Runes of Magic is a wonderfully presented game, with graphics that challenge even the best MMORPGs in the market today. Playing the game is a pleasure with beautifully rendered graphics and background music that could pass for a music track on your CD.

Determining who’s who in the game is easy with a wide range of customization options. Beginners and novices on the other hand are easily distinguishable with their basic items and gear but this steadily fades away with every gift bag, quest gear and item drops.

As players level up, their customization options also broaden. This allows players to create their own unique character and is a great relief from the other MMORPGs which gives you the eerie feeling of being a clone. Scenery could be a tat boring as much of it is shrouded in gloom and could get your spirit down at times.

Combat is simple, with basic spell and attack combinations able to dish out all the pain your monster needs. Even at the higher stages, spell/ attack combinations worked pretty well . Learning to master some of the basic attacks and spells could be a good way of successfully going up the ladder in the game.

Getting up the job levels come at a steady pace unlike other MMORPG where going to the next job seems to be an eternity. However, players should also take note that they are leveling two characters not one so strategizing and allocating stat points is equally important. The game developers certainly scored high on this aspect as even with the two characters I never felt bogged down in terms of leveling.

I guess this is one of the intangibles which has left me feel a bad taste about other MMORPGs. They all start fairly easy and as I steadily progressed leveling seemed to creep at a standstill until I just didn’t have the patience to farm out experience points. Make you wonder the sense of starting off players at an easy pace then crush their ambitions with the painful reality of leveling at the higher jobs.

Runes of Magic is more than just killing monsters and finishing quests. Other activities include crafting but this seems to be the games chink in the armor. Players considering a job in crafting should consider taking some professions specifically designed for the craft. Gathering materials needed is as easy as learning the skill from your NPC. Crafting items is pretty easy and straightforward.