Fallen Earth- First Glance

This weekend I had a little time to check out Fallen Earth, thanks to the free trial. It's one of the few MMO games I've not had a chance to explore. I've wanted to check it out for some time but when release time came around I headed to Aion instead. I really haven't had time to delve into the game very far but I wanted to share some thoughts on my first impression. This isn't a review, just a glance.

So, what does Fallen Earth offer that other games don't? I really jumped in not sure what exactly to expect. It has a dark feel, a tad creepy and one I thought was refreshing and new. Besides the feel, it isn't too bad looking either. The scenery looks good (we will talk about models later). I thought it was very innovative how you have six weapons. I just kept clicking on the weapons I looted, in my bag, and watched them pop up on my character. I had a board strapped to my back, a gun in my hand, two blunt items on my hips and another gun strapped to my leg. Wow, I'm carrying around an arsenal! To use these you hold ctrl+ 1(-6). Different, very different. I won't say the game is hard, it does have a steeper learning curve I suppose, especially if you close out a window and forget what it said.. Um, how do I use my gun, it's on my back? Then again the help channel is there.

I wasn't a fan of the starting controls, which I am sure can be remapped, starting out they felt very different. Ctrl+f10 to take a screen shot? Ok... Another thing I had to get use to was hitting tab to take aim to use any weapon. It wasn't hard but it was hard to remember at times. Oh yeah, hit tab! When I first started, the message that told me how to attack must have closed out and I was standing there getting beat on... OMG... WHAT DO I DO?! I managed to figure it out after asking the friendly people in help channel. That combined with the aspect of holding down the mouse to attack kind of dampens the combat for me. It wasn't bad though I've seen far worse. It does make my hand and wrist tired though. The UI was ok, I didn't have any issues with it.

How was the community? While I did not group with anyone, I can't speak for that area. The people in the help channel were full of advice and seemed really nice. It wasn't one of those channels full of insults and can you top this behavior. I had a few questions and people took the time to answer them without making me, or anyone else asking, feel stupid. Also if you're looking for some some tips, this post at Massively helped me start out!

Running and moving, the controls are fine and smooth. The character models are a bit clumsy, when strafing in particular. I realize the females were made to look more feminine awhile back and they do. It just feels the faces are all feel very much the same. I did like the customization with tattoos, piercing, face paint and so on. While the characters are not very unique, they do allow you to customize them a bit more. The hair was ok, nothing astounding as a whole. There was one long style which I was very thankful for. I am going to assume it is probably the most popular, for females. My son tried it for a few, the male hairstyles looked decent enough.

Starting out there is a vehicle you ride out to escape. This was very fun. I zoomed down the tunnel and out of there! The control felt a bit like one of those racing games, not so much like a mount so it was a bit harder to control at first. I ran into a few walls then made it out without any other hitches. I was also trying to take a screen shot which did not help...

So, those are just my first impressions. Will I play it? Right now I'm busy enough with stuff going on and don't think I have the time to dedicate to another MMO. I definitely will not write it off my list. It has a feel I like and would like to experience more so. I will probably play it more through the trial and then keep it on my list of games to play in the future.

-kaozz