The SKIES Client

Developing a balanced, enjoyable and sustainable MMO nowadays is a pretty tough job, especially if you want to attract a decent player base. In essence, it’s more than just a neat set of gameplay mechanics and flashy graphics, because MMOs encourage replayability by nature. Hence, there needs to be enough content to keep the players happy over long periods of time.

The SKIES is a combination of interesting ideas and genres, since it borrows ideas from titles like Fallout, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and a few other sources. In essence, the action takes place in a wasteland devoid of most resources, which means that everyone must go to hell and beyond in order to earn a living. On the other hand, it must be mentioned from the get-go that the game is in its infancy at the moment, so you should expect a lot of bugs, glitches and inconsistent mechanics.

As with every other MMO out there, there are both PVP and PVE challenges you have to overcome, which means that there are dangerous animals out there as well, not just chaotic human players. In that regard, a lot more balancing is needed for the gameplay to be fun, because right now it’s pretty much a mindless kill fest once you bump into the first PVP areas.

What truly impresses about The SKIES is the character customization, because there are many skills and abilities to choose from. Whether you want your character to be strong and good with heavy weapons, light on his feet, a good trader or a lucky bastard, there’s something for everyone. Granted, it’s difficult to say whether these stats truly work at the moment, but it’s a solid foundation to build upon nonetheless.

Speaking of which, the map is interesting as well, not to mention pretty large. The vistas are quite memorable and atmospheric, although you’ll be much busier trying to avoid all sorts of dangers. On the same subject, the visual quality is not bad at all in regards to textures and shaders, but the animations are quite disappointing. You should also be prepared for a few glitches and bugs that may ruin your gameplay experience.

All things considered, The SKIES deserves some points for the potential it shows, but the actual game is in a pretty rough state at the moment. Things should get a lot better in the future, on the other hand, especially if the developers keep improving the game in every regard.