Fiesta (PC MMORPG) Review

Originally written for my school newspaper...

Playing video games, while often a rewarding experience, can seem like an investment when one takes into account the cost of the console, controllers and games. Playing games on the computer can be much faster and much cheaper. The following game can be downloaded off the internet for free.

“Fiesta” does just about everything the major Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games such as “World of Warcraft” do but without the monthly fee. It can be downloaded at http://fiesta.outspark.com/support/download after players make an account through the site.

The game allows players to craft characters and adventure among hundreds of other players in a vibrant fantasy world. A graphics filter called cel-shading gives the 3D models an anime-styled look. Areas are separated, with gates warping characters via a quick loading screen.

Parties can be easily built with other players and the game does some of the organizing for the player in special quests called King’s Quests. In these, the player sign up by talking to computer characters to do an event, such as clearing a dungeon, at a certain time, then returning at the specified time to head out for the attempt.
Compared to the renowned WOW, “Fiesta” does lack some of the depth and long list of choices. Currently, only one race can be selected with only a handful of choices in customizing appearance. There are four classes such as mage or warrior to start with and their skill branch does not quite compare in size or scope. The interface can be a little clumsy, as sometimes clicking on a quest or shop character to talk to them will not bring up the expected window.

The game also has some shared and unique strengths when compared to the highly successful online games before it. “Fiesta,” through its tutorials and simplicity, succeeds at being more newbie-friendly. Like other MMOs, there are lots of hotkeys, keys used to shortcut commands like spells to 1-9, and menu shortcuts, such as “C” for Character or “I” for inventory. The game also adds the useful ability to click somewhere ahead on the path and have your character automatically go to it making long travels easier.

“Fiesta” loads very quickly, with the time from logging in to actually playing averaging less than a minute. In comparison, WOW takes longer in the initial load and often requires a patch to be downloaded before players can start, which can take several minutes.

Considering that the game costs nothing when to get everything in most MMORPGs the base game and several expansion packs must be purchased in addition to a monthly fee, it still offers quite a bit and remains worthy of a look by those with low budgets or who’ve never tried the genre in fear of the high cost. 4 out of 5 logs.