Black Desert Online Preview

Black Desert Online is probably more famous for its custom creation than its actual gameplay. Appearing on the scene after videos and screenshots showed the depth of customisation available to the player when creating a character - everything from facial features to spots, freckles, hair dye and curls - the game has recently finished its closed beta where players could get to grips with its systems.

The first thing that struck me playing Black Desert Online, naturally, was the character customisation (sadly slightly limited due to the nature of the beta - for instance I couldn't change my character's gender).The creator was indeed impressive, with me being able to change almost everything about my female ranger (except her annoying elf ears). You can set up costumes, emoticons and other in-game situations in order to see what your character will look like.

Despite all this depth something left a sour taste in my mouth. There’s a strange voyeurism to being able to strip a character to their underwear and then pose them however you want as they make various cooing or giggling noises. I ended up leaving the creation kit a little perturbed by what going through all the ‘pose’ options had made my character do in the name of dress-up. Another caveat is that, like most MMORPGs, the game takes place from a third-person over-the-shoulder perspective. So, unless you really wanted to appreciate the effort you put into the back of your character’s head, you might be disappointed.

The game takes place in a high-fantasy setting and drops the player into a quintessentially idyllic start-zone filled with small creatures to brutally murder. The quest system is activated through talking to NPCs and gaining “knowledge” about certain cities and areas, thereby unlocking further features. Quests are given via small cutscenes, which, unvoiced at present, are more irritating than immersive. Thankfully they can be turned in via your black spirit companion - an unnervingly chipper ghost with red eyes who spins about and evokes all the things you found most annoying about Navi in Ocarina of Time.

The game looks great when beefed up to full graphics. The environments are populated with tall grass, swaying trees and innumerable details that really bring the setting to life. Frame rates do tend to take a dive in hub zones and areas filled with other players, especially when the combat starts spewing flashing lights, effects and particles.

Combat in Black Desert intrigued me when I first saw previews of it almost a year ago. Unlike a lot of MMOs where you point, click and occasionally choose skills to use. Black Desert requires you to take more of a hands-on approach. Attacks are made with the left and right mouse buttons, while you move around your enemy with WASD. Specific skills can be activated by pressing a combination of keystrokes that are sometimes fluid, sometimes confusing. With each command your avatar will slash, hack, dash and fling themselves around enemies.

This active combat system makes the endless grind inherent with MMOs much less taxing, especially when some of the larger combos create huge damaging explosions, complete with Dynasty Warriors-esque shouts, cries and epilepsy-inducing flashes. This is a combat system I much prefer to the norm, yet it isn’t without its issues. Targeting is done via the mouse and is difficult to do well when trying to kite multiple enemies. Lag issues and latency can sometimes mean your hits don’t even register, while your enemies glide past you only to deliver a chunk of damage out of nowhere.

Immersion in the game world seems to be key for the developers of Black Desert. Players can choose to be adventurers, assassins, guild leaders and commanders or simply live life as a humble baker, fisherman or apothecary. Mounts and pets are easy to come by and aren’t locked behind a paywall of premium currency, making getting around the world far easier.

Enemies in the game are varied and come with that distinctive eastern flair. There are orcs and goblins and the standard affair in some places but elsewhere you can come up against huge monsters made of mountainsides, armoured knights and powerful bosses. With each kill you gain knowledge on your enemies, which allows you to see more about their HP, weaknesses, drop rates and lore. Another feature that makes the grind less taxing, it’s welcome to me and others who find endless clicking tiresome after awhile.

I’ve been waiting for Black Desert Online for some time, wondering if it’d be the game that gets me back into the MMORPG genre once again. With pleasant graphics, a decent combat system and a large, enemy-populated world to explore, it goes some ways towards scratching that itch. Small niggles at every turn have given me pause, however, and have led me to wondering whether this game is just an in-depth character creation kit with an MMO tacked on the side. As with most in the genre, however, time (and player retention) will tell.