Earth has been overrun by a massive alien force called the Bane. Survivors have been herded onto transport ships and brought to wormhole transporters created by an ancient alien race called the "Eloh". As the survivors step into the wormhole, they are transported to planets in the far reaches of space. This is where the story for Richard Garriot's Tabula Rasa begins – with you playing as one of the newly transported survivors from Earth.

Tabula Rasa, created by NCSoft (other credits include City of Heros/Villians and Guildwars), is set on breaking the mold for massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs). If you are looking for elves, druids, or dwarves dancing in a pub and click-and-forget combat mechanics in an MMORPG you might as well stop reading now – Tabula Rasa offers an intense action packed experience that is a refreshing addition to the MMO genre. By introducing concepts seen in many first person shooters (FPS) into the MMORPG genre – Tabula Rasa is helping redefine the standard of the World of Warcraft dominated MMO market.

Gameplay Mechanics

What helps Richard Garriot's Tabula Rasa break the mold of the standard fantasy MMO games is that it integrates a first person shooter feel by requiring players to actively aim and shoot at their targets. The interface in Tabula Rasa has the inclusion of a reticle in the center of the screen instead of the standard mouse pointer. A player can lock onto a target (with some weapons) by first aiming at them and then pressing the TAB button. Unlike other MMOs, switching targets is not as simple as TAB-cycling. Instead, the aiming reticle needs to be aimed at a new target. Some weapons do not allow for locking on at all (like the shotgun). In addition to the active aiming, players are required to reload, and at times, un-jam their guns using the R key (trying to fire with an empty gun automatically reloads the gun aswell). Both of these features make for a very active and engaging game play experience. I have yet to fall asleep at my keyboard playing Tabula Rasa – a fact that I cannot say for other MMOs out there.

Character Creation

Tabula Rasa offers a character creation process familiar to anyone with experience with an MMO. Players are required to enter both a unique first and last name for their character. The last name is used in Tabula Rasa as the main character "handle". This is what is used for in-game chats. In addition, any cloned characters (which we will talk about later) will use the same last name. There are plenty of unique options for players to go crazy with to create their ideal avatar – even the ability to get aviators (my personal favorite). A nice addition to the process is the inclusion of a RGB color selection wheel so that your character can truly have ANY color hair, skin, clothes, and aviators you would like.

Abilities

Even though Tabula Rasa is all about the integration of FPS methodologies into its game play, players who prefer to use spells and abilities instead of just blasting away at enemies will find plenty of options. Scattered throughout the three planets in the game are items called "logos". These glowing symbols are collected by players as they find them during the progress of the game. These "logos" are added to the players catalog and are required to use some spells and abilities in game. Some basic abilities – like Lightning and Sprint – do not require any "logos" symbols, but higher level abilities will require multiple combinations of them before they can be used.

The Class Structure

Tabula Rasa begins players in a fashion that is similar to characters in Final Fantasy Tactics. Each new character starts out as a recruit. As a recruit, players will have access to basic abilities (akin to spells in fantasy MMOs)– like lightning and sprint, basic weapons (hand-to-hand combat, pistols, rifles, and shotguns), and light armor. At level 5, the player is allowed to choose their path to either the specialist or soldier. Specialists are the lowest tier of the path that leads classes that focus on logos abilities over weapon usage. Specialists are allowed to use tools for healing themselves and others, deciphering locked crates, and repairing armor. Soldiers, on the other hand, begin the path towards using weapons over abilities for damage with the addition of heavier armor and machine guns.

At level 15, players are able to choose a tier 3 class. Specialists can choose to become a Sapper (combat support using electronics and robotics) or a Biotechnician (combat support focused around affecting living tissue). Soldiers can choose to become either a heavy weapons expert Commando or sneakier Ranger that focuses on misdirection and killing enemies from a distance. At level 30, the player is able to choose a final class. Sappers can either become an Engineer focused on creating robots, traps, and turrets or a Demolitionist who is focused on delivering massive amounts of area damage. Biotechnitians can either become a Medic (who can heal allies or debuff biological enemies) or an Exobiologist which focuses on creating biological minions to their aid. Rangers can either become Snipers – the long range death dealer - or Assassins (blade wielding and sneaky). Commandos have the option of becoming a Guardian which focuses on close range combat with a staff and logos abilities or Grenadiers who can use propellant guns and deliver massive damage to groups of enemies.

Cloning

            Tabula Rasa helps players to save time by allowing them to create clones of their characters right before choosing a class upgrade. A clone has all of the same attributes as the original character, but does not have any of the items that the original one had. Making clones allows for players to easily try different paths in the class structure without having to re-grind back from level one. This is a very refreshing addition to the MMO genre since many people do no like starting back from a newbie character just to try out a different path.

Missions and Experience

Players gain experience in Tabula Rasa just like in any other MMO – through mission running and through killing enemies. Where Tabula Rasa excels in making it different is through experience bonuses based on both the number of and method in which you kill your enemies. One way to get an experience bonus is to kill a lot of enemies in a relatively short amount of time.

Doing this raises the experience bonus from 125% up to 250%. Another way to get an experience bonus is by performing a special finishing move on opponents called and overkill. Sometimes, when an enemy is killed, a red skull appears above their head. If you can approach them and perform a melee attack (using the F key), their body splatters and you get an automatic experience bonus for a short amount of time.

Conclusion

Overall, Richard Garriot's Tabula Rasa is a much needed variation on the MMORPG genre. The new game play mechanic that mimics the FPS feel helps to alleviate many of the boring moments for combat that plague other MMOs. Since it is currently in beta, it is hard to comment about the overall stability of the game – there are some bugged missions and enemies that are looming around – but once the game is released in early November, most of those problems should be fixed. Tabula Rasa is definitely worth taking a look at this fall, especially if you are tired of dwarven dance parties and the standard fantasy MMO fare.