Duels is a new massively multiplayer free browser based game that combines all your favorite elements of TCGs and MMORPGs into a nice little fast and efficient package. Duels is setting out to change the way people think of online games by giving gamers all the level grindy, treasure hunty, player versus player action that they love, but letting them do it all in seconds with a couple simple mouseclicks. In fact you really only need to spend about 15 minutes a day on Duels to make steady headway. Add to that major collectible gameplay elements such as booster packs, item trading, and daily tournament support and you have yourself one of the most simple, challenging, and addicting online games on the market right now. From die hard collectible gamers to people new to the whole online game experience, no matter what type of gamer you are Duels will have something to keep you hacking and slashing away.
The story for Duels is pretty simple. You are a badass gladiator covered in scars, tattoos, and other manly regalia (even if you are female) in a never-ending quest to prove your muscles are bigger than every other badass gladiator's in the land. There is only one way to do this of course, by beating everyone else into a bloody pulp. Ok so maybe that's not the official story but that's what got across to me throughout my playing experience. Duels has a cannon backstory but you won't really run into it unless you go searching on the official wiki, and that's fine really because in my opinion spending too much time on backstory simply hinders what I want to do most in MMO's: stab things.
When you start up your Duels experience you are thrown head first into a character editor where you get to choose what your character gets to look like. You choose their sex, skin tone, face, hair, and even race, although the only two race choices are human and elf, and although elves are supposedly better at magic I haven't really seen a difference. The editor is actually pretty powerful, and though it limits you to rough battle hardened muscly barbarians, it does do a good job of letting you customize what style of barbarian you want to play. Naturally I made a chiseled man with pale white skin and long black hair named “Nathan Implosion” 10 XP if you get the reference.
Then you are able to start distributing stat points. All stats start at ten and you only have two points to distribute at first. So you won't have much impact on your starting character right out of the gates but it still makes a difference in the long run so choose wisely. There are lots of different character builds in Duels, but they all take very specific stat allocations, so missing a point here or there might cripple you at higher levels, but in the beginning fights are rather forgiving, and you can always pay to respect later. After that, you are given a couple pieces of starting equipment and the game begins.
The basic game progression of Duels is simple. You find someone (either an NPC or another player character) to challenge, pick your starting equipment, skills, actions, scrolls, and so forth and then fight. The fighting is automatic but you do get to see silhouettes of your characters shanking each other over and over again which is amusing. Once all is said and done only one person is left standing. That person gets a reward of gold, XP, and tokens, while the fallen combatant gets a smaller XP reward and sometimes a very small amount of tokens. Then you choose another challenger and repeat the whole process.
Because fighting is automatic in Duels, the animations are optional and although they are fun to watch, they do take a bit of time to play out. So, if instead you are pressed for time like me, you can switch the whole fight into “narration” mode, where, much like in a chat room, line by line narration of the fight is given, which goes much faster. Of course, if you just so happen to be one of those people with schedules that barely give them time to eat, sleep, or sit down, Duels still has you covered, as you also have the option of clicking the “skip to end” button, bypassing each individual attack and giving you the straight outcome of the fight. This allows you to duel several people in a matter of minutes, or even seconds. Overall, Duels lets you progress through the game as quick or slow as you like, and that is an appealing feature, a feature which very few other games have.
Other than that, Duels has everything about MMO's you love. You can buy and sell equipment at either NPC run stores, or at the free market where other players sell things they don't need any more. You can purchase a pet to help do the battling for you. You can join guilds and parties and make both allies and rival before stabbing them both in the back when you have had enough of their weakness, and of course, you can level up.
Another MMO aspect of Duels comes in when you consider how your character is raised. Every level you get a few stat points to allocate, and some skill points to mess around with. Your path dictates your skills in Duels and in the beginning you can only choose the path of the staff, for the intelligent mage types, or the path of the sword, for face beaters like myself. Later on however you get to further specialize. The path of the staff splits into the path of the mage and the path of the druid, while the path of the sword splits into the path of the warrior for valiant paladins of justice, and path of the assassin, for scummy backstabbers… like myself. All in all there are plenty of character customization opportunities, which makes the game feel very MMO like.
Even more importantly for the MMO fanbase out there, you can complete quests. Quests in the duels are pretty simple. You receive a quest in your message box, and when you go to check it out, you have the option of accepting it or not. If you accept you simply do what the stereotypical crazy old man… or other quest giver wants you to do, and check back with them later to receive your reward and another quest. When you start the game you have a few quests in your message box and these basically serve as the in game tutorial. Later though quests get complicated ranging from dueling someone specific to defeating someone in a certain way, and so on so forth.
But this is a website about collectible games, so it's about time I told you what about Duels is collectible, and that comes in the form of the almighty “Booster Pack”. You can trade in your tokens (which you earn from fighting) or noblestones (game cash you buy with real money) for packs at the store. There are no cards in Duels though, so you might be asking yourself “Self, what on earth could I get in these Booster Packs?” Well first of all, you can open up shiney new pieces of rare equipment, and second of all you can get some gold as well, but most importantly packs are the only free way you can get Scrolls. Scrolls are effects that last for one battle that give you a bit of an edge. The effects range from healing, to damaging or stunning your enemy, to upping your attack or draining life from your opponents. Most good duelists in Duels have a large array of scrolls, and if you want a chance at the higher levels you need to have plenty at your disposal.
Noblestones can be used for other things other than buying packs, and this is where we get some exclusive content for the money spenders. First of all noblestones let you redistribute your stat points and skill points, and even change paths. So if you have had enough of the boring hum drum spell casting life of a mage, you can spend a couple stones and take a one way trip to assassin land on the back stab express. Soon, Noblestones will also allow you to “clone” your character as well, so you can have another standby of a different class at all times, without the effort of leveling your new character.
The last big piece of strategy you'll find in Duels comes in the form of Action sets. Action sets are either general or path specific skills that give you a boost in combat. They don't always have to be used however, which is nice. Whenever you are challenged, or you challenge someone else, you get to choose whether or not to use an action set. You can choose to not use actions in a Duel where your opponent will, and they will get reduced XP and rewards, which is an option if you don't think you can win. Of course if you don't use actions, you are missing out on some of the deeper fun of Duels, but that all comes down to personal choice.
As far as Duels goes, it is a magnificent game and an even more magnificent time waster. The thing that astounds me about the game is how much like an MMO it really is. I mean there are a lot of browser based games out there that try to be MMORPGs but fail at it, but Duels succeeds where others have failed. When I play Duels I feel like I am playing Everquest, or World of Warcraft but just at really high speed. Of course, the natural level grind of MMOs doesn't appeal to everyone. Some want a chance to see their name in lights… or at least at the top of a leader board and that is where tournaments come in.
The in game support for Duels is phenomenal. Tournaments for big prizes are held all the time, and I mean ALL the time. All you have to do to enter a tournament is enter a tournament room and wait till it fills. All tournaments are single elimination, which is a bit harsh, but combatants are seeded by their win/loss ratio, which is a nice touch. While in the tournament, you need to duel and defeat your opponents one by one to advance. You are given a certain amount of time to do so before the round ends and you are disqualified. The upside to this is you can do other dueling and gaming while you are in a tournament without it monopolizing your attention. The downside is its easy to get distracted and a good portion of tournament entrants end up missing their matches. Part of the problem is that you have to initiate the duels yourself for the tournament to count. The only downside to Duels tournaments is that they take up time and require you to be paying attention, and if you are playing Duels, you generally become accustomed to everything being quick and easily accessed.
Speaking of quick and easy access, Duels is PHENOMINAL as a mobile game. Granted there is no specific mobile version out right now, so if you are going to go down this road you'll need a phone with browser support. Be assured, however, that there is no better way to waste your time say on a long bus ride, or while waiting for your significant other to exit her favorite store at the mall. All you do is look down, challenge someone, stab him in the back a few times, and go about your day all in less than a minute. I never thought I would see the day where I would play an MMO while putting gas into my car, and I haven't yet because I live in New Jersey and we can't pump our own gas. The point is if I lived in another state, I could pump with one hand and level up with the other.
If I had to wrap this all up in one neat little package, and I do, I would have to say that Duels is definitely an above average game. Granted you won't see it topping the most popular PC game charts any time soon, but when compared to other browser based games Duels is definitely a cut above. If you have a lot of time and money to spend on a game… well go play some other MMO or TCG out there. However if you are looking for a game you can play in your spare time and really get addicted to without any cost, then give Duels a try. It is probably one of the best, if not the best, browser based game I have seen thus far.
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Presentation Rating = 8.2
Duels breaks the mold of browser based games by having an interface that is both streamlined and simple. The character art is amazing and heck I think I spend more time simply equipping and un-equipping my character to see the weapon and armor art than I do actually considering the stat benefits the equipment gives me. Duels is definitely pleasing to the eye, which is a cut above most browser based games out there.
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Gameplay Rating = 8.5
Duels's gameplay is quite simply MMO without the middle man, but the game really shines in its character management. It's all there, stats, skills, equipment, everything you know and love from RPGs all accessible with a few short mouse clicks. Like I said before, its fast, and you really only need 15 minutes or so of gameplay a day to steadily advance, which is extremely satisfying.
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Support Rating = 9.0
Daily tournaments, prizes, new packs and updates released all the time and a new ladder system just launched! Heck if there is anything I could say about Duels it's that its support is top notch. The world keeps changing and updating, and that is a definite plus. Browser based games only have a lifespan as long as they have new content, and considering the content keeps expanding, Duels.com has a long life to come.
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Innovation Rating = 8.3
First and foremost this game is fast. The game manages to take the absolute best parts of PvP based MMO's, and whittle out all of the time sinks those games build into themselves to keep you subscribing and that's saying something. Beyond all of this though, Duels shines through with its Booster Pack system. Each new Booster Pack includes all new content for the game, so while other MMOs might get an expansion every year or so, Duels follows the TCG model and updates every few months.
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