned by winning the scenario. Fortunately, "WAR" has a wide variety of these encounters, so they rarely become repetitive.

Open-world RvR pits both sides against each other to capture battlefield objectives in each zone and eventually take the Keep (castle). Very few rules apply to this type of combat, which makes it different every time. For example, one side may take all objectives with no opposition, or encounter a small group but still remain victorious. However, the defensive side may call for reinforcements and totally overwhelm the offensive group.

Taking the enemy Keep is an exciting task that requires a large number of players. Powerful siege weapons, like catapults and trebuchet, aid players in their goal, and the door must be destroyed by a battering ram in order to gain entry. Once inside, it's necessary to destroy the mighty Keep Lord and his minions to gain control. After this is accomplished, special RvR weapons and armor can be purchased from Keep vendors. PvP this advanced easily keeps me busy for hour on end!

While "WAR's" focus may be RvR, there is still plenty of enjoyable traditional questing against computer-controlled monsters. In fact, one of the game's highlights is a brand new form of mission called the Public Quest. These are special areas the player comes across in every zone where they have the option to join an open quest series. These two- or three-part quest lines usually consist of eradicating several dozen enemies, then killing the boss character that appears. When this happens, the game calculates the contributions every player made, and the top players get a nice reward. Further rewards can be acquired by repeating these quest lines to gain Influence points.

"WAR" looks fantastic on a high-end computer, but doesn't take a fancy machine to enjoy. Similarities to "World of Warcraft" are apparent in visuals and game-play style, but that is where the resemblance ends. "WAR" is grittier, has a more user-friendly (and customizable) interface, sports superior PvP, and never feels like a monotonous grind.

REVIEW SCORING SYSTEM

5 stars = Must Have

4 stars = Pretty Good

3 stars = Above Average

2 stars = Bargain Bin

1 star = Don't Bother

RATINGS KEY

Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)

E: Everyone

E10-plus: (Everyone 10 and older)

T: Teen (13 and older)

M: Mature (17 and older)

To find out more about Jeb Haught and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.