Possibility Space is making things possible with their flagship opus, Warrior Epic. The game garnered mixed opinions from the gaming population because of its all-too-familiar offline feel. It felt like the game’s development and release was a hit-or-miss thing. Almost everything in the game was unexpected for an online version. Does the game have the right to be called “epic?”

Warrior Epic graces us with an intro movie, talking about a great war and an entire civilization hanging in the balance. 300 years later, the kingdom has been rebuilt, and now calls for heroes to protect the land. After that brief and quite irrelevant historical montage, players are immediately thrown into the game without any knowledge of the game’s inner workings. I tried fiddling with the UI, but it only gave me a few ideas on what to do. Somehow, I got stumped as to why I got the brutish pitfighter character instead of the magical class, Pangolins, I selected from the patch screen. Before I began, I searched for answers around the web, and found out that the pitfighter is every player’s default character. The character selection in the patch screen was as useless as an entrance sign without a door.

The tutorial told me some information about the UI. But I was still left hanging with questions like where the skill screen and inventory were, or the town and the other players. As these questions replayed in my mind, I traversed through the first mission given to me by that stranded and scared NPC. The first thing I noticed was the restricted map. Getting lost wasn’t much of a problem, since it was easy to know where you’re going. Sure, there might be paths branching out, but it all leads to dead-ends with nothing of interest. I initially assumed this restriction in area to be just for this introductory instance alone. However, I found out later that my assumptions were explicitly false. Every map in Warrior Epic only varies in the size, but still has the same restricted layout. Your character begins in one end, and the map’s other end almost always has the boss or any other thing your mission requires you to get.

I had another false assumption as I ended the first instance. Warrior Epic does not revolve in a persistent world. The game was entirely mission based. There were no towns to explore, no people to chat with idly, and no huge field maps to traverse. On the good side, it eliminates long-distance walking. Each map in the selection screen represents one mission. Each map instance has some degree of interactivity. Pots and pans can be broken, some bushes can be whacked, some walls can be torn down, and some bugs can be squished. Monsters stay at definitive points in the map, and their numbers are fixed for the whole area. Don’t expect any respawning mobs for your powerleveling activities. On the character’s side, bringing items are limited to only a handful. You’re also only allowed to assign a certain number of skills to use for your mission. Plus, you only have a few lives to spare, and losing them all means death. It’s a tough run through each instance requiring strategy and intuition.

After that initial mission, I witness for the first time the place I’ll be spending my entire Warrior Epic life in, the Warrior’s Hall. From there, players can start new missions, manage your warriors, organize the inventory, set skill, and access the multiplayer areas as well. It’s kind of handy to have everything in just one room, but that completely eliminates free roaming. By the way, have I also mentioned that the warrior hall itself increases in levels too? Higher hall levels enable you to access more missions. A thankful welcome was the variety in recruitable mercenaries, all 6 of them, each having a distinct strength, weakness and specialty. There was, however, the notion of this innate need to have one of each mercenary type, since every stage discreetly necessitates the specialized use of a character for a specific stage. Naturally, with enough levels or the right strategy, the use of just 1 or two mercenaries may work, but with noticeable difficulty, while other mercenary classes may just breeze through it.

Warrior Epic has other features you won’t totally see right off the bat (or not at all). Chat system is only available when you’re in a multiplayer map. Guild formation is absent, and trading is seemingly nonexistent. Character death turns your mercenary into a spirit and is taken to a spirit hall. From there, you have the option of reviving them or equipping their soul to aid in battle. Think of it as your “special bomb” for those tight spots. Don’t expect much though, your spirit is only as strong as when it was alive.

The game let’s you feel like you’re in economic recession. All the spending items you need, like money and points for mercenary recruitment, are too scarce. It took me quite a few mission runs to get the items for my current level and the mercenary I want to add. Exp and item drop rates in the maps are far too stingy, making the game too repetitive for your normal game. I wouldn’t mind saving up on the items I want, but when I already have the money, the items or equips are already far too useless for my level.

Final words? It’s difficult to give a verdict for game that’s loosely an MMORPG and loosely an offline game. It’s safe to say the game is a mixture of both… a seemingly unripe, raw, and inconsistent one. There’s potential for the game to be a unique yet familiar adventure. But it’s the poor execution that determined its fate. You can try going for this game, but I suggest looking at other offline RPGs first before downloading this. On the upside, it’s free.

Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Gameplay: 5
Story: 3
Final Score: 7/10