One of the better Yuletide traditions is the venerable holiday Advent Calendar, in which each day of December leading up to Christmas is marked off on a special calendar by opening its corresponding door to find a small gift, toy or chocolate squirreled away inside.
This year, we here at Cult of Mac decided we wanted to give our readers their very own Apple-themed advent calendar, filled with the year’s best apps, gadgets, stories and other curios. So each day in December, we’re going to lovingly peel back the door on the Cult of Mac 2012 Advent Calendar to reveal another delicious morsel, something really special that came out this year that we think every one of you should enjoy.
So what’s behind the door on Saturday the 15th? Arcane Legends for iOS, a free-to-play, massively multiplayer online game (MMO) that’s bound to please.
I like MMOs, really, I do. I played World of Warcraft from day one, have messed around in Guild Wars 1 and 2, and have accounts in Eve Online, Star Wars The Old Republic, DC Universe, and a few others. Truth is, though, I just don’t have enough time to play them as much as I want to. I’ve deactivated all my paid accounts, and only really play in a couple free-to-play MMOs on my Mac these days, on those rare occasions I can hop online and spend some time roaming the worlds, leveling up as I go. MMOs are quite a time commitment.
Which is really why I’m so glad to play something like Arcane Legends, the latest in a long line of mobile MMO titles from Spacetime Studios. It’s easy to hop in, grind a few levels, collect some loot, and hop out. The development team spent a lot of time making this a streamlined experience, and it shows in the ease with which you can find other players, create parties, and even play solo. Dungeons and quests are a simple affair, without a lot of fooferaw in the way, like cutscenes and voiced dialog. No, this is a mobile MMO through and through. Pop in, play a bit, hit the home button. Done.
There are three different classes, Warrior, Mage, and Ranger, and a variety of pets to help out in all the combat. Speaking of which, combat is fun, and totally not frustrating at all! The game does a great job auto-targeting the nearest enemy without a fuss, and the animations, especially the special powers, are smooth and fun to look at. Server load is apparently pretty well taken care of, as well; I have never seen any lag or stutter when playing, even in highly populated areas like the entry towns or the like.
Arcane Legends has all the good MMO stuff, though. It scratches the itch I have to play in an online, persistent world with other players. I can connect to friends who have the game and–a killer feature–play with them whether they’re playing on an iPhone, iPad, Mac or PC (via the Chrome browser), or an Android device. It’s all on the same servers, regardless of platform, and it just…works. Crazy, right?
While more hardcore MMO gamers might enjoy one of Spacetime Studios’s other MMO titles with more customization and classic MMO tropes, like Pocket Legends or Star Legends, folks who just want to drop in and out of a cute, high-quality MMO gaming experience need look no further than Arcane Legends.
