 |
| Hilary Andreff |
Netmarble brings a mobile twist on the Lineage series.
06.27.19 - 2:12 PM
Netmarble is one of South Korea's biggest mobile game companies, and they've brought their expertise to the MMO scene with Lineage 2: Revolution. This title is based on the world from the original PC MMO Lineage II, set 100 years before the events in that game, which in turn are set 150 years prior to the original Lineage. A powerful dark society has caused chaos and is trying to pit the land's territories against one another. You join the Silverlight Mercenaries and are one of many fighting against the dark society's influence.
Lineage 2: Revolution has actually been going since 2017, and it definitely offers a different experience from Netmarble's other offerings; it has more of a standard, classic MMO feel rather than a gacha game format. It's worth noting, however, that as a non-subscription MMO, the game offers multiple forms of currency and some in-game materials for sale.
The main areas of focus for Revolution are delivering a smooth MMO experience on mobile, PvP, and large-scale battles. Fortress Sieges are battles that involve a large number of players working together toward a single goal at once; there are even mob battles. With all this going on, the work Netmarble has done to create a minimalist interface and automate quest completion are particularly noteworthy.
We were able to sit down with this title on an iPad for a short while at E3 2019, and having played it, it's easy to see why Revolution is one of the most popular games in the non-subscription mobile MMO category. Our Dark Elf made his way across the landscape just swimmingly. Battles were quick and intuitive; we were able to use the quest automation feature to get to our destination, which means that at least some quests can be completed even with minimal time to play. MMOs themselves are known to require a lot of time and effort to master, however, so getting that style of gameplay to jell with the mobile format may be complicated in the long term. For those heavily invested in this type of game, Lineage 2: Revolution continues to be worth attention at this point; there's a reason the preceding Lineage II PC title was included in ethnographic studies on the genre.
