Sword Of Shadows is
Snail Games another mobile version of Age of Wushu/Wulin. This is a martial arts MMORPG very similar to the PC version(s) where you will live as a member of clan. Sword of Shadows has many familiar features including Skill Sets, Cultivation System, PvE & PvP System, Treasure Hunt, Daily & Weekly Quest and many more. This game brings back a lot of memories from Age of Wulin.
INSTALLATION: Pretty easy, since I'am using an android phone and emulator. Just download the client file. Just go to this link and select which file base on your device OS (iOS/Android).
Please take note that there is a known issue where you will not see any server options. Please try to restart or power cycle your device.
CHARACTER CREATION: In character creation you first have to select your clan, then select your character Gender (Female only for Emei) and then enter your character name...and that’s it!
SCORE: 3/10CLASS/CLAN INTRODUCTION: Currently there are 5 available clans to choose from...
The master of blades
WUDANG CLAN
The all Female
EMEI CLAN
The Deadly
TANGMEN CLAN
The master of spear
MING CLAN
and the Justice
LINGXIAO CLAN
Each clan have its weapon of choice and gameplay style. However, please take note that you can switch weapons and styles later on. You can even learn the skills of other clans.
SCORE: 8/10GRAPHICS: For a Mobile game, the graphics quality is pretty impressive. From character details, mount details, basic movement, to environment details, fog/cloud etc. There are 4 resolution options to choose from.
LOW Resolution
MEDIUM Resolution
HIGH Resolution
and the
BEST Resolution
Object, Environment, Character details, Shadow, Effects etc all increase along with the quality and at BEST the resolution is great!
Score: 8/10 GAME WORLD: although the game world is divided by sections of clan/sect, cities and event maps, it is still a pretty and vibrant open world.
This is me on top of the roof of TANGMEN sect entrance...
yes you can swim too...
and don't worry because your character have unlimited breath under water...lelz
On top of a mountain with my horse...
SCORE: 10/10USER INTERFACE: it is obviously a clutter which leaves just a reasonable center part of the screen left for you to focus on your view. I highly suggest that you zoom out so that you can see a wider perspective. For the hidden tabs, you basically have to remember where those tabs are located. For example, you can view your flying skills by tapping on the button located at the lower left corner of the screen.
then tap the Cultivation button and then tap the Flying Skills button.
you will find yourself tapping on multiple buttons every time since you need to queue and arrange your cultivation skills etc.
SCORE: 7/10QUESTING: Auto Path, Auto Battle, Auto Questing... you can basically spend hours "doing" quest by just tapping the quest on the tracker. Tap > auto path > tap > auto path > tap > auto submit > tap > get rewards > tap > do next quest and so on...
Auto Battle
You can disable auto battle by tapping the auto battle button.
these features are both boring and convenient at the same time. Questing is also divided into many types. Main quest line, School/Sect Quest, Tutorial Quest, Event Quest etc.
The diversity, convenience and story line is pretty interesting.
SCORE: 7/10
PvE and PvE: Player VS Enemy is your basic feature which is either open world or instanced. For open world PvE kill quest, you can either fight manually or enable auto battle. PvP on the other hand is more complicated. You can choose from X different options where PEACE mode will disable you from initiating an attack on another player. JIANGHU mode which will enables you from initiating an attack. INFAMY mode will enable you to attack whenever and whoever you want to attack, basically killer mode. You may also enjoy PvP in a lot of features like Arena/Martial Palace, Open world PvP, Sect Wars etc. One thing players enjoy the most in a Martial Arts MMO is PvP and this game have it!
SCORE: 8/10
now, let's move on to the burning question that everyone ask when playing MMOs...
is the game PAY TO WIN?
The Familiar Face of Mobile Pay To Win features can be found almost
immediately when you log into the game and that is the
FIRST TOP UP
where you may spend from $0.99 to $99.99 in just 1 sitting...
Followed by the
7 Days TOP UP
where you have to spend at least $150~ to get all 7 days top up rewards
But wait... there's MORE!!!
there's the REBATE
and the
Daily Top Up Rewards
$150+ Daily! O_o
Another Top Up Rewards
50K Gold...O_O
but wait...there's a LOT MORE!
You can basically buy Reinforcement, Cultivation, Item Packs etc from Shop or Mysterious Elder.
you can also use money to automatically get 5 STAR result on your quest!
I haven't covered everything that is PAY TO WIN about this game... but I think these are more than enough for
Sword of Shadows to be a
CERTIFIED PAY TO WIN GAME. Final Verdict: The game on its own is "good" but the Pay to Win aspect of it is the WORST I have seen so far.
If you have a comment, suggestion, violent reaction, please don't hesitate to post it in the comment section below.
Thanks!