You Wanna Challenge My Kung Fu?

After a bit of research on free-to-play massively multiplayer online games I could try, I finally settled on World of Kung Fu from Vestgame Entertainment. The game looked promising from the reviews I had read and its graphics didn’t look outdated, so I decided to download the client and start up the game.

When I managed to enter the World of Kung Fu and started creating my character, a spear wielder named Jadzia, I had a feeling I wouldn’t like something in the game. Nothing was amiss. The graphics looked great. There wasn’t any lag. The controls were easy to master. There were some characters roaming the starter town—a good thing for an MMO! And best of all, the concept wasn’t difficult to grasp.

I discovered a bit later, after completing my first quest, what the heck was bugging me about World of Kung Fu from the onset. I hated—and still hate—its user interface. Sorry to say this, Vestgame, but the interface … the console of your baby sucks, bigtime. To be totally honest, it made me feel I was playing an MMO straight from the early 2000s. Talk about retro.

World of Kung Fu: Graphics may be topnotch, but the user interface can use a serious facelift.

Fortunately, the great graphics and so-so music and sound effects saved the day, and convinced me enough to play World of Kung Fu for at least another hour.

I can’t find any good description of the game. Mine is a bit tainted, so I’ve decided to borrow one from the World of Kung Fu Wiki:

As in the real world, World of Kung Fu is a complex network of various interconnecting systems. Unlike other games in which the point of the experience is to defeat monsters and enemies, this game invites the martial artists to become deeply involved in the development and establishment of a society which interweaves economic and social systems. The game also enables the players to enjoy the emotions of a private life filled with romance and drama. Furthermore, as they increase their skills, the players can establish their own school and master their own style of Kung Fu which they will then be able to pass on to others.

World of Kung Fu graphics: Love the detail and texture, especially the shadows.

Here’s a list of the things I learned about life in the World of Kung Fu:

Auto-Move. Having an auto-move system in an MMORPG is great. First, it saves you the trouble of memorizing NPC names and looking for these names on the small minimap. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack! Thanks to auto-move, searching for the right NPC for hours on end is a thing of the past.

Non-Linear Quests. Some quests appear to be non-linear in nature. In my first hour of playing World of Kung Fu, I think I bypassed three or four quests. Apparently, just like in other MMOs, quests in this game depends on your level. So when you rise in level in quick succession, you may miss a few quests.

So Many NPCs. There are so many NPCs in the starter town of Taoyuan that it makes you wonder about their function. Are they there purely as decoration? Apparently not, since talking to some of them reveals their nature as either vendor, crafting or teleport NPCs. But what about the others? Oh, they’re just there to wait till you reach a certain level. When you do reach that “certain level,” the NPC will seek you out.

PK Anywhere, Anytime. Knowing you can get PK’d (player-killed) anywhere and anytime in the World of Kung Fu makes you paranoid. Actually, to save you the trouble of continuously panning the camera view to check for backstabbers, you can only PK and get PK’d outside safe zones, like towns, and only if you are above Level 20. So stop checking the bushes every five minutes.

Well, that’s it for now. Let me practice some Kung Fu katas and get back to you in a few days. Oh, if you want to join me in the World of Kung Fu, head over to the official website, register for an account and download the client.