There’s always someone looking for a good MMORPG. Be it a casual guy trying to discover ways to pass the time, or a fat nerd wanting to gain a false sense of achievement.And apparently, most of the gamers are unwilling to pay a monthly fee for a game. Therefore, they try to look for ‘free’ MMORPGs to satisfy their needs. Although these MMORPGs are not entirely ‘free’, as some of themcontain an item mall which requires you to spend your money on credit, but they still serve their purpose.
For those of you who are looking for the best free MMORPGs, here is a list of the top five.
5. Rusty Hearts
This anime-styled MMORPG distinguishes itself from other games of the same genre, by having a unique combat system. The battles are fast-paced and very flashy. Although the game’s art is heavily influenced from anime, it still looks very good. PvP is a lot of fun, and features several different modes for the player to choose from such as arena, guild battles and tournaments. Dungeons and raids are great too, and require a lot of co-operation without which there is no chance of winning. However, the game has a few flaws too… The gameplay becomes too repetitive and boring after a few hours and there is a lack of customization right from the start. Other than that, this game is a good choice for a free MMORPG.
4. Forsaken World
A game developed by the same company that developed Rusty Hearts. However, unlike Rusty Hearts, the game is based in a Western fantasy world with less anime influence. It contains a number of classes and races along with plenty of crafting, allowing for greater customization. PvP is fun, as it was in Rusty Hearts, and to top it all off, the game has a wonderful soundtrack. Despite it’s translation errors at a few places, the game is good enough.
3. DC Universe Online
When this game was first announced a few years back, every comic book fan had a smile on his/her face. What started as a pay-to-play MMORPG is now absolutely free. The game’s developers had to take this move as they were not gaining a lot from this game. However, after it’s conversion into a free to play game, lots of gamers have developed an interest in it.
The game has some very good character customization options. You can choose your mentor, your powers, mode of travel and every single piece of your costume. The combat is a lot of fun, though it does feel slightly laggy at times. The best thing about this game is that anyone who has read the DC comics, watched the movies can recognize a number of places such as Metropolis, Gotham City and Arkham Asylum and heroes such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Sadly, the game’s PvP is unbalanced and buggy. Therefore, I would recommend this game only to players who are interested in PvE. I personally believe that PvE is the main purpose of an MMO, hence I prefer this game over those that primarily focus on PvP.
2. Lord of the Rings Online
This is a game that would appeal to some, while seem boring to others. Nonetheless, LOTR Online is considered to be one of the best MMORPGs of all time. Those of us familiar with the lore of Lord of the Rings will have more fun than those who aren’t. The game features recognizable characters such as Elrond, Strider (Aragorn) and Legolas. The game is mainly story driven and features a deep backstory/lore. Despite these fun aspects, the game feels like a single-player game at times, as it lacks the MMO feel. One of the reasons for this is the boring PvE in the beginning of the game. The game picks up pace later on though and is very entertaining once the player ‘gets into it’. This used to be a pay-to-play game at first, but was changed into free-to-play a while back.
1. Aion
Another game that was initially a pay-to-play game and was expected to gain to steal monopoly from World of Warcraft that was ruling the MMORPG world at the time. Although it did not succeed in this, Aion is still a great free-to-play MMORPG. The graphics of this game are very impressive and the combat is amazing, and quite large-scale, both in PvE and PvP. There are various options to customize your character along with a good crafting system, that could have been slightly improved, but serves it’s purpose well nonetheless.
Another cool feature in Aion is the option to equip and control your pets, which I have never seen in a free-to-play MMORPG before. There are hardly any flaws in Aion, though people complain that a lot of grinding has to be done. Overall, Aion is an amazing MMORPG and is almost as good as a pay-to-play game.
Have you played these MMORPGs? If so, which one is your favourite? If not, which one will you try out? Let me know in the comments below.
