Auto Assault

By Alex Arbizo . May 1, 2006 . 3:47pm

In a post apocalyptic wasteland heroes are needed to rise up and fight for survival. Among thousands of human, mutant, and biomek driven war-machines the challenge is not just to survive, but to be the best and leave your mark. So gear up, hop in, and kick it into drive…

NCSoft’s Auto Assault has all the elements of an MMORPG with a more developed playable character concept. Starting out you still pick a race and a class which defines your role as a player, only your class is the class of automobile you drive. There are 4 unique classes of cars for each of the 3 races. Each class has its own strengths and weaknesses but, for the most part, are balanced. The three races are humans, mutants and biomeks where each one starts in a different zone and has their own unique racial traits. Race should hardly influence one’s decision when starting a new character, look for a class that sounds exciting to you and your race has already been determined.

When choosing, I did notice a pattern among each race’s automobiles. They all have a balanced class, a heavy armor class, a heavy damage class and a repair/utility class. The specifics vary greatly though which makes playing each one almost like playing a different game. The leveling system more or less what one would expect from an MMO. Kill enemies and complete quests to gain experience and level up. When you level, you receive attribute points and skill points to spend as you see fit.

The combat system is really the area in which Auto Assault has expanded the scope of the MMORPG. Until you enter battle, it is hard to see why you could not just replace the car with a person. But because you are always fighting multiple enemies and the enemy respawn rate is very fast (20 – 30 secs.), an expanded, more customizable weapon system is required. In Auto Assault there is no penalty for dying, when you do a helicopter retrieves the wreckage and takes you to the last repair station you visited. This, of course, can be prevented by using consumables (repair kits), and by calling the helicopter to come repair you in the field for a nominal fee.

The weapon system allows for a diverse arrangement of guns, lasers, rocket launchers and a plethora of other devices used to lay waste to your enemies. Firearms can be placed on the front and back of your auto, as well as a turret on the top. The front and back weapons do not move but the turret will rotate and follow targeted enemies. Often you will be taking damage without being sure of where it is coming from. The TAB key will scroll though nearby enemies in a 360° radius, allowing your turret to target enemies you may not necessarily be able to see. The cone in which your weapons are firing is outlined on the ground, allowing you to keep track of what direction your turret is aimed in. Also, unit frames appear which allow you to see the names and health of both friendly and hostile targets. They show whenever a target is selected with TAB or the mouse. Melee weapons can also be attached which provides that extra damage when taking on multiple enemies. Be careful though, your weapons generate heat, which is displayed graphically. If you hold your fire key for too long, your weapons will overheat and become unusable for short time.

Aside from the swappable weapons, each class has its own unique weapons that can be upgraded with skill points when you level up. You can place these abilities in your skill bar and bind them to different keys. Your car is equipped with a power source, which runs these special abilities. Your power constantly regenerates, but if you use too many skills you will run out of power for a brief time. New power sources are also obtainable with a faster regen rate and larger maximum capacity.

Weapon and armor upgrades are only a piece of the car customization picture. Accessories that change the appearance of your car can also be equipped. These are some of the many items that can be crafted in Auto Assault. Enemy mobiles often drop broken parts, which with the right components and skills can be crafted into usable weapons and items.

Of the different features offered in Auto Assault, one of my personal favorites is the customizable user interface (UI). Every icon can be moved to anywhere you want it on the screen. This includes the skill bar, minimap, health gauge and power mode icons. As an MMO player and UI developer I have my own specific setup, which I was able to closely emulate with the default capabilities. I do not yet know if NCSoft will allow players to script and share their own UI addons for Auto Assault, though they should encourage this in the future.

When you really want to show off your skill and equipment, there is nothing like player vs. player (PVP). From town, you can enter a Twisted Metal style arena with people around your level, and go all out to prove your dominance. You can choose to either play 1v1 or as part of a team and everyone is usually around your level. I say usually because to prevent making you wait too long they occasionally pair you against someone much higher or lower. Because the game is still new, the majority of players are still leveling to hit that level 80 cap. In any case, I am a huge fan of PVP in any game, and when the Auto Assault servers become a bit more populated and people reach the cap, the PVP system will be an outstanding feature.

So all in all, this destruction derby MMORPG will keep gamers busy with tons to do. It is sort of a cross genre platform attracts players outside the normal MMO spectrum.

+ Pros: Always quests to do, areas to explore, people to chat with. One could put a lot of time into crafting. The PVP is addicting. There is a built in voice communication system. You get to wreak havoc and blow things up on an interactive map.

- Cons: As with most MMO’s, this game can consume a large portion of your time, it is still in the early phase, lots of patches to come. $15 monthly fee. To run Auto Assault you need a good computer. Minimum requirements are:

Pentium 1.6 GHZ/AMD Athlon XP

512 MB RAM

ATI Radeon 8500/GeForce TI 64 series

Even with the recommended requirements of 2.5 GHZ, there was still some lag with the video settings turned down a little. Play it on a real gaming comp if you do not want to get pwned in PVP.

Overall: Auto Assault has very detailed graphics and in depth gameplay. Combined with the multiplayer factor this game is the complete package.

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