It's time to check in on the beta of Requiem: Bloodymare produced by Gravity Interactive.

The goal of many MMORPG games is to create a fantasy world believable enough to engross its user.  Hours upon hours are spent staring at a screen filled with grassy knolls and flowered forests.  Furry beasts are slain for their hides and herbs gathered for their sudden need.  All this, and yet something often seems to be missing from these worlds of fantasy perfect - something obvious that should not be overlooked.

As a slighly tarnished iron sword slices through the rough hide of a mangy animal, red numbers pour out of its side.  Back that thought up for a second - red numbers?  Where is the blood?  Granted, all games don’t need blood, but why are hit points the only thing we ever see?  Requiem: Bloodymare has the blood we crave and is currently in beta testing.

Requiem: Bloodymare is a dark, dark world of death and mayhem.  Mostly snow covered land and overcast skies portraying a desolate world.  The environments follow suit with everything from rundown villages to wasted fields.  Everything is in a dismal state of destruction and sorrow.  As you hack and slash your way through monsters, blood sprays from their wounds until their body is torn in two.  It gets a little old as there currently seems to be only two different death animations.  All the monsters seem to be as monsters should: they are, in fact, monsters and not some cute little bunny whose paw you need to create an imbued lucky charm.  As the screen goes black, and night fades into "nightmare," things only get worse.  This is when the nightmare creatures roam the wild searching for blood to bathe in.  If you thought all previous monsters where big and scary, then you'd be in for the shock of a lifetime.  These are the big daddies of the game, and they will strike fear in the heart of any gamer.

The sounds are as bleak as the world is.  That is to say that they are used sparingly.  Of course, there are a few background noises that set the mood: the wind, some animals, other characters.  The scariest effect so far is when the world switches into nightmare.  The flash of black is accompanied by a quick blare of suspenseful music.  Other than that, Requiem: Bloodymare is, thus far, mostly devoid of sound. 

About the only other intermission in this bleak world of silence is the fighting.  I like what has been done with the battle sounds.  My favorite sounds play while fighting a mini golem.  I can actually hear the rock grinding as it raises its arm to swing its fist at me.

Being an MMORPG, Requiem: Bloodymare has most of the qualities one would expect upon entering such a world.  This game is not designed for the newcomer to the genre as its style is a little more advanced than others.  In fact, in the game's current state, it may take some work to actually get into the meat of the game.

Unfortunately, I was unable to level up high enough to explore the DNA system.  The DNA system allows the higher level players the chance to add on abilities to their character that Mother Nature never intended.  Also available for higher levels is the beast possession system, which allows the player to transform into beasts that have powerful attacks.  Unfortunately, you will have to play quite a bit of the game if you ever intend on seeing those features. 

Requiem: Bloodymare is also similar to other MMORPGs in terms of controls.  WASD is a given, and a toolbar to assign quick keys is a no brainer.  Some of the other keys are reassigned, which gives the game a bit of a different feel, but it is something to which one can easily become accustomed.  Nothing much stands out here, but honestly, that is a good thing.  In fact, I think MMORPGs should all use a standarized control layout.

Still in development, Requiem: Bloodymare is surprisingly decent.  It turns out that the addition of blood and mangled corpses really are "all that and a bag of chips".  Once the game is polished and goes "gold", it'll be at the top of my list for MMORPGs to check out this year. 

Gravity Interactive has done a great job so far and I can’t wait to see where they go with this title.  Requiem: Bloodymare should be available this spring for the PC.

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