Well of Souls (PC) review "Any hardcore fans of Everquest and Asheron's Call can stop reading now; you won't like this game. However, if you're thinking about purchasing those games, you might want to give Well of Souls a test drive. It provides a massively multiplayer game for the gamer who has a life, and doesn't want to spend money recklessly."

Well of Souls is a unique game in today's gaming market. It represents a time when RPG's were GIF and JPEG based. Any hardcore fans of Everquest and Asheron's Call can stop reading now; you won't like this game. However, if you're thinking about purchasing those games, you might want to give Well of Souls a test drive. It provides a massively multiplayer game for the gamer who has a life, and doesn't want to spend money recklessly.

There really isn't much of a story behind Well of Souls. It's very small, and isn't the main focus of the game. The main focus is multiplayer interaction, player battling, and clans. A minimal amount of equipment is contained in the game, with the main emphasis on character enhancement and building up an online role playing persona.

There's many different character types to choose from, however, only one reigns supreme - the magic user. It's a distinct balance issue. The magic characters are essential. Like most games, they start out weak, but they dwarf the other classes in power later in the game.

Points are earned for weapons and magic by using your attacks. There's eight different kinds of weapons, and also eight kinds of magic, based on the elemental system (earth, wind, fie, ect). The computer enemies aren't so tough, unless you venture too far out from your safety area. However, players are a different story altogether. It doesn't matter if you're level 1 to 98, if you're under level 99, you'll be attacked by other players. As a result, it can be hard a newcomer to survive.

You attack by clicking your mouse on the enemy. That's all. In fact, almost everything is controlled by one click of the mouse. It simplizes things, which is a godsend for a little RPG.

Graphically, Well of Souls... Well, it's pathetic. All enemies and character images are comprised of JPEG and GIF pictures. That's it. Therefore, you can insert your own pictures into the game. However, the graphics look very very bad compared to the rich computer generated graphics of other PC games.

The sounds are all midi. I think that says it all. If you're unfamiliar with midi sound, listen to any Nintendo or PC game before 1990 for a refresher course.

Well of Souls DOES provide a taste of what multiplayer gaming is like on a larger scale, though. Clan alliances are made and broken, battles break out between factions of players, and player killing is rampant. You get a clear view of the good (and the bad) of online gaming. At a price of nothing, it can't hurt to try Well of Souls. You can find it at http://www.synthetic-reality.com/wosHome.htm, the home of Synthetic Reality, maker of the game.

Community review by sgreenwell (Date unavailable) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.