Black Desert Online is an upcoming MMO from Korean developer Daum Games. I was lucky enough to participate in the second closed beta test that the developer held before the final release of the game. As a somewhat veteran of MMOs, I was excited to finally check out the game with the most detailed character creator of all time. After trying out the game when the test servers went live, I was pleasantly surprised to find a good game buried beneath the MMO tropes.
First off, let me start with the character creation. The models here are some of the most detailed that I have ever seen. The face models are more detailed than almost anything out on the market today. You can customize everything down to the facial structure. Players have to choose between eight different classes. These classes can use either melee attacks, ranged attacks, or a combo of both. Players can also choose other little details. Some of these details include an astronomical sign, family name, and player name. There are also options to see how your character looks in different weather environments and (what I assume to be) end game gear. With my warrior born under the Black Dragon created, I hopped into the world.
As the game loaded, the first thing that I noticed was how detailed the world looked. Daum Games has put a lot of care into creating Black Desert Online and both the world and the character creator shows just how much. NPCs run back and forth adding to the feeling of this world being alive. The starting village is a decent size, but I get the feeling that the overall world size is just going to get bigger.
The combat in Black Desert Online is a unique combination of using mouse clicks and using skills. The primary attack is on the left mouse button, the secondary is on the right, and then you have the skills on the skill bar. Clicking on both mouse buttons will cause a heavy attack. This combat style opens up for many different combos that you could pull off while fighting any of the game’s many monsters. The Sorceress (for example) uses dark magic. Through this, she uses a combination of both melee and ranged attacks. I could see her being a good DPS (damage per second) character when faced with a boss or in a dungeon.
The controls in Black Desert Online can take a little getting used to. The movement keys use the typical WASD combo that PC games use. What makes the controls weird is that you have to hit the left CTRL button in order to unlock the mouse cursor, the E key is your Special Action, and the R key is how you interact with objects and people in the game. I feel like this could get a little confusing for people who aren’t used to PC gaming as much as the hardcore crowd.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with Black Desert Online and would highly recommend the game to anyone who enjoys MMOs. The combat feels smooth once you get the hang of it, the world feels big and alive, and the character models are some of the best that I’ve ever seen. The only major gripe that most people online seem to have is that there is no endgame content. I believe that Black Desert Online will be like most major MMOs out today. The endgame PvE content will come in either a patch or in an expansion. After all, MMOs are always evolving as time goes on. As long as Daum Games continues to support the game, dedicated players will continue playing.
