Every now and again I scout the web for free games or trials that I haven’t played before. I came across Adventure Quest not too long ago, and decided to give it a shot, mostly because it was one of those games I could play for either 15 minutes or hours in a row. Apparently (and to my surprise) the game has been around for 2 years, I just hadn’t seen it until now.
To make it clear to the confusing minds, Adventure Quest is a web-based flash game (you play it on your browser) but it’s not an MMO. It’s just a single-player adventure that you can play online. There is no interaction with other players, only with the existent NPCs and monsters.
It’s also free to play, which brings me to the overcrowding problem. There is only a single server with capacity for 5500 players, and it’s well over that pretty much all the time. The only exception is the separate Guardian server, reserved for the paying customers, available for a one-time fee of $14.95.
Guardians have access to more weapons and armor in certain shops, as well as zones of the map that aren’t open for other players. And they also get to play an extra game called Arch Knight, with the same AQ mechanics.
Gameplay is simple. After creating your character, you can explore different areas of the towns, talk to people and engage in quests. However, there is no indication of the level of the quests, so on level 1 I found myself dying to a quest full of level 5 monsters.
Village merchants provide you with armor and equipment. These have different attributes that will work better against certain monsters (for instance, an ice sword will do the most damage against fire creatures), and you can change your equipment in the middle of a battle. Special types of armor can also grant you special attacks.
Certain quests allow you to train to become a certain class, so even if you pick a warrior you can undergo mage training and learn spell, master the use of pets or become a ninja.
The battles are pretty straightforward. Once you engage, there will be a menu where you can pick your next move (equip armor, shields or weapons, cast a spell, use potions, attack and so on). The combat is turn-based and the fights are usually pretty quick.
TIP: If you think you won’t survive a battle, instead of taking a defeat, close your browser instead. You will be back at the start screen when you login.
The artwork is not bad, but the animations could use more work. NPC names are not very imaginative… I mean, Robina Hood? Come on, you can do better.
The game does have an interesting story and a dose of quirky humor, centered around this character that acts like Steve, the crocodile hunter. He’s the Frogzard Hunter, and his quest storyline is just plain dumb, to the point where he’s being eaten by a huge Frogzard and keeps on babbling silly comments.
Adventure Quest has potential, but it needs quite a bit of tweaking here and there, as well as a new server to accommodate the large number of players. Adventure Quest is one of those games that, because of its simplicity, you’ll either love or hate right away. But that is only if you manage to log on.