Free to Pwn: Rusty Hearts

$60? Is that a joke? Your family can't live on ramen and disappointment alone. So, what's a penny pinching gamer like yourself to do? Why, dive into the ever-expanding world of free-to-play games, of course. Yeah, they sometimes get a bad rap, but the fact of the matter is, they're here to stay, and F2P does not just mean Farmville anymore. In this column, Nathan Grayson picks out the cream of the free-to-play crop so you don't have to.


Rusty Hearts: What is it?

Rusty Hearts is an MMO that feels like the result of a mad scientist's attempt to simultaneously play god and videogames. The game's DNA is a criss-crossing mixture of World of Warcraft, Diablo, God of War, Castlevania, and Japan's entire animation industry -- to name a few. In a nutshell, though, you select one of four colorfully coifed, anime-influenced main characters, combo-mash your way through dungeon-after-dungeon, and watch as the story of Castle Curtis and the evil Count Vlad unfolds through (sometimes fully voiced) cut-scenes. Basically, if you like stylish, combo-based beatdowns, copious level-ups, and moderately stuffed loot pinatas, read on.


Why is it free-to-play?

Perfect World Entertainment's been quietly publishing more MMOs than there are Nickleback songs that sound exactly the same for quite some time, but it's only recently begun to expand outside China. And while Cryptic Studios' Neverwinter and Runic's Torchlight II have been hogging the hype spotlight, Perfect World's free-to-play business is perhaps its biggest Western-based movement.

Moreover, unlike the countless other MMOs that recently picked free-to-play over Death's cold embrace, Rusty Hearts is F2P to its very core.

"From the beginning, Rusty Hearts was developed specifically as a free-to-play title," game producer Mark Hill told GameSpy. "There are many different ways a player can enjoy the game, and it is completely up to them what they want to spend their money on -- or even if they want to spend money at all. All of the game's systems and features are available for players to enjoy regardless of paying status."


What are you paying for?

Cosmetic upgrades, of course, are a no-brainer in a game like Rusty Hearts. Slap a real-life price tag on a snazzy pair of sneakers and no one's gonna bat an eyelash -- so long as those boots are only made for walking. If numbers enter the picture, however, the balancing act gets a bit trickier. So, what's Perfect World's solution? Simple: It's auctioning off universe-obliterating power to the highest bidder. Thing is, you've got two currencies to choose from: money and time.

"Players have the option to purchase a wide variety of items from the cash shop depending on what is most important to them in the game," Hill explained. "This includes anything from a completely new costume set, which will let them modify their character's look, to items that will allow them to randomly change or 're-roll' the stats of certain pieces of gear and weapons."

"The majority of benefits that players receive through the cash shop can be achieved in the game without spending a dime, but may require a little more effort. For example, take the random stat change items I just mentioned. If a player wants to upgrade the stats of those items, they can continue running dungeons until the gear with stats they are looking for drops, or they can collect stones that can be taken to an NPC that will enchant the weapon with greater stats."


How does it play?

Rusty Hearts may call itself an MMO, but its heart beats to the click-click-click rhythm of a dungeon-crawler like Diablo -- minus the click-click-click. Instead, it's more about mash-mash-mashing, but damn does it ever look cool. The game's combo system is relatively simple -- merely requiring single key presses with a modicum of timing -- but flashy spell effects and attacks that send half a Dynasty Warriors game's worth of enemies careening through the air at once make for some seriously addictive battling. Plus, there's a newly implemented dungeon ranking system based on rapid accumulation of "style" points.

And that's good, because you'll be slicing your way through room-after-room full of enemies roughly 90% of the time. Rusty Hearts has hub areas, but there's not much to them. The game's structured less like a surface level safari and more like a deep sea dive; every once in a while, you might come up for air, but Rusty Hearts' appeal lies in delving ever deeper into Castle Curtis' monster-infested bowels.

That in mind, get ready to become awfully well-acquainted with the scenery. For instance, you might be asked to run a certain section of a dungeon, beat its boss, and collect, say, 15 landshark clavicles. Simple enough. But, after turning in all of those quests topside, you might be asked to replay the same section on a harder difficulty, collect different enemy drops, etc, etc. Sounds tedious, right?

Shockingly, it hurts the game less than you'd think. Thankfully, Rusty Hearts' dungeons are practically bite-sized and incredibly fast-paced. Odds are, you'll fly through most of them in five or 10 minutes. As a result, the game's essentially built to lull you into neglecting your day-to-day responsibilities for "just five more minutes." Next thing you know, of course, it's midnight. In the year 2017.

That said, Rusty Hearts is pretty much devoid of challenge for far too many hours, and joining up with other players only exacerbates the problem. PVP, meanwhile, has a surprising amount of variety, but currently lacks the ability to match players of equal level. Sorry, eager-yet-oh-so-squishy low level types. Them's the breaks.




What's next?

Tons of stuff. Rusty Hearts is still technically in open beta, so nothing's set in stone. Happily, proper PVP matchmaking is at the tippity top of the list, but there are boatloads of other (free!) bits and bobs in the pipeline.

"In its short lifespan so far, Rusty Hearts has already seen some major updates," Hill noted. "As new content is developed and fully tested, the hub worlds and dungeons will continue to open up and the storyline will continue to unfold."

"Future plans include enhancing the PVP experience, adding new areas and dungeons for players to explore, raising the level cap, developing new characters, a huge raid system where many players can fight through larger dungeons together, and more. One thing is for sure: it will all be free!"


Nathan Grayson is a freelancer based out of Dallas, Texas. He writes about games for everybody imaginable, but his real dream is to join the esteemed staff of Cat Fancy.


Spy Guy says: How many of you out there have tried your hand at the eclectic blend of action offered by Rusty Hearts? What did you make of this free-to-play MMO?