War of the Roses Review
A unique but slightly unpolished multiplayer experience
This is only the base level of customization however. After choosing a crossbow, I had to make a decision over which reload mechanism it used, followed by the type of ammunition I would be firing, followed by any attachments I wanted to add. Each weapon has choices like this, and it is easy to become overwhelmed by all the options. The intricate combat system means that these choices are not cosmetic either, as they all influence the way you will be playing the game. It is quite difficult at times to compare items to see which one you would rather be using, but generally the class creation process is quite smooth. The cosmetic choices you do have are mainly about your coat of arms, which will be emblazoned on your armour, giving you that added bit of uniqueness on the battlefield. Though it is fairly hard to stand out among the crowd when each server usually has thirty-two players running around. There is a standard server browser for getting into online games. I usually sorted the list by latency so my playing experience was generally lag free.
The game looks nice, with good lighting and particle effects in places. However when compared to bigger budget multiplayer games such as Battlefield it just lacks that extra bit of polish in the textures and animations. The sound effects are also pretty decent, with satisfying noises giving you feedback on your attacks. You can clearly hear whether you have struck armour or flesh, and the fired projectiles make a scary whooshing sound if they come dangerously close.

It seems inevitable that with all the physics systems going on in the background that there will be some technical flaws with the game. I fell through the map on more than one occasion, meaning I had to just run until the game decided that I was too far out of bounds and respawned me. Spawning itself was not perfect either, as I watched people attempt to rejoin the game on top of their squadmates, only to appear in mid air off the side of a building. There were also several occasions when there would be a graphical glitch and I would be booted out to the desktop with no warning. After some research it seemed that some people were experiencing issues with the latest nVidia drivers, so this is something that can be fixed.
As a complete package, War of the Roses is both a fun and rewarding experience. There are some balancing issues and technical flaws which do hinder the game at times however. When in full flow, the battle is exciting, and even one on one battles become tense affairs. With a little more polish and variety, it could have been great. War of the Roses delivers a fairly unique experience, so it should not be ignored by people looking for something a little different in a large scale multiplayer game.
