Wind Slayer, the new MMORPG, released and distributed by Game and Game is, at first glance, just another Maple Story clone in the guise of other games such as Ghost online. Yet, don’t be so quick to judge, I mean any game which has you beating up smiling turds with a lump of wood has to be something a little unique… or obscure to say the least. However, like the other side scrolling MMORPG games such as Maple Story, Ghost online and Pi Story, wind player does feature bright Anime influenced graphics, happy looking characters, strange stereotypical NPC characters and an array of some of the strangest, unreal monsters I have ever seen in a game.

When you first log in, you create a character, choosing between either male or female and a range of facial expressions and hair colours. Yet, for some reason, this game seems to offer fewer options for players in the fields of customisation of their avatars. Nevertheless, as you progress in the game, you will be able to deck out your character as you see fit. So don’t worry too much, you will only feel like a sheep for the first 10 levels or so. Beyond that, once you’re in the game itself, like with both Ghost and Maple Story, you begin your adventure in a beginner’s field, which sees you having to complete some painfully simple quests. Nevertheless, for those not familiar with games like this, these little tutorials are very important in allowing players to get the feel for the game and to gain an understanding of the basic controls.

Similar to other games of this style and genre, you control your character through the arrow keys. Yet, setting itself apart slightly, the up arrow allows you to jump and by tapping it a second time in mid air you are able to perform a double jump, giving you quick access to higher platforms. The S key is used for your basic attack; A for defence and in later levels D becomes your Strong or Strength Attack. As you progress, you are also able to dash by double tapping the direction key and to mine, gather materials and fish by equipping the specific item or equipment required to your hot keys which are, of course, numbers 1 – 9. You should, however, keep in mind that these hotkeys will also need to be shared with your class specific skills. Yet, with the game allowing you to have more than one set of hot keys, I guess it is of little concern.

After playing this game for a few hours, I did settle, as I often do, on the Mage class, as I love the notion of Magic and the Arcane, of course stemming from my love of fantasy. However, upon this, you also have the fabled Warrior, Archer, mage, rouge, monk and priest. With a good amount of classes, players should have no trouble in quickly identifying the class with which they feel most comfortable. Yet, don’t forget, as with most games of this genre, once your reach level 10, it’s time to advance and then for the 3^rd time at level 30.

With so many classes and a wide range of basic skills to learn, there is many facets of this game for players to master and come to understand. Essentially, many of your basic skills attribute to your ability to earn money and to survive. On the other hand, the skills attributed to your character class come in two different ways. Firstly you have your active skills which require you to use them, such as specific types of powerful attacks, spells and summoning skills. The second set refers to more passive skills, which are of course constantly active and once chosen, require no further attention by the player. But, with that said, as most passive skills are directly linked to your attack power and the amount of damage you can deal, this does not make them any less important and if you want to master the harder stages of the game, it is vital that players start reading about these skills early on.

Like Maple and Ghost, combat in this game is fairly repetitive, requiring players to go out into fields and dungeons, find monsters relevant to their level and grind for hours on end, gaining levels, skills, and experience and picking up what such creatures drop. Often, the quests offered in the game will also see players having to slay a set amount of specific monster types. Yet, with so many skills and playing out a little more quickly than other games in the genre I have played, Wind Slay feels a little more dynamic and less static. Furthermore, there is a more hands on approach for players to actually utilize the items and materials gathered from monsters to create new weapons, armour and to upgrade existing items.

Essentially, as this game progresses there becomes an increasing amount of content which sets it apart from other games in the genre. It is also, from what has been so far, much larger than similar games and a more dynamic environment for players to explore. The game is good and the graphics and creatures are fun, bright and colourful, yet the game also seems less serious than others. However, undeniably, Wind Slayer is not an original concept as similar games have been released over the past several years. The game is fun, yet if it is better than Maple Story or Ghost, well, that’s up for negotiation.

I am going to give this one 6 and ½ out of 10.