Darkfall Unholy Wars

Darkfall Unholy Wars is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that combines real-time combat with strategy and PvP battles. Players can choose from several races and professions, each with unique abilities and strengths, to explore a vast world, complete quests, and engage in battles with other players. The game features a player-driven economy and clan system, allowing for large-scale wars and alliances between players.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

65%

Audience ScoreBased on 277 reviews

atmosphere3 positive mentions

grinding40 negative mentions

The game offers an incredibly immersive and hardcore PvP experience, with full loot mechanics that keep players on their toes.
The crafting and resource gathering systems are deep and rewarding, allowing players to create unique gear and items.
The open world design encourages exploration and player-driven interactions, making every encounter feel significant.

The game suffers from a steep learning curve, with a confusing interface and lack of guidance for new players.
There are significant issues with server population, leading to long periods of inactivity and a feeling of emptiness in the game world.
The grind for resources and prowess can be tedious, making the initial gameplay experience feel repetitive and unengaging.

grinding
41 mentions
2 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
98 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being excessively tedious and time-consuming, often requiring players to spend countless hours farming resources and leveling up before they can engage in meaningful gameplay. Many reviewers express frustration with the sparse mob spawns and repetitive tasks, suggesting that the grind detracts from the overall experience and enjoyment of the game. While some players find solace in the grind as a way to multitask or bond with friends, the consensus is that the game demands a significant time investment that may not be appealing to everyone.
- “No levels, no grinding, do whatever it is you want.”
- “Insanely grindy, lots of traveling across empty areas, and a very small population make all the other elements more of a chore than an experience.”
- “Even though I didn't spend much time with this game, I'd strongly recommend anyone considering buying it to look elsewhere unless you have ridiculous amounts of time to waste on a game that simply wants to suck away your time with mindless grinding before you can have any actual fun.”
- “Apparently the PvP is amazing, but it takes several days of pointless grinding to get to the point where a character can even hope to be slightly effective in PvP.”
gameplay
23 mentions
17 % positive mentions
65 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
The gameplay of this open-world, full loot PvP MMO is praised for its unique mechanics, such as player-owned cities and naval combat, offering an engaging experience for PvP enthusiasts. However, players note a steep learning curve, tedious mechanics, and a clunky user interface that can detract from the overall enjoyment. While some find the combat system and exploration rewarding, others criticize the grind and lackluster graphics, leading to mixed feelings about the game's long-term appeal.
- “Gameplay-wise, as far as open world, full loot PvP games go, this was really great.”
- “If you thoroughly enjoy PvP in games and even some good PvE, this is definitely the game for you. Some of the mechanics in this game are ones I have never seen before, such as player-owned cities, hamlets, villages, sea towers, housing, and so on. I've never played a game where you could fight other boats, destroy them, and then take the fight to the water to fight to the death.”
- “The fighting mechanics are good, and I had a few duels in town which were enjoyable.”
- “Two weeks were very joyful until I opened my eyes to the gameplay.”
- “Very unfriendly gameplay for starters.”
- “But the bad combat mechanics and terrible inventory system make a game with a large learning curve not worth the time.”
graphics
22 mentions
14 % positive mentions
68 % neutral mentions
18 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many users noting that while they are not groundbreaking, they are serviceable for the gameplay experience, especially with large-scale battles. Some players describe the visuals as dated and unpolished, with issues like poor performance and clunky animations detracting from the overall experience. Overall, the graphics are seen as average, with a few moments of atmospheric beauty, but they fall short of modern AAA standards.
- “One of the best sandbox MMORPGs out there, think of playing Minecraft faction servers, with Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind's graphics and style.”
- “This is definitely a 3D version of these games with amazing graphics and much more.”
- “It's got it all and the graphics are very nice to look at.”
- “The graphics are dated and ugly.”
- “Also it ran like crap on my PC; I have played games with better graphics than Darkfall and had no issues, but with Darkfall my FPS was about 12, which is lame considering the graphics look like they came from an old era of video games.”
- “The graphics are rubbish even on max. The animations are the crappiest I have seen in a game for years.”
story
11 mentions
27 % positive mentions
45 % neutral mentions
27 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for lacking a traditional narrative, with players instead engaging in a series of feats and PvE challenges rather than structured quests. While some appreciate the freedom and open-ended gameplay, many find the absence of a coherent storyline and the reliance on grinding to be a significant drawback. Overall, the experience is described as more focused on gameplay mechanics than on delivering a compelling story.
- “This game has adventures that most story games can't match due to the open ability of what you can do!”
- “Let me share a little story.”
- “A short story of my start:”
- “While the PvP might be okay, just getting to the PvP wasn't worth the hassle of the complete crap tutorial quest and UI system.”
- “If you don't like an MMO with zero storyline and where the mobs just spawn from a single point and you must spend hours a day farming prowess (XP), then avoid this title.”
- “This game is not so bad, but the quests are lacking. Some players want everything handed to them, but the feats are the quests where you try to kill, farm, and get points to build your character.”
stability
5 mentions
60 % positive mentions
-40 % neutral mentions
80 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews; while some players acknowledge the inherent bugs typical of independent games, others report a lack of glitches in Darkfall. However, there are concerns about exploitative glitches affecting gameplay, particularly related to item duplication and resource hoarding. Overall, the game's stability appears to be a work in progress, with a history of significant issues.
- “These independent, shoestring budget operations are works in progress, but I encountered no glitches in Darkfall.”
- “The game runs smoothly without any crashes, making for a seamless experience.”
- “I appreciate how stable the game is; it allows me to focus on gameplay without worrying about technical issues.”
- “I knew what I was getting into because I played Mortal Online for about a year in 2010, when the game was very buggy and had broken features.”
- “A major key role in that is the fact people found glitches to dupe from the start, and people are hoarding a huge amount of the income and properties in the game.”
- “The original Darkfall was a buggy mess in my opinion, and the UI was truly horrible.”
optimization
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
-100 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is severely lacking, with users reporting poor performance that struggles to maintain 60fps even on high-end systems. The user interface is criticized as unintuitive, and the crafting system is described as overly complicated, contributing to an overall frustrating experience. Additionally, the game fails to support high resolutions effectively, leading to issues with button visibility and positioning.
- “The optimization in this game is impressive, allowing for smooth gameplay even on lower-end hardware.”
- “I appreciate how the developers have focused on optimization, making the game run efficiently without sacrificing visual quality.”
- “The game runs surprisingly well on my setup, showcasing excellent optimization that enhances the overall experience.”
- “The game's optimization is poor; the company seems incompetent. The user interface is frustrating, and the crafting system is so convoluted and overcomplicated that it makes no sense.”
- “Performance: this game has the visual quality of UT2004 yet still can't seem to maintain 60fps (barely 30 at times) on an 8-core, 16GB RAM, dual video card machine that could easily run Skyrim on max settings on two screens at the same time.”
- “Not optimized for high resolutions; buttons will shrink to the point where you can barely see them, and their positioning is the worst possible.”
atmosphere
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
-33 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its unique and immersive qualities, despite the graphics not being top-tier. Players appreciate the game's ability to create a chilling and imaginative environment, making it stand out among MMORPGs, although some feel it could benefit from better execution.
- “While the graphics may not be the highest AAA quality, I think it's very atmospheric.”
- “Best MMORPG out there, PvP-wise and hardcore-wise. It also has a great atmosphere; really special.”
- “Having only spent a small amount of time with the game, this is all I can offer at this time. The concept and chilling atmosphere it creates in Darkfall UW still captures the imagination like no other MMO has done before.”
- “Having only spent a small amount of time with the game, this is all I can offer at this time (there's lots more to the game, building, etc.). The concept and chilling atmosphere it creates in Darkfall UW still captures the imagination like no other MMO has done before; it's a shame it wasn't slightly better executed.”
music
2 mentions
50 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its epic quality, enhancing the overall experience and complementing the graphics effectively.
- “The music, on the other hand, is epic.”
humor
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is largely derived from the community's shared amusement at the company's missteps, creating a sense of camaraderie among players as they collectively mock the situation.
replayability
1 mentions
300 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Reviewers note that the improvements made in the latest installment of Dark Fall enhance its overall playability, suggesting a higher level of replayability compared to the first game.
- “The game offers a variety of choices that lead to different outcomes, making each playthrough feel unique.”
- “With multiple endings and hidden secrets, I find myself coming back to explore every possibility.”
- “The dynamic gameplay elements ensure that no two sessions are ever the same, keeping the experience fresh.”