The title may sound like some legendary in-game weapon, but on the contrary, Wind Slayer is the latest MMO offering of Outspark. This is a 2D sidescrolling free to play MMORPG oriented on PvP gameplay. Yes, you read it right, one more sidescrolling MMORPG to add to the long list of fairly cheap online thrills. Wind Slayer offers unfortunately nothing revolutionary or, at the very least, appealing to the gamers.

Story-wise, Wind Slayer summarizes your quest in one phrase: “embark on a hero’s journey,” which means you’re on your own. True to the “story”, Wind Slayer instantly pushes you in the world of Beuritannia with a very short welcome and a billboard that serves as your tutorial. You start off as a novice, and can change into six different classes at level 10. Two different specializations per class will be available as you reach higher levels. The very first NPC you see offers your very first quest. After that, you’d really have no idea whatsoever of your next task.
There’s really nothing to expect from Wind Slayer aside from the usual 2D sidescrolling MMO experience. Movement is operated fully by the arrow keys, with a thankfully smooth response. Attacks feel horrendously slow and unresponsive, making it almost impossible to create and maintain combos. Making things worse is the target’s brief invincible state after one attack, preventing additional damage until it wears off. Battle tactics are narrowed down to poke-and-run instead.

Character build up is simple and predictable. You have four stats to build up on, and the job classes have their recommended stat builds to use its full potential. Skills are bought from NPCs for a hefty price. A very typical enchantment and upgrading system for your equipment provide additional stat modifiers for your character.

To complement the forging and enchantment system, Wind Slayer has a harvesting/mining system in place. Each town has a mining field and herbal farm to gather ores and herbs. Players need to purchase a shovel to harvest materials from the field. Although, it was rather disappointing and frustrating to repeatedly buy a consumable shovel that disappears after one tiny harvest. And money is really hard to come by in the game. The loots and wares are sold at very cheap prices, and the local market is starting to show signs of inflation.

Outspark should be ashamed of Wind Slayer’s primary feature, arena-based PvP. Players at level 5 or beyond can freely enter arenas and do one-on-one or team battles. Arena battles are sadly frustrating and disappointing, similar to PvE grinding. Struck opponents have the invincibility state as well, thus tactics end up as hit-and-run too. The presence of severe lag wafts in the arena atmosphere, especially when the room is full. Constant controller response delays and extremely long freeze times add to the aggravation.

Wind Slayer is also a heavy grinding game. The number of available quests decreases as you reach higher levels. Moreover, the quests and the interface are not gamer-friendly. Absence of NPC map markers, lack of quest trackers, and the stingy quest rewards only add to your already-sore experience. You’re forced to wander into different maps and repeatedly bash at random monsters to gain some experience.

There’s still hope that developers might fix the issues regarding PvP, quests and the sluggish controls. Although, this does not erase the fact that Wind Slayer is a disappointing sidescroller, with poorly-drawn sprites and unintuitive gameplay. It’s best to avoid this game as much as possible.

The Good: Responsive controls – Arena-based PVP

The Bad: Severe lag in arenas – Grinding gameplay – Combos near-impossible to execute


Review by kenny, Freemmogamer.com - Posted Mar 26, 2009