Is this the most accessible MMORPG ever?

MMORPG's can be confusing, especially to new players. So when Gamania set out to build an MMO for Cartoon Network's show Hero 108, they wanted to make it as accessible and easy to understand as possible; an MMORPG that would appeal to seasoned MMO veterans as well as one for people who don't even know what the acronym MMORPG stands for.

Hero: 108 Online is set in a fictionalized ancient China where an evil man named High Roller convinces the animals of the land to attack the humans, and it's up to you and your band of martial artists to kung fu kick the brainwashing out of their furry butts. Hero: 108 Online's general theme of the game is very loosely based on the book Water Margin, one of the great classic Chinese novels about a band of 108 outlaws and their adventures, but really, the game is all lighthearted kung fu fun.

Graphically, Hero: 108 Online is pretty adorable. It's cartoony and cell-shaded and as colorful as a Disney movie. The backgrounds are big and bright and have surprisingly large moving pieces in them, like a giant whale emerging from the ocean.

You start your adventures by choosing one of the heroes from the show, which function as classes. The version we previewed had 8 heroes to choose from, all of whom are pretty likable. You have 4 all stars, called first squad and 4 scrubs called second squad, with an obvious rivalry between them.

We chose first squad member "Mighty Ray," the tank of the group, who eats bananas that give him the ability to shoot lighting. But there's also Lin Chung, the greatest fighter and the warrior class, who is more passionate about drawing than he is about dispensing  beat downs. In addition, there's the medic Mr. NoHands, who, unlike his name suggests, actually does have hands but chooses to keep them hidden inside his clothes.

As much fun as the story and the characters are, the most impressive thing about Hero: 108 Online is the development team's achievement in making this MMO accessible to people who don't know anything about MMOs. Let's take a quick look at some MMO issues that Hero: 108 Online addresses.

Screen Clutter

The onscreen activity of an MMO can be overwhelming for gamers making a first time pilgrimage from other game genres. The screen clutter problem increases for games without a rotating camera, when a fixed screen can be absolutely piled with players or text and the action can be buried underneath windows.

Hero: 108 Online does a good job of keeping its game screen information noticeably cleaner and more manageable than other MMOs. The icons are small, menus simple and windows don't become overwhelming. And if there is ever a time when there's too much action or too many people on the screen at one time, players can change the channel, in the upper right hand corner, to get a whole new group of players to play with. It's a useful feature that keeps things from getting too busy.