Developer: Omniconnection
Publisher: Omniconnection
Platforms: PC
Tested on: PC
Grimoire: Manastorm – Review
Grimoire: Manastorm is free to play. In a world where magic swirls all around humanity, the power of the elements are used for FFA fights and taking down vast hordes of undead that are threatening the survival of those who aren’t apt at the arcane. The name is something ominous, but then again, magicky book: fierce wind of arcane particles isn’t quite as catchy. So set those magic hats askew, don your favorite coloured robe and channel death in the palms of your hands.
Story
The south brings ruin with it -stifle your laughter at how apt this is to the current political situation basically everywhere- and the region is gripped by a bitter feud between two houses. With the decrepitude creeping up upon them, you’d think the two houses would have better things to do than squabble over an artefact called: ‘The Grimoire’. Seeing as it brings destruction with it, it’s the eye of the hurricane currently ravaging the Empire. That’s the background story, it’s a backbone, and like a backbone, it’s there, but under the surface, and you can ignore it and it will still hold up the game.
It won’t add unto or detract from the experience if you were to go blind into the game, ignoring the narrative. There are no cutscenes, so you’ll get the info from copious amount of text plastered over the screen. Not the most gracious way to convey a message, but it does the job.
Graphics
Grimoire: Manastorm is a visually ‘functional’ game. There’s action going on, so you’ll know you’re playing a game. There is however some problems with the framerate, which dips and pulls up erratically, making a first person ‘shooter’ a very aggrieving experience as you try to hit the enemies. Especially in the player vs player matches the twitch gameplay loses its decorum as the framerate drops. The characters themselves stand out quite a bit with every character having different enough magic and these are graphically worked out well enough that they don’t feel like they’ve just been copy pasting it.
Sound
When it comes to the sound Grimoire: Manastorm is a bit hit and miss. There’s the tune of the opening menu, which is actually quite epic. Then there’s the actual in-game sounds and that’s where the cracks show. There’s no music in the menus for choosing the match type, and then there’s also no music in the matches themselves. There are however sounds for the attacks, which, if you’ve played a lot of games with magic in them will sound generic. When you are playing and you start hearing the enemies around you, it’s hard to find out where the sound is actually coming from. This forces you to wander and look around to see where they are and this might cost you precious time if they are already attacking the place you are supposed to guard.
Gameplay
Grimoire: Manastorm is a first person shooter. You fire off spells to ward of the undead or other players. W,A,S,D moves your character around and the mouse is used for aiming and firing. Q and E fire off different attacks than you normal run off the mill one, and spacebar is used for jumping.
There is the single player campaign in which you take on the undead while protecting the innocent. This is straightforward and it’s just you killing everything that moves. Then there’s the multiplayer modes Free For All in which you kill everyone that moves and they are also sentient humans that are out to kill you and will not stop at anything. Finally there’s the Conquest mode in which you have to control points on the map and get points for every point conquered. All the while enemy players will try to take you down.
The game is quite fun, but currently the multiplayer games are quite barren as the game isn’t really populated. Even though it’s free to play, it’s currently not a beehive of activity. Which is a shame because, even though the game needs some polishing, it could be a really fun multiplayer frantic shooter.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a first person multiplayer shooter with a magical twist then definitely look into Grimoire: Manastorm, maybe even tell a friend, as the game currently doesn’t really have an abundance of players. Every player added gives you more of a chance to actually find a match. If you are looking for back-to-back matches in a multiplayer shooter, then best pass this game right on by.
Grimoire: Manastorm - Review,
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