GAME REVIEW: Citadel: Forged with Fire - Early Access (My Grade: 3/5 - 4/5)

Citadel is, essentially, a wizard MMO Sandbox game where you play as a newly forged (and I mean literally 'forged') mage, thrown into the world of Ignus. It is an open world experience, with combat mechanics similar to Skyrim, so any Elder Scrolls fans may enjoy the combat aspect of the game (before you ask, yes, there are dragons too, I'll show you later!).

The initial challenge of the game is survival - you will need to gather the most basic components in order to build your weapon of choice and construct a makeshift camp. This small camp is the beginnings of your castle, with your throne being the centre of your influence, without which the individual wall pieces, floor pieces and everything in between, will degrade over time until nature takes over once again and there is nothing left but grass and nice-smelling wildflowers.

Building is, for me, the biggest and most fun aspect of the game. I'm a creative type and feel that the system gives me a huge scope of freedom in what I can build. Imagination is really the only limit you have and if you spend some time planning, you can really create something beautiful. (At this point I will mention that I really hate the blockyness of Minecraft... I'm sorry if this will gain me some enemies but I really think that buildings in this game look better)

Combat itself is still rather clunky, which I will take away from the grade. If you've played Skyrim you know what I'm talking about. You essentially hack and slash, but instead of using weapons bash things you focus on spells for the majority of your damage (you're a wizard, after all). Aiming can be rather annoying, however it is something you get used to. There are 2 PoV modes - First person and Third person (Thank GOD!!!), which really caters to those of you who, like me, despise the First person mod with a passion. There is both ample PvE and PvP, with separate PvE only servers for those like me who don't mind slaughtering herds of cattle but wouldn't want to harm another human being (ok, I'll be honest, I just don't like the idea of my castle being ripped apart while I'm offline). There are a couple of weapons to choose from, though they are mostly melee and I would expect more choices to be added at a later date. This takes me to a more important point - the Knowledge Tree.

The Knowledge Tree is where you really forge your character. You use Knowledge points to unlock everything from weapons to buildings and spells. Every weapon has its own spell tree, so you need to decide which weapon you will favour early on. You can wear any armour you like, without any specific requirements, as long as you unlock and have the means to forge it. All creation happens in your person headquarters. I must say, I think I would like more options added in the future, so I will take that away from the grade, but at the same time the existing ones are more than enough to make the game fulfilling.

Graphics are quite good. The world is rather beautiful and will appeal to Elder Scrolls, Risen and other open world RPG fans. I really love just enjoying the views since the game really encourages the player to immerse themselves in the environment. This is emphasised by an incredibly peaceful and unobtrusive background sound. However, what I find lacking are the character models and music. Character creation is relatively simple, with just a few options to pick from. Those who enjoy spending an hour making your character would probably be disappointed, but you never truly get to focus on people's faces most of the time anyway. The music in the game is almost non-existent, so you MIGHT fall asleep if you've been awake for longer than 12 hours (in which case you should probably go to bed rather than play Citadel, but each to his own). Still, there are PLENTY of beautiful things to look at, and the gear itself is quite good looking! Check it out:

As for technical things, you can all check the specs on Steam, I don't need to get into those. When I first started there were quite a few bugs, however I am very pleased with the developers who release regular patches and improve the game. Due to this, the program has become much more stable and the servers seem to be crashing and bugging much less frequently. You may still encounter some bugs, especially if your computer is below average. If this is the case, I advise patience and support to the devs who do seem to be working hard to improve our experience.

Overall, I could give this game (which is still in Early Access, that's IMPortant) a solid 3/5 or a 4/5, depending on how critically we take those negative points. It is certainly worth the money I spent and I would definitely continue and love to play it.

See you around!