Fallen Earth is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) with a post-apocalyptic theme. It has been developed independently by Icarus Studios. While it has been several months since the initial release of the game, we believe the game warranted a fresh look at its current state after a number of improvements and enhancements made in the last few months. So, I spent some time testing out the gameplay as well as the new mechanics implemented since launch.

I also had the privilege of speaking with Dev Team Lead, Marie Croall, on the details of their Faction system, PvP, and what are called “Conflict Towns” (capturable control points). I'll go into greater detail on this interview in the corresponding sections.

Fallen Earth is a single in-game world. There are no separate servers, no instances, nothing separating players from each other. Everyone shares the same persistent world. I believe this is a big help in developing a strong community as well as for immersion. There is also no linear path for players to follow through the game and its levels. Players have a good deal of freedom when it comes to where and how they wish to play.

Character Creation:

Typically the first experience a player is given in an MMORPG is the creation of their character. In newer “next gen” MMO's, the detail to this process has reached unprecedented levels. Fallen Earth is no exception here. This isn't a fantasy genre game, so all characters are humans. But that doesn't mean you all have to look alike.

There are a number of customizable options from the shape of your nose and mouth to a wide variety of tattoos and piercings for various locations. You can really make some rough-and-tumble characters, ready to fit in around the harsh wasteland. There's a certain “Mad Max” feel to the character appearance that brings back images of the films (back in the days before Mel Gibson was a raving anti-semite). Once you've successfully created your character, you enter into the beginning tutorial section of the game.

Tutorial:

Often time the “tutorials” in online games are short and have only a basic rundown of the game's mechanics. I found that this wasn't the case with the Fallen Earth implementation of the tutorial. You're slowly drawn through a story with a rather exciting/thrilling feel, giving you a sense that you've been “thrown into” things and it's up to you to learn what's going on. You're drawn through the basic aspects of the game here, from movement, to melee and ranged combat, object interaction and even vehicle piloting. I don't want to give too much of the “story” away here, because one of the interesting parts of Fallen Earth is experiencing the storyline and your role specifically.

After the main tutorial, you're given a list of “starter towns” to choose from to begin your real journey into the world. These towns each have their own environment, stories, missions, and role focuses. For example, Going to the town of “Zanesville” will more quickly prepare you for combat, while starting off in the “South Burbs” quickly introduces you to the crafting aspects of the game. But even after you choose a town, you're not stuck there. It's not much of a task to travel to one of the other towns. In fact, several players mentioned intentionally going through more than one town's stories and quests, as it gives you a variety of rewards both in experience and skill books (which allow you to learn new skills and advanced tiers).

Yes, meat hooks: simple but effective...

Since launch, an “extended tutorial” has been added. This is a set of quests that starts in the outside world, and helps to further acclimate the player to the game. This was well worth doing, both in terms of familiarizing myself with the game further, and with the free horse mount you're provided when you finish. This definitely made things easier (and much quicker). There is no “quick travel” like portals, etc. in Fallen Earth, so a speedy for of transportation is essential.

TIP: Take advantage of the “Help” chat channel. Not only are there other players in there who can help you and answer your questions, but a majority of the time there is also a GM or two. Yes, that's right, they actually have a presence. I can't think of the last game where a GM was actually around, let alone answering questions and offering help.

Graphics:

The graphics engine in Fallen Earth is definitely up to par with the other “next gen” games out currently. The models and textures are quite sharp, with very nice detail. The game can still be run on slightly older PC's, as there are a variety of settings. I was able to run the game on its highest settings, giving some outstanding quality and an extremely far “clip plane” (the distance visible on your screen). Though the landscape can seem rather barren (especially in the first Sector), there is an increasing variety of scenery and appearance as players travel to different sectors. There is everything from the wastelands to complete forests in the game. The world, even if you only take into account the current 3 sectors, is quite a massive world.

There was one complaint I had about their graphics setup/options. If you enable the advanced post-FX option, it disables anti-aliasing (a process that smooths edges of objects, making them much more crisp/clean) and vice versa. It seems one precludes you from using the other. Luckily I have an nVidia card which comes with controls to override/enhance certain settings. With this I was able to force anti-aliasing and still keep the advanced FX active. I'm not sure why it's set up that way, but it was a minor frustration in the beginning.

Deadfall brings even more impressive visuals to the game.

Sound:

The environment in Fallen Earth is very fitting. Most of the background music is quite calming and indeed “in the background”. The combat sounds are full of various gun-firing sounds, from air guns to pistols and rifles, as well as melee sounds. There are different moans, grumbles and shouts coming from you and your enemies as you get hit as well. I remember the first time I got hit in the head with a metal pipe, only to have my character reel to the side shouting, “Aww, Damn!”. Very entertaining.

One thing that I nearly overlooked: Fallen Earth has built-in VOIP capabilities. This means that while you are in a group, you can communicate with others via microphone or headset if you enable this feature. This can come in handy in situations where strategy is necessary.

Combat:

Fallen Earth is not your typical MMO fare of “click and wait” combat. All fighting in Fallen Earth is skill-based. This means that if you are shooting a firearm, you have a targeting reticle just like any other first-person shooter would. You have to aim your shots, and YES, there is a bonus for head-shots! Even the melee combat requires you to aim your strikes at the enemy (you even get head-shots in melee combat). You also have to fire or swing each hand independently using the left and right mouse buttons. This doesn't mean you'll be clicking over and over though. If you hold down the button, you will continue swinging/firing until you let up. So, you won't need a finger splint at the end of your gaming session.

There are also special abilities your character has the ability to learn depending on your skill point distribution. For example, a melee-heavy character has the ability “smash” which does extra damage to a target. Not only are there combat skills, but there are buffs, heals, run speed boosts, etc. A wide variety of abilities and “mutation powers” become available as you advance your skills.

You can read more about mutations here: http://www.fallenearth.com/node/53

When Fallen Earth launched, there were several complaints about the animations, particularly during combat. They have made large strides in fixing these issues, and now combat appear much more fluid. There are still a few lingering issues with the animations, but it is almost unnoticeable.

Community:

There isn't much to say about the community in Fallen Earth. And there's good reason for that. The community is simply one of the best in an MMORPG I've experienced. Those I spoke to were quite helpful and friendly. Many people were usually willing to help others who needed it. There's no mindless banter, rudeness, or immature childishness that fills the various chat channels of many other MMO's. I was impressed and quite at home with the overall mature quality of the Fallen Earth community.

There is no shortage of weapons and armor here...

Skill-Based Advancement:

Fallen Earth has an interesting method of character advancement. While there are character levels in the game, this does not dictate your abilities because it is a “classless” system. There are no warriors, priests, or any other predetermined classes. As you gain experience, you also receive AP, which you in turn can spend on skills or increasing stats. There are a variety of skills to choose from, including melee, rifle, and pistol for combat, but group tactics, and athletics and more beyond that. So, you can master more than one skill in Fallen Earth.

More information on the skills in Fallen Earth is available here: http://www.fallenearth.com/node/52

You cannot, however, master EVERYTHING. There is a limit to how many AP you are able to gain, and there is a cap on how many you can spend in any given skill based on your level. So, for example, if I'm level 5 I may only be able to put 30 points into armor use. This would allow me to wear armor with a required skill of 30, but it would prevent me from getting the next tier up which requires 45 skill points in armor use. These limitations assure than players have a great deal of freedom in choosing their “build”, but also keeping the game balanced for both PvE and PvP.

Currently the maximum level attainable is 46, but with their upcoming 1.4 update the cap will be raised to 50 as further content is added to the game. They are also working on Sector 4, a region of the game with higher-level content. There are a total of 9 sectors planned over the course of development, each with extensive content and likely level cap increases.

Faction System:

Factions play a huge role in the storylines, quests, and overall experience in Fallen Earth. There are six major factions: Enforcers, Techs, Lightbearers, Vistas, CHOTA, and Travellers. Each of them has their own agenda and plans for the future development of the world. After around level 15, players have the ability to become involved with one of these factions. Keep in mind that once you choose a faction, you are NOT stuck with them forever. There are players who move back and forth, gaining favor with more than one faction. Assisting factions has its benefits:

• Faction Gear – Available as your faction status increases.

• Skill Books – Different factions have different specialties. One faction may have advanced techniques on swordfighting, while another may focus on sniper rifles.

• Different Quests and Storylines

Favor is gained by completing quests for your faction, and through PvP combat with players of opposing factions. There is a “death toll” count, which keeps track of your kills and deaths in PvP battles. Depending on the score you achieve, different things become unlocked with your faction. Death Toll rank is gained and lost only by PvP battles, mostly in the “conflict towns” (I will go into more detail on these in another section). The faction system just adds an additional layer to the game and what you can accomplish.

Each faction has its own theme and styles.

PvP & Conflict Towns:

There are currently two ways to experience player vs. player combat in Fallen Earth. There are PvP “areas” which you can fight in, mostly for run and to increase your Death Toll numbers. Even in the first region (Sector 1), there are two PvP areas where players can practice combat against other interested PvP-ers. Most players I spoke to seemed to prefer waiting until getting to Sector 2, around level 15, before they started PvP combat. This is the time when you first get the option to side with a faction. This brings me to my next subject, conflict towns...

Conflict Towns are an open-world PvP location. They are able to be taken over by one of the game's factions, with the help of players. NPC's for the various factions offer quests to increase that faction's standing in the town and gain control over it and its resources (merchants, etc.). All factions battle simultaneously for the towns, so as you are trying to complete your quests, so is your enemy. And it's an all-out war inside the conflict zone.

Once a faction has seized control of a conflict town, they can begin to fortify it, adding NPC guards, barriers, etc. This makes it more difficult for assaulting factions to raid the city, as guards will immediately attack anyone of an opposing faction. This gives another task for players to accomplish as they try to fight through the hired guards. This is a difficult task, taking down the guards, often requiring 3-4 players to take them down.

There are 9 conflict towns available throughout Sectors 2 and 3. There isn't a conflict town in Sector 1, at least not at this point. Each conflict town also has its own theme and appearance. Everything from the Dump, to the golf course at New Gallows. Each town has its own challenges. Some are built more for close quarters combat, while others offer an advantage to ranged combat.

Try spotting a sniper in this "Dump"!

TIP: Once you've gotten to level 15 and Sector 2, you may also want to consider finding a Clan (the Fallen Earth version of Guilds), as it can be a great benefit when it comes to participating in PvP battles. This is especially true for conflict towns. Information on specific clans is available on the FE forums, or you can ask in game about recruiting clans.

Crafting:

Unlike many of the MMO's to have come out in the recent years, Fallen Earth has a VERY developed harvesting and crafting system. In other games the crafting is more of an afterthought than an actual aspect of the game. This certainly isn't the case here, as Fallen Earth has an extensive number of available harvesting and crafting skills. You also aren't stuck choosing a crafting “class” or specialization. Tradeskills are completely open to players, allowing them to participate in as many skills as they want. You don't use AP gained from combat on these skills, they simply increase with use.

Now, there is a cap on the tradeskills just as there is with combat skills. You're limited by a combination of your character level and your intelligence score. So, you won't be able to survive as JUST a crafter. It's meant to augment play, so you'll need to level yourself to advance. Most of the players I spoke with chose to concentrate on only a few tradeskills however, as the higher you get, the more difficult and time consuming it can become. Harvestable resources are often found in the vicinity of nasty creatures who won't be too happy about your proximity to them. Another reason for having some combat experience under your belt. There really isn't much in Fallen Earth that can't be crafted (if anything at all). There is medicine, weapons, armor, food, just to name a few.

More specifics about tradeskills here: http://www.fallenearth.com/node/54

What the future holds:

Here is where I was able to get some more information on Fallen Earth's plans from Dev Team Lead Marie Croall. They have already released a number of fixes and enhancements to the game, as well as features like “camps” and gambling. Nearly every town has an underground casino where players can play slots or blackjack. Now they're preparing to launch update 1.4, which has some interesting features.

Hang out in the casino for an EXP boost!

Update 1.4 will feature “Bloodsports”, more simply described as PvP arenas. This gives players another avenue to be involved in the ongoing conflict in the game. As I spoke to Marie, she was sure to mention that the arena play is meant to enhance the PvP experience, and not to replace the other current systems. Players will be able to gain death toll points here, but it will not be the only way to do so. There will still be benefits to doing conflict town battles, and in fact she informed me that there are rewards unique to the conflict town PvP.

An Achievement system is also scheduled to be released in 1.4, rewarding players for a wide variety of achievements within the game. Anything from exploration, to kills, to crafting has achievements players can obtain. It will be interesting to see what the rewards and benefits will be under this new system. The achievements aren't just for high-level characters either. There are things in there for players of all levels.

Coming soon will also be the iPhone app for Fallen Earth, which will allow you to set up crafting queues for your character as well as chat with online friends in the game. Sector 4 is also on deck to be released, but as of now there is no official date for it. Beyond that, the team has many aspirations for what they wish to accomplish.

Bloodsports bring some interesting "arenas" to PvP.

Conclusion:

I was able to spend time in Fallen Earth, experiencing most aspects of gameplay. And for those I wasn't as familiar with, I was able to obtain a great deal of information from my interview. I hope I have given a clear impression here of what you can expect if you give Fallen Earth a chance. The game has an excellent quality of immersion, easily sucking you into its post-apocalyptic world. The game quality has greatly increased from its launch state, and they keep regular updates and additions to the game.

MMORPG players talk a lot about “sandbox” games, so much that it's often misused or misunderstood. But if this term refers to a game with a large open world, lots to do (including quests, crafting, and a variety of PvP activities), and none of the constrictions of those “Amusement Park” games... then they are certainly talking about Fallen Earth. Many MMO's coming out today use the sandbox term as an excuse for their lack of content and polish on their game, but this is certainly not the case with Fallen Earth.

Overall, Fallen Earth brings innovation and a clear uniqueness to the table.  This is why independently developed games get a closer look when we consider which games to review.  This isn't just another Elves and Dwarves game cranked out by a massive studio as a profit-chasing scheme.  It's a combination of this uniqueness and innovation, along with the quality of the game and dedication of their staff to continue improving and expanding on their work, that I believe a high score is warranted.  In this writer's opinion, this game is a 9 out of 10, only saving that one extra point for what Fallen Earth MIGHT become as they continue to evolve in the future.  This game also gets the "Editor's Choice" award, for successfully undertaking a risky but genre-changing project.  There have been other attempts to break the mold of typical MMO fare, but where others have failed (Tabula Rasa, Auto Assault, and many others who never even made it to launch) Icarus Studios' Fallen Earth has succeeded.  Whether it can stand the test of time is up to the developers and the game's fans, but I don't see this being a problem any time in the near future.

Given they have a free trial available for the game, I would definitely suggest checking it out.

You can check out their trial or sign up here: https://www.fallenearth.com/trial

Be sure to keep an eye out for some hands-on video of different aspects of gameplay as part of our ongoing coverage of the changes taking place inside Fallen Earth.

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