The Free MMO Part 1: 4Story

We kick off our Month of MMO with an MMORPG created by Zemi Interactive out of South Korea. It is called 4Story and if you like WoW you will definitely like this one. I can say this with absolute certainty because it appears to be a clone of the popular online monolith. Combat, questing, and skill advancement are all taken strait from the Blizzard playbook and brought to 4Story. This aside, the plot is actually quite different and somewhat intriguing. A lot of the storyline and plot are yet to be determined as the game continues to develop. 4Story is a brand new game that is in “Pre-Open Beta Test”. 4Story is also based in Korean and the translations to English leave much to be desired. It is hard to determine what you’re being told as you play the game, but I will try to explain the plot as I understand it to be so far.

4Story is set in the land of Iveria, which is inhabited by three kingdoms all blessed by the goddess of creation, Rea. The first kingdom is a nation of brave soldiers called DeFugel. The second is the nation of mysterious magic called Craxion. The third is a nation of strong troops called Broa. These three kingdoms have declared war against each other and have each waged ruthless campaigns with a great deal of sacrifice. This is where the games English translations become a bit of a problem. The story is briefly told as being a war of advocacy regarding the truth behind each nation’s history and beliefs. One hero is born with the destiny of discovering and uncovering the mysteries that have been lost for hundreds of thousands of years in order to put to rest the bickering between the nations. That hero is you, and you can chose to be part of either the Craxion or DeFugel kingdom as you start out on your journey through time.

You can play any one of three races. You can be a human, the most balanced of the races with no special gifts or abilities to speak of. They do, however, have no extreme weaknesses to speak of and that makes them a great race to start out with if you really don’t have a hang on the combat system. A good class for a human to play is typically a priest or an archer based on their overall balanced stats.

Another choice is the werebeast, with amazing strength and stunning dexterity; they have a real edge in combat and often overcome tough opponents in a toe-to-toe fight. The downside to this is a typical loss in the areas of intelligence. They’re also terrible casters due to their low mana.

If you like the idea of being cute and small, then a fairy is made just for you. This race is great for magical classes thanks to their boosts in intelligence and wisdom. This comes, as expected, at the cost of their physical abilities. You won’t find many fairy warriors roaming the world of 4Story.

Classes are available to further customize and set your character’s talents as they grow in 4Story. You can be an archer, assassin, priest, summoner, warrior, or wizard. The classes sit within the mold of those you will find on World of Warcraft, and seem fairly balanced considering the newness of this MMORPG.

If you, like me, are stuck to English as your primary language, then I encourage you to try 4Story with friends. Most of the players speak Korean and as I played I never did find an English speaking player. I’m sure they exist, but you will certainly be the minority. There also doesn’t appear to be multiple servers based on region which is the typical problem with a free MMORPG.

The game is in pre-beta but the glitches and bugs appear to be few. The combat system appears solid and you are able to customize and set your graphics the way you see fit, including putting the game in windowed mode. I didn’t find it gorgeous, as it seems to copy World of Warcraft in its cartoonish look and feel. It is, however, one of the best games I have played without price of admission in quite a long time. I will give you a fair warning; the client download seems to take five to eight hours typically on a high speed connection seemingly due to bandwidth issues on the host’s side. If you have a night to set up a download, and have been looking for a way to play World of Warcraft for free, try 4Story.

Link: 4Story Official Website