Recent reviews by willurd

The 1-40 grind was pretty fun, but that's unfortunately where the good comments end. The end game is an incredibly boring slog that Amazon Game Studios (AGS) apparently feels isn't grindy enough, based on Patch 1.1. Since release this game has seen countless issues, from numerous and constant gold and item dupes, invincibility exploits, and so many other issues, to a multitude of new bugs created for every bug AGS "fixes". I truly believe this game is unfixable without a complete rewrite, and probably by an entirely new team. I'm sure the people at AGS mean well, but this botched release, after all of their other failed games, shows they are simply not up to the task.

Long story short, I feel robbed.

- Do you have 20 friends to play with?
- Do you like grinds that last for months?
- Do you like getting ganked and dying multiple times a day, losing all your gear and tons of time, even while you're trying to do PvE content and progress through the insane grind?
- Do you enjoy reading conversations between racists and 12 year olds all day?
- Do you like lag?

If your answer to any of these questions is "Yes", then Albion Online is the game for you!

I wanted to like this game. And indeed in many ways it is a good game. But balance issues and bugs ruin the experience altogether.

Pros:
- It's a beautiful game
- It's gritty and kind of wacky at the same time
- It manages to be somewhat original in an overpopulated genre
- The voice acting is good and the story is fairly interesting
- The main characters are a nice change of pace from traditional RPG characters

Cons:
- Bugs
- Balance is horrendous
- No random encounters
- Exploration is needlessly difficult

Bugs:
I lost a fight because it wouldn't let me walk up a flight of stairs the enemy boss just walked up (nothing blocking my way), or get to spots past the stairs that were marked as within travel range. The boss outranged me so there was nothing I could do. Another time I had to load up an earlier save because my character got stuck between some tires.

Balance:
Even on Normal mode, the only way to win fights is by picking off half the map with silent weapons before the fight starts. And even then, most of the enemies that are off by themselves have more health than damage you can do in a single turn with silent weapons. Unless you get all crits. At 5% crit chance a piece. Good luck with that. And once you do get in the fight, you'll probably have to spend a few medkits to win it. Medkits which cost about as much scrap as you'll find per zone. And what do you get for winning that fight? An incremental upgrade on 1 or 2 items and enough scrap to either by 1 slightly better item or replenish half the medkits you spent winning the fight.

No random encounters:
The only way to level up is by clearing zones for the first time and progressing the story. There is no way to level up outside of the main story line, so you'll always be underleveled.

Exploration:
There's no minimap, so it's difficult to 100% clear zones. They are large enough to be annoying to travel without a minimap telling you which parts you've already visited.

This is a great game. It has hooked me like no other game has been able to in a long time. The flight model is excellent. Built-in support for joysticks and throttles. Combat is fun. Grinding for better ships is fun (to me). Docking in stations is fun.

But you know what's not fun? Being bothered every 3 minutes by some prescient pirate that wants to steal all of my stuff or kill me.

**You just got interdicted**

I get it, if there was no danger then all trading is is "take this stuff from point A to B".

**You just got interdicted**

But, seriously, sometimes I get interdicted in every. single. system when I'm making a run.

**You just got interdicted**

Interdictions aren't fun. The "beat the interdiction" mini game isn't fun.

**You just got interdicted**

And sometimes it is impossible to beat.

**You just got interdicted**

You know what interdictions are? They are a constant break in immersion. A reminder that you're playing a game (with some questionable design choices). They are a constant distraction from what you *want* to be doing.

**You just got interdicted**

And they are just a pest. Please, tweak the numbers or something.

**You just got interdicted**

You, as a player, should be *surprised* when you get interdicted. Interdiction should be an *event*. Not the chore, the fun *tax* it is now.

**You just got interdicted**

Seriously, the *only* thing making me want to quit this game is interdiction. And I just might.

I've had hours worth (and sometimes up to a day's worth) of progress completely lost. Several times. Randomly. The only point of this game is to see your progress - to see your numbers go up. How can a game fail that badly at its core mechanic.