Ah, Entropia Universe… marketed as a Virtual Universe with a Real Cash Economy and rightly so. Non-depositors, like myself, will have a very hard time getting started forcing them to quit or make a deposit.

Title: Entropia Universe
Site: www.entropiauniverse.com
Publisher/Developer: MindArk
Access: Free 2 Play

Entropia Universe is marketed like a real universe that is backed by a real cash economy. It means that in-game money (PED) you gain can be withdrawn at a conversion rate of 1 USD = 10 PED (Project Entropia Dollar) and vice versa. You can also deposit real cash and use the converted PED in your virtual life in the Entropia Universe.

Graphics and Sounds

The graphics of Entropia Universe is very good. Even at lower 16 bit settings the visuals remain good to look at. The character models could be better but they are not bad. The game’s GUI isn’t cluttered and has a huge window that will allow you to see the surrounding area better. Virtual world has great terrains and the surrounding environment are well textured giving it some realism.

I haven’t heard all the sounds effects and background music in Entropia Universe but I already have one sound that annoys me very much and that’s the voodoo like chant you’ll hear when you are concentrating for some mindforce.

Gameplay

The best way to get started in Entropia Universe is by depositing some funds to your account. You can convert that to PED and use the money to buy starter kits like a first-aid kit but depositing is not required. In fact, you can play the game without depositing ever since there are no Item Malls. Everything you’ll need is in the game. Anyways, in Entropia Universe, the goal is to exist, to survive, to strive and to become self-sufficient.

Depositors can immediately use the money they deposited to get them started. They can hunt, mine, tame or craft. All of these activities require some amount of PED but players can treat their deposit as an investment because once they are settled in the profession they selected they will eventually gain profit from it (that is if they’re good at managing their investment).

Non-depositors will have to work harder to get started. They can either gather vibrant sweat, collect fruits and dungs and grab oil from the oil field. They can sell these items to other players to earn the PED they need to get started. You see, in Entropia Universe, you start with nothing and you can’t do anything except for the three things that were mentioned above.

There are various things a player can do in Entropia Universe. They can open shops, buy land or real estate, advertise, do auctions, etc. It’s up to you to decide.

By the way, dying in Entropia Universe has no penalty. You can die as many times you want without losing anything. Isn’t that great!

Lag and Community

As far as community goes, Entropia Universe has one of the best community. I’ve met many players, both old and new, who willingly help others. Well, they don’t give out PED but they’ll help you understand how the game works, they’ll answer questions and even show you around. Don’t get me wrong, there are also some bad apples but fortunately the good out weighs the bad in Entropia.

Like in many massively multiplayer worlds, there will be some form of lag in crowded areas but since you’ll be outside most of the time then it will not be much of a problem.

Price

Entropia Universe is free to play and free to download. I don’t think you can go cheaper than that.

Fun Factor

What makes Entropia Universe fun is the challenge of making your character self-sufficient but many non-depositors get frustrated easy.

Overall Entropia Universe is good and is worth a try it has enough unique features that sets it apart from traditional mmorpgs. Getting started maybe hard but you’ll learn the basic mechanics of the game and gain some important skills like Evade while gathering vibrant sweat.

Rating: 8/10