I’ve been playing Rakion Online this past week and I must confess it’s addictively fun. It’s not an MMORPG but more of a casual MMO in the tradition of GunBound, FreeStyle, etc. It also has the feel of Counterstrike but instead of an AK and a Glock the characters wield swords, bows, daggers, hammers, etc.

Title: Rakion Online Philippines
Site: rakion.mobiusgames.net
Style: Fantasy/Medieval MMOG
Genre: Full Action
Publisher: Mobius
Developer: Softnyx
Access: Free 2 Play

I forgot how I came across Rakion but I think I clicked on some ad somewhere which took me to Rakion Online Philippine website. The site looked interesting so I downloaded the game, registered, installed and started playing. I also installed it on another PC so my kids can play it too.

Medieval Counter-Strike

If you’ve played and enjoyed Counter-Strike then you’ll definitely enjoy Rakion. I’ve read that Rakion is like GUNZ but since I never played Gunz I’ll just use Counter-Strike instead.

In Rakion, there are no rifles, no submachine guns, no pistols, no grenades, no shotguns all you have is yourself, your armor, your trusty old sword (hammer, bow, dagger, etc), and your God given playing skills.

Almost everything in Rakion feels like Counter-Strike to me maybe because I haven’t played any Counter-Strike like games for years. I don’t know but whatever that is I like it.

Choose your Champion

In Rakion Online you can choose any of the following:

1. Warrior
2. Blacksmith
3. Ninja
4. Archer
5. Mage

Well, you know me, I only know 1 class and that’s the Warrior/Knight/Swordman type. The warrior looks so cool and I like the fact that it’s very easy to use. I tried playing my son’s mage and I couldn’t make any sense of it. I guess the mage is just not for me. The Blacksmith is a pretty strong character. It can break a Golem in seconds. The Archer is pretty good in breaking another player’s momentum with their cheap shots. The Ninja is pretty fast and I’ve seen a Ninja that loves to grip/grab a lot. The Mage has powerful attacks and they can heal. I just love running after these small guys.

I have 3 Warriors and each with a different build and they are all at level 11. I’m experimenting with Attack Power + Attack Speed, Attack Power + Movement Speed and Cell Destruction + Cell Point. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter as long as your play defensively then you’ll get by eventually. You might even get a few kills here and there.

Prepare for Battle

The types of battle available in Rakion Online are:

1. Stage
2. Team Deathmatch
3. Solo Deathmatch
4. Boss War
5. and Golem War

They are almost self explanatory. My favorite is Golem War. I get a lot of experience and gold to spend in a Golem War and I like the fact that you don’t have to kill every player to win. You just need to protect your Golem and to destroy the other team’s Golem. The team that destroys the other team’s Golem wins.

Experience and Gold

Yup, as you battle you’ll gain experience points that will level up your character. When you level up, you’ll get bonus status points which you can use to further build your character. You’ll also receive gold which you can use to purchase better armors, weapons, accessories and cells. Rakion Online may have some RPG flavor but I feel that it’s more of an online action game much like FreeStyle than an online RPG.

Share your Stuff

I love the fact that all your characters share the same inventory and having 3 characters with the same class is a real budget saver. My 3 characters share the same armors, weapons, accessories and cells and because of this I am able to save a lot of gold. If I’m going to use a different character, I’ll just unequip everything and move it in to the inventory then change character and just equip it back on the new character.

Lights, Camera, ACTION

Rakion Online is full PVP action. There is no need to level grind, no need to wait a certain level to enjoy PVP. You get in and you fight and to top that it has nice 3D graphics. Low levels and high levels can wage war against each other in Rakion Online. Just set the game to Basic Mode and the playing field is even. Now, it’s skills versus skills and level is not a factor anymore.

Bandwidth HOG

Unfortunately, Rakion Online uses a lot of bandwidth. I’m on DSL and I still see a lot of RED and 999. I just can’t see a dial-up user enjoying this game.

Cheats, Hacks and Everything Nice

These are the ingredients that can make a game SUCK bad. Yup, there’s just too many cheats and hacks. Have you seen a low level summon 3 Golems? I have! Have you seen 1 character being ganged up by 6 and still kill everyone? I have!

Game On

I know Rakion Online does not fall under the MMORPG category but it has all the flavors of an MMORPG like the medieval/fantasy look and feel, character building, PVP, etc. The only thing missing is a persistent world to put it in but still it’s a very addictive game and best of all it’s absolutely FREE to PLAY!

Get Rakion Online at http://rakion.mobiusgames.net/

Rating: 7.5/10

Related posts:

1. New FPS from LUG at Live 2009
2. WarRock
3. Eudemons Online