The Chronicles of Spellborn brings intriguing combat ideas and strong game elements to the MMO table
By Michael Lafferty

"It’s not about killing rats; everything you are doing is part of the storyline.”

In the world of massively multiplayer online games, creating a game is not nearly enough. The game needs to have original content and provide a playing experience that gamers cannot get elsewhere. Part of that has to do with the intellectual property itself, while more of that has to do with server connections, community and game aesthetics.

Spellborn International is hoping that its title, The Chronicles of Spellborn, provides enough impetus to not only attract players with its gameplay and game concepts, but that it will keep players involved in its fantasy world.

Built using the Unreal Engine, The Chronicles of Spellborn has several defining elements inherent in the game concept – such as ancestral quests, high-level gameplay elements available to lower-level characters, the ability to outfit an entire guild in distinctive costumes, the ability to wear enemy loot as honor badges, ‘skilldeck’ leveling that enables players to advance characters through actions, the ability to have NPCs (non-playable characters) craft unique items, the ability to lock skills into a weapon, and a few other ideas.

It was with great pleasure that an opportunity presented itself to sit down and chat with some of the folk with Spellborn International, the development studio crafting this MMO, during the waning hours of a recent event in Los Angeles.

While the game has strong ideas, the market is saturated with MMOs, both of the high-profile variety and the lesser known titles. Barry Hoffman, the marketing manager for Spellborn, was asked how hard is it to get a title noticed.

“One of the things, of course, with MMOs,” he said, “is that people have to play it. You can talk about it, you can show it but people have to play it. The biggest thing you can do is have a huge trial, a huge beta – if it is good, those playing it will shout it out. If it is bad, they will shout that out as well.”

So word of mouth is important?

“That is normally how it goes, but we have other things coming up as well,” Hoffman said. “One of the biggest rock bands in Europe – they are not so big in America – they have sold over a million albums, they are doing a special song for us, which will be in video clips and be on television, so people will be aware of it.

“But in the end, people have to play it. Especially with a new combat system and a few other things, people can abstractly think what it would look like, but they do have to play it.”

What makes the combat system different?

“Well,” Hoffman said, smiling, “the first part is that it is twitch related, but it is not a hybrid system like others tried to do. Next to this is our skill bar.”

The game uses a skillbook, which stores all the skills that players can acquire and rather than skills tied to certain levels, they are – instead – tied to the player’s power. What that means is that a skill acquired in the early levels will still be a viable skill as the player becomes more powerful through leveling. For skills to be used, they must be placed into the skill deck. The skill deck is comprised on six tiers, with each tier holding five skills. During combat, as a skill is used, beginning with the first tier, then the second tier lights up and players can use skills from that tier. In this manner, combat takes on a tactical approach, with players loading the first tier with opening moves and building. And not only can skills be used sequentially, but combos can be designed that will yield bonuses.

Because of the way that Spellborn is configuring its combat system, one consideration is that it may be configured to using a controller along the lines of a joystick or Xbox controller for Windows. Whether or not the game enables that, though, has yet to be determined.

And, as Hoffman pointed out, the game takes on an added dimension when it comes to customizing weapons and armor. For example, players will be able to attach skills to weapons, “inserting” skills into the weapons. “You can lock your favorite skills into a weapon and once you lock your skills in, you can name the weapon,” he said. But that is not all – the weapon can be traded, thereby creating a customized addition to the game itself.

And the customization does not end with weapons. Some of the opponents faced will drop items that players can equip, almost as trophy armor, and players will be given a lot of latitude in creating a unique look. Crafting will be NPC based. Players can collect recipes and components, but NPCs will do the actually crafting in the game.

While it was agreed that every MMO is a grind, Spellborn puts the veneer of creative quest paths. Hoffman said, “It’s not about killing rats; everything you are doing is part of the storyline.”

The game also is strong when it comes to the end-game, by putting in what will be known as ancestral quests. Players can accomplish quests that become part of the ancestral quests element and players following after can take up that quest, encountering the same challenges as the previous “ancestor.” It is just another way in which players will have an impact on the world.

Guild ownership, faction land ownership and dynamic gameplay elements definitely make The Chronicles of Spellborn a game worth keeping an eye on. Add the dynamic music influences of Jesper Kyd and you have the ingredients for a game that will make a fair amount of noise in the MMO genre.

The Chronicles of Spellborn is slated to release in the fourth quarter of this year with beta starting in the coming months. Players interested in the title can sign up for the beta at http://tcos.com/beta/beta.php?Ing=en.

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