The MMO's to challenge Warcraft

Tabula Rasa

What’s the concept? Tabula Rasa plans to put you on the front line of an 'epic war' (are there any non-epic wars?) between a xenophobic alien race bent on galactic conquest and a group of rebel soldiers who have vowed to prevent this from happening.

Tabula Rasa is a sci-fi game which plans on providing the player with the action of a first person shooter and the immersion a role playing game. In the past the two styles have been mixed successfully in single player games (think Deus Ex), and it will be interesting to see how well the game translates to this genre.

Another war game, only this time it's sci-fi! Sounds bit 'done before'? Well that's because it has been, however this has come from the guys who made Ultima Online (the acclaimed MMORPG) and so deserves to be noticed. Plus, it has ambitions of combining a whole host of cool features.


Interesting features? Tabula Rasa is chocked full of cool features and plans, with Richard Garriott, the game's director, assuring journalists at the recent GC event in Leipzig that the emphasis of the game was on providing the fun of a solo playing experience, combined with the interactivity of an MMO. This is obviously the main aim for the game; the secondary aim is to create a game that can accommodate both Eastern and Western players, to avoid a language barrier. To do this the developers have worked on a simple game language, which should make communication easy.

Another area that makes Tabula Rasa different, and more real, is the fact that environments will change as time goes on. With the focus being on creating a more FPS like experience, this will certainly improve the game, providing it is done well. Don't be fooled into thinking this is an FPS though, although it may play like one and have some real time combat moments, it is still at heart an RPG.

Another key feature is the move away from mind numbing monster farming sections. Instead the game has been designed to present monsters like a puzzle. 'The Bane' (the bad guys) have different roles and will work as a team to battle against you. For instance, in a battle your first task would be to take out a shield drone so your weapons can actually do some damage, then you might take out the 'caretaker' (healer) and so on. The game will require a certain level of tactical understanding, which may prove daunting to new players who can't understand why they can't kill anything.

When is it coming out? March – May 2007

Will it be better than WoW? Some people have suggested that Tabula Rasa's more action orientated approach may make it a hit on the console market. With no MMORPG ever really making a massive dent on the console market it would make Tabula Rasa a market leader. Considering the infrastructure the 360 provides for online play the whole process should seem fairly easy.

Tabula Rasa looks interesting, and since it doesn't offer enough to really challenge World of Warcraft on the PC market its best chance would be to target the consoles. However, as there is no indication to move in that direction yet I don't predict the brightest of futures for this game.

To check out the official Tabula Rasa website click here.