While most massively-multiplayer online (MMO) games struggle to fit player vs. player (PvP) action within a general Player vs. Environment (PvE) format, the developers at Auran decided to build Fury from the ground up and to focus exclusively on PvP combat. The player takes on the role of an awakened god with a terrible case of amnesia. Luckily, there’s an easy remedy: combat helps awaken ancient memories while granting access to new skills and abilities to use toward spilling more blood.

Throwing out the player verses mindless computer aspect isn’t the only way Fury rewrites MMO convention. Unlike games that need a lengthy level grind, Fury does not feature any specific classes, and as a result, only has one character slot per player. At first, that seems like it short changes players, except that in a classless system, they can customize their characters, however they want before jumping into an arena match. By mixing and matching gear and skills, players can create heavily armored spell casters or strike a balance between ranged and melee combat.

Furthermore, Fury lacks a mana bar. Each of Fury’s 400 abilities are associated with a color. The character builds up different energy charages by using powers associated to a color (up to 10 charges can be stored). More powerful abilities requier those charges for activation. Combat effectiveness is only limited by power recharge time and what types of abilities the player equips.

Winning big earns “essence,” rewards at the end of the match. Essences can be traded in for “memories,” unlocking more abilities and furthering the plot. Loot like armor and weapons builds up during the game and gets distributed to players at the end of each match, but players must roll against each other for rare items.

The game instantly casts 90% of the abilities, so players won’t be locked into watching character animations while getting pummeled. As a result, Fury ends up playing more like an online shooter than a paced role-playing game, complete with power-ups scattered around the arena, except that it still has target locking. Exploration comes through memorizing the immense arena levels and learning every possible advantage.

At this time, the game features three modes: Bloodbath (a 8-32 person death match), Elimination (pits teams of four against each other in a best of three rounds match-up) and Vortex, a more advanced version of capture the flag, where players chase after a flying object called a percon, with the intention to bring the Vortex Crystal it carries back to their base. However, getting the crystal is just the beginning. Players must then protect their base to prevent the crystal from being stolen.

Fury further defies MMO convention by not confining PvP to specific servers. The game pits servers (referred to as “realms”) against one another in round robin. So, everyone in a realm are allies, and players have a chance to learn each other’s playing styles. The game’s matchmaking system ensures that they get teamed against the right range of opponents. But the game only features ten levels, and there’s only a 40% power difference between top level characters and beginning level ones. Levels determine how many abilities gamers equip and what items they wear, but there will never be a situation where an overpowered character wrecks all lower characters in sight.

Scheduled to release in October, Fury will cash in on the adrenaline-pumping fast paced action of PvP. Players will log on for short periods of time, perhaps during a lunch break, and successfully move up the ranks on the leader boards. We’ll wait and see if Fury has what it takes to keep people interested once the initial power rush wears off.

Originally from GameDaily