Tabula Rasa Reviews
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You should also note that like with most MMORPGs in their first months, there are some bugs and annoyances that you'll need to struggle through to get the most out of the experience. We had to deal with quests that couldn't be completed, getting stuck far too easily in level geometry (thankfully an easy fix with the /stuck command), monster models that blink on and off, missing animations, and, most annoyingly, mission waypoints that get turned off every time you change areas or log out. And considering the game's far-future, far-removed setting, it's a little odd that there are Dell XPS terminals scattered throughout the bases. Is the fact that you can turn on the screensavers on these in-game computers a feature we really needed?GameShark likes it a bit more, giving it a B-.
There's also the issue of Tabula Rasa's erudite crafting system. The game never explains exactly how to craft, though it's essentially a matter of removing items from looted weapons and armor, finding or purchasing certain components like electronics, and then using them to craft new items or modify existing ones. This works pretty well with modifications, but it's far too much work when you end up with just a few grenades. An in-game auction house would help you find needed components, which would make crafting a lot less of a hassle, but as of this writing, there is no auction house to allow players to easily sell and purchase what they need from each other.
Exploration is not as rewarding as you would hope. Once you get past the initial freshness of a sci-fi world to explore, you discover that Tabula Rasa simply isn't much to look at. Many of the creature and soldier models are done well, but across the board, the game offers little visual respite. The color palette is a mess of browns, oranges, and other dull colors, a visual design that fits with the obvious tone the developer aimed for but weighs heavy on the eyes over time. Even areas that scream for lusher greenery or brighter tones, such as the fields of the Cumbria Research Facility, are formed without much detail or variety. The weak technology behind the graphics certainly doesn't help, so expect to see lots of sharp edges, plain textures, and a good amount of visual slowdown.
Combat in Tabula Rasa is one of the game's most compelling features. Characters can wield many types of weapons including pistols, machine guns, rifles, and other exotic weaponry. Regardless of your weapon of choice combat is fast-paced which has the player not only trying to make effective use of their Logos abilities but also forcing them to think strategically in where their character is fighting from. The game has a cover mechanic that makes it so a character behind sandbags, low walls, or other objects receives less damage from ranged attacks depending on the quality of the cover. This means that a smart player will examine where the enemy is, try to take cover nearby, and engage the enemy from there to minimize damage taken while letting the Bane have it.
Though the third-person combat looks reflex-heavy, the actual gameplay is more of a thinking man's shooter. There is a crosshair in the middle of the player's screen that is intended more as a selection reticule than anything else, and placing it over an enemy or object makes that your current target. Players can then lock the current target, so that as long as it remains on the screen they don't need to worry about aiming at all. In addition to taking cover to reduce damage taken, players can crouch to minimize their profile, taking less damage from ranged attacks while at the same time doubling the damage of any melee hits they take. There is hardly a more one-sided fight in Tabula Rasa than watching a player engage an enemy at their weapon's maximum range while they are crouched behind cover, and it is that strategic gameplay that really defines the combat as a whole.
