Decisions, decisions

Air Rivals includes an optional tutorial which rewards players with cash and items when completed. I would advise new players to complete the tutorial, even though most of the lessons are painfully obvious - with 5 stages are dedicated to movement alone. Movement and firing are handled with the mouse while commands such as boosting, slowing, and strafing are handling with the keyboard. The combat is fast paced which makes for exciting PvP battles but unfortunately the PvE (Player vs Environment) aspect is rather dull. Players will almost always have ‘missions’ to do. Missions usually require players to kill a certain amount of one or more creatures and reward players with exp, cash, and items. These missions are obviously more exciting than just grinding with no purpose but they get tiresome fast. For the first 20+ levels players will be hunting flying bees, spiders, moths, bats, and other mundane creatures. To make matters worse, most beginner hunting grounds are nearly empty which means players will often be grinding alone. Luckily, characters level up rapidly in Air Rivals. In less than an hour players will reach level 11 and be ready to choose which of the two factions (BCU or ANI) to join.

100 VS 100

It is possible to play Air Rivals without PvPing at all but for most players, PvP is the main hook. There are several PvP options in Air Rivals. The simplest is dueling. When outside cities, players can challenge others in the same area and level range to duels. Duel victories and losses will be recorded on all players character profile so it is important to take them seriously. When inside a city, players can sign up to the arena and join or host battles with the specifications they desire. The third PvP option is large scale faction battles that can involve up to 200 people (100 on each side). These battles are the most exciting as all players level 11+ can participate and actually contribute to the battle, and there are a number of ways for players to organize themselves to make things less chaotic. Players in the same faction can form Brigades and each faction can elect a single leader which can send server wide messages to all players.

Good-quality gaming

Even with its faults, Air Rivals is one of the most unique and entertaining free to play MMORPGs i’ve has the pleasure of playing. Air Rivals has plenty of grinding and questing for those interested in traditional MMORPG dynamics, but also includes the fast paced combat found in games like GunZ or Exteel. This mix of RPG and action elements works quite well in Air Rivals but does not make up for the fact that Air Rivals is mainly a PvP centered game. If PvP happens to be what you’re looking for, start downloading Air Rivals right away. If PvP in MMORPGs does not interest you, Air Rivals probably won’t either.

Review Mister Air
October 16, 2009