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Missing Major Features

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: February 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game has possibly ruined the entire MMORPG genre for me. I personally didn't have any problems with the launch as some seem to have had - my problem is with the game itself. There simply is less innovation in this game than the first generation MMORPGs. If you plan to play an adventure school then get ready for kill monster X for experience (there are no item drops - only crafting resources), level up, and then move on to killing monster Y ad infinitum. If you plan on playing a crafter, just substitute create item in place of kill monster. Nothing fun about this game at all.

Not for all, great for some, perfect for a few.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I've played Horizons from beta to the present. I am retired, and have been able to devote a good deal of time to the game. After a rocky start, it has steadily improved. It is not for everyone; combat is solely against monsters/critters (Player vs. Environment) and is never against other players (Player vs. Player.) Players who like PvP games dislike Horizons quite a bit. Those who never play PvP games enjoy Horizons; and this is one reason that the player community is unusually friendly and helpful. Many players from other games comment very favorably on the social atmosphere of the game. The average age of the players is believed to be the highest of any MMO.

The game interface was a revelation when new; since then parts have been copied by newer games, but it is still probably the cleanest, most flexible game interface of any MMO.

Adventurers gather resources needed in crafting improved equipment; crafters make the items that use the looted resources, and gather the more mundane metals, plants, etc. The Crafting system is complex, and sensible. Some players only craft, others adventure, many do both.

Dragons! Dragons are a playable race; a very great variety of colors, patterns, shapes and sizes are available when you begin a dragon character. Roughly one third of the players choose dragons out of the 8 playable races. They were more difficult to play originally, but that has since changed, and they are as powerful as any of the other races/classes. After the Rite of Passage is completed, (3 months if you push, often 6 months) dragons receive the gift of flight. Real Flight.

I'd advise beginners to join a good guild as soon as they find a compatible one. There is a lot to learn, and a guild helps quite a bit.

The company site has a lot more information on the playable races, flexible class system, etc. etc. I've tried more to convey the flavor rather than the details, as there is no other flavor like it.

The company emerged from bankruptcy, found stable financial backing, and the subscriber base is growing. There's a reason why it's still here...

Not sure what kind of drugs these positive reviewers are on

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 20
Date: November 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

But this game is far from ready for release. There are horrible bugs still in gameplay, I cant even make a dragon at the moment. The graphics are excellant, for a video game 5 years ago. The animation is not so good as well. They need another 6 months at least for beta before this is ready for release.

FYI..I am doing the European beta.

possible worst launch ever.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: December 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

dial-up users do not bother. in the slim chance you happen to make it past the web logon get ready for a LONG wait to get into char creation. oh theres a good chance youll get booted on the way there as well and a sure thing youll get booted when actually entering the game. zoning, entering the game, etc. all take forever on a dial-up and again usually kick you. woohoo

This is good stuff...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: May 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

...don't let sour comments from some powerplayers (or munchkins - RPG-term) fool you, this game is great stuff.
A MORPG can never be Baldur's Gate. It cannot have a story that evolves around you the player. A MORPG is about immersing oneself in the world presented; and the world of Horizons is splendid indeed.
I see a lot of people complaining about the graphics, and this annoys me. Some visual flare has been sacrificed, true, but instead you have HUGE landscapes, and LONG view distances. I prefer that to walking around in a bumb mapped haze. It looks GREAT, believe me.
As for gameplay, well, you can play a dragon. Enough said. I've tried a lot of other titles like this (Galaxies, AO, DAoC, ++), and they are all basically the same, limited by the type of gameplay a MORPG can offer. Horizons is somewhat different. Horizons offer something more.
The music is second to none.
A lot of the issues that plagued Horizons has been resolved. It is relatively stable, and you can run it on high setting with any machine above average. Try the free trial...

HORRIBLE! This game does nothing to advance the genre.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 23
Date: December 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Overall, this game has very very poor character models, and textures, sub-par graphics, and a combat engine that would put even the most slow person, asleep. Reading the reviews previous to mine, I can't help but think that none of the reviewers actually played the game.. Better graphics than SWG? OMG, the graphics in this game, aren't even up to old Everquest standards, let alone a modern and striking game like SWG. Don't believe the fanboys and hype, its NOT A GOOD GAME.

I'll start by saying Horizons Beta was one of the worst managed i've seen in a long time (which tells you how they will manage the retail customer support side). The communication from the development team was almost non-existant, and the format for submitting bugs wasn't easily accessable. Very often, changes would go into a patch, and testers would not be informed, vague patch notes like: "We fixed a few things..". The only person you'd hear from via Email was Monika and that was using a mail-bot to spam out notices of events. David Bowman avoided forums, avoided answering direct questions, and basically was like a scripted chatterbox in the development chats. DB, if anything, proved he lacks the knowledge, foresight and vision to make this game great. Hes an arrogant pencil pusher that is just trying to cash in on the Everquest-Clone craze with his own sorry clone.

Did I enjoy Horizons beta? VERY briefly, yes - during the first week I played, the newness of the world, and the thrill of testing yet another game in development was pretty exciting. But that excitement quickly waned, when I saw all of the problems with the game, and the deep flaws with the design doctrine and vision of the development team. In my first week of testing, I posted a list of 75 major things either broke or missing from the game - that should be considered requirements. Three months later, only 2-3 things on this list have been addressed, and the game hasn't significantly changed in that period of time.

So you want to play a Dragon? Perhaps this is the ONLY truely unique aspect of this game - but it really isn't very unique when you consider some things behind it. At the end of Beta, dragons were severely nerfed - because it was widely accepted that Dragons would be "Overplayed" in retail, and dragons are the reason a lot of people are buying the game. So they removed most of the power of dragons, and made them into very weak "Jack of all Trades" type toons. Worse yet, Dragon Dens, Dragon Hordes, and half of the dragon functionality is NOT currently in the game, or if it is, its very broke. Nobody is even sure Dragons properly age, since in beta, nobody was aged! Even simple things, like the spell/powers icons for Dragons are missing from the game as the beta ends. So think very very hard if you really want to tolerate something thats roughly 25% complete at release, and very poorly designed.

How about next generation features - since Horizons is supposed to be a "Next Generation MMORPG"... Well, considering that MOST of the features people expect in a new mmorpg, are lacking from this game, you can't really consider it next generation.. Familiars/Pets - Not in the game, and no plans to add them... Mounts/Horses - not in the game, and no plans to add them... Dungeons, you know, those great places like GUK in EQ, or Tusken Fort in SWG - Not in the game with no plants to add them.. Great graphics??? Sorry, not in the game, this game has graphics that we were playing 4 years ago with almost no noticable improvement - and even worse character design. The list goes on and on, but suffice it to say, I cannot find one next generation, or even current generation feature in this game! Its all been done before, and done BETTER before.

Stay away from this title, or you'll be wasting your hard earned money on a frisbee.. Its THAT bad..

EQ re-hash with no dungeons or content

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 20
Date: November 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I'm in the beta test, don't be fooled by any hype. This game has NO original concepts, you can fight boring computer monsters only, and there are no dungeons only the same boring landscape everywhere, hell your character can't even swim! Combat is so simplistic you can get up and go get a snack and it has no effect on the outcome, your auto-attack is just as good as any other power. ALL RACES & CLASSES ARE THE SAME, they are no different except in appearance. Your level 20 fighter will be the same as every other level 20 fighter, ALWAYS! Save your money!

My early review is good.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Not sure about the people having the game issues. I ve never experienced any Lag or problems logging on at all. Currently have a lvl 14 Dragon and have found the game fun to play as there are lots of things to discover in the early stages. Graphics are nice but in my opinion not as good as say SWG. In fact some of the Armor i see on others isnt even as detailed as Old Everquest which has been around forever it seems. The game has a nice feel though and would recommend it to someone that might be tiring of EQ or other mmorpg

Wasted Potential

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I feel bad that so many talented people worked so hard on this disappointing game.
I started my account day of launch and played it for 2 months. I was intending to write a very detailed, scathing review...but I find I no longer have the energy or desire to devote my attention to it.
I'm fairly certain no one is considering this game unless theyre already familliar with MMORPG's, so let me be as brief as possible:
Dont even bother with this game! It was released months too soon. It's buggy and laggy beyond belief. It's underdeveloped and woefully short of content. It's poorly balanced with few worthwhile playable classes. It loads from a slow-moving website (load times can take 5-10 minutes depending upon your system and connection). And lastly, aside from playable dragons (which arent all that great), it offers nothing new to the genre.
Play Dark Age of Camelot, Play EQ, or wait for World of Warcraft or EQ2. This game deserves a quiet, merciful death.

What's unique about this game is...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: December 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Many MMORPG's have been released and most go through similar stages. Horizons is no exception when it comes to standard problems during a launch for games of this type. People have come to expect a lot from these games so I will skip the similar aspects of the game.

What's unique about this game is the class and crafting system. Characters are free to choose from an adventuring class and a crafting class.

The adventuring classes are similar to other games of this sort, except you can choose to switch classes at any time. You will accumulate a higher rating (character level) if you dabble in multiple classes. You only gain experience in your current class. Some schools require a certain skill level from one or more basic schools to join. These are known as prestige schools. The only drawback to this system is the fact you cannot surrender levels that you have gained, therefore you may end up with a few levels of a class you don't need or use that add to your overall adventure rating.

The crafting classes have the same basic system as far a levels go. Everything in this game is crafted, so people who play to collect uber loot will have nothing to gain in this game. Items are crafted by players who must gather resources, refine them and assemble them through the use of formulas and techniques to enhance their items. Even buildings can be crafted and placed on plots of land spread throughout the world.

There is no PvP... yet. If you enjoy challenging your fellow players, you will have to wait. The story is well done and it explains and fits into the current world surprisingly well. The potential of players banding together to rid the world of oppressors and to free an entire race (or races) of beings which will become playable characters later sounds exciting.

Only time will tell if this game becomes one of the contenders or become a shard for a small following. The game has potential and I will definitely give it a fair chance.

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