http://iphone.pandaapp.com/news/0427201 ... 3951.shtml
I went ahead and paid the 6.99 to download this game and get 3 months subscriptions (additional months will be .99)
I'm impressed. Very impressed with the polish of this game.
The the quality of graphics remind me of a mix of WoW and original EQ. It's definitely a WoW clone
The UI is everything with an iPad/iPhone game. They nailed it. All of the menus are intuitive and the the combat is well done as well.
Logging on to servers was easy. I accepted a guild invite just to see how that worked. Chatting/channels, guild/groups all easy.
Nice tutorial hints flow well as you start playing the game.
Gameloft has been making quality clone games for awhile now on the iOS platform. Order & Chaos shows that they have learned a lot while creating their previous MMO games.
For movement, you put your finger anywhere in the lower left quarter of the screen and the virtual joystick pops up and lets you drag it anywhere (so if you move your finger too much in one direction you don't stop moving) Lower right of the screen has the Boot which is "Jump" ...that pretty much clinched it for me. Any game that has "jump" is worth at least trying. The skill wheel is also in the lower right. Three skills show at one time but you just flick your thumb to access others. Middle right side of the screen shows a little triangle. Hit that to pop out eight or ten slots which hold your heals, etc for instant affects. Bottom triangle pulls up your chat and emotes. Nice easy way to switch between Global, Guild, Group, Local and Shout chats. Clicking on another character brings up easy butttons for invite, whisper, trade, etc. Clicking on your own character portrait brings up a well done list of things such as inventory, profile, stats, group, guild, bag, skills, etc.
Quests are easy double tap on nps with quest icon above their head. You get a selection of rewards with easy magnifying glass which pops up comparison window with your currently equipped items.
Skills are quite extensive. I chose Ranger and have Ranger/Assassin skill trees I can select from right off the bat.
Although I don't play WoW, think of this game as a dumbed down WoW (or Rift).
I played for a few hours, mostly one handed although that makes it kinda hard to move as you typically use your second hand to pan around. I figured out way to put one finger on screen and one next to joystick to use for panning. The only reason I did this was because I was laying on my side in bed.
Expect and old school original EQ/WoW feel/look to the graphics except for it having a very good UI.
One thing to note, it's wi fi only I guess due to the MMO nature of it. I haven't tried in on my iPhone yet but I think it will play fine, just kinda small.
Here's a fighter type as little example of play:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QEBxSHptOs
Looks like he's on iPhone. Video's a little dark.
This guy's a little scatterbrained but you can see the screen an UI better on the iPad. He eventually covers the UI and menus, etc so you can see skill tree, etc:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDjWTWgv75U
Watch video in 720p if you can.
