Although War of Angels mixes the best of Eastern and Western developer clichés in MMOs, it at least produces a tolerable MMO soup. The same basic principles from other MMOs apply: hotbars, targeting, casting and combat are all present and standard. However, the added element of Flight adds a whole new dimension of fun.
Flight has become an added plane of gameplay in other games such as Perfect World and Aion, yes, but the fluidity in War of Angels is surprisingly well done, and provides an enjoyable experience throughout the entire game, because wings are available from level one and onwards. Another cool element about War of Angels lies in the Deathblow system, which allows players to gain a reservoir of energy from killing monsters. You are able to fill up to three tiers of this Deathblow energy, with each additional tier providing a greater and flashier killing strike.
I found questing in War of Angels Gold to be quite a unique system, as choosing various replies to NPCs can determine your player’s alignment and what faction you join later on in the game. For example, gladly accepting all quests you come across will most likely increase your character’s disposition to “Good”, but if you gladly tell an NPC to “screw off”, your disposition will lower. This will determine what side of the grid your character will fight on inside late-game RvR, as well as your guild’s affiliation.
The coolest implementation of this system was being asked by an NPC to deliver a package to another. In most MMOs this would be a boring and pointless gopher mission. But in War of Angels Gold the NPC kept stressing how important it was for me to return the package unopened. Of course, my curiosity got the best of me, and I opened it. Inside was great armor for my level, gold, and potions. However, this did not go unpunished, and my disposition dropped by a lot, leading me towards fighting for the faction of “Evil”. To be honest… I was okay with this. Can anyone say “Hell’s Angels”?
In conclusion, War of Angels’ gameplay is simplistic in nature, but every decision you make could shape your future, which provides a whole new level of fun and immersion. Being able to take combat to new planes of air and sea also allows for a whole new level of fun gameplay. There is a guild building system that has a ton of features, as well. Guild leaders are able to establish bases for their members that provide plenty of perks, and although I wasn’t able to test this, the general consensus of the population was that it is a fun toy to fiddle with and has resulted in some great guild “decoration” events run by veteran players.
