Lineage Eternal: Unleash: PC

Welcome to G-Star 2011, a breeding ground for MMOs, beautiful art, and even more MMOs. As the "Korean E3," G-Star draws a tremendous crowd of gamers from around the world to witness the efforts of the country's most prominent developers. Today, NCsoft revealed its latest MMO RPG: Lineage Eternal. The name "Lineage" might ring bells for western PC gamers, but Lineage Eternal brings a new twist to the familiar. It rocks out with a classic isometric view, huge battles with hundreds of enemies, mouse-based skills, and cute sorceresses. A winning combination if I ever saw one.

Lineage Eternal just emerged from its digital cocoon, so NCsoft only has a trailer to show the world. But this trailer highlights some of Lineage Eternal's most exciting features; enough to instill my impending desperation for a U.S. launch (which has not yet been confirmed).

Most of us know the third-person, isometric action that goes down in games like Diablo. It emphasizes the beauty of clicking voraciously on enemies and watching destruction unfold. In Lineage Eternal, this setup explodes with a serious interactive boost. Not only do physics and the environment play a huge role during combat, but you can literally draw skills on the screen with your mouse and assume much more control over your character's abilities.

Three classes (of a larger unannounced set) debuted in the trailer: a warrior, sorceress, and ranger. Each class boasted several skills that demanded more of your input than "press 1 on the keyboard." Drawing a circle around the warrior, for example, causes him to spin about, blade cutting into groups of enemies. The ranger, alternatively, unleashes powerful charge shots by drawing lines towards an armored opponent. This charge shot ultimately pinned two orcs against the wall with a satisfying "thud."

Of the three classes, the sorceress demonstrates these "drag skills" the best. Drawing a line across the battlefield causes the caster to unleash a wall of fire, which not only damages enemies but smolders the grass it sets ablaze. In the trailer, the sorceress draws three walls of fire around herself, creating a natural defense that forces enemies to approach her from the remaining side. In another instance, drawing a line causes an eruption of ice blocks, which blocked pursuing monsters long enough for her to cast a follow-up spell.

I had many other "oh, wow" moments while watching Lineage Eternal in action. Exploding barrels, knocking enemies off stairs, and tossing orcs over a castle wall felt more like action game moments than RPG fare. And with so many abilities that flex under your specific input, the amount of strategy in Lineage Eternal appears abundant. Though I have no official word on a U.S. release, this project seems too exciting to restrict to Korea.

by Ryan Clements

Posted in: RPG