Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland takes a look around this PvP-oriented free-to-play game.

I recently had the chance to take a tour through some of the zones of ARGO Online, guided by Senior Account Executive Ryan Morgan. The result is mostly a picture tour of some of the areas and enemies found in the game, as well as background information from Morgan. Read on to learn more about this free-to-play PvP-oriented steampunk MMO!

First of all, some readers may ask, "what the heck is steampunk?" According to the all-mighty Wikipedia, "Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technologies like the computer but developed earlier in an alternate history."

ARGO Online takes place after World War IV, where the surface of the earth has been reshaped through destruction and the native life has been warped through evolution and radiation. There are two factions in the game: the elf-like Floresslah who strive to live in harmony with nature, and the human Noblian, who are trying to reclaim old technology to survive in a transformed world. Both sides primarily fight over Earthdium, a rare ore used by all as a power source. The Earthdium is used to upgrade weapons, skills and to power special abilities used by the backpacks on each character. The two sides begin on small faction-specific islands but by mid-level everyone converges on the primary continent Naihill to fight over Earthdium.

Both sides have a choice of eight classes, and one odd feature I found was the classes are gender-locked. I kept wondering why I couldn't make my character look manlier – turns out “he” was a “she” the entire time and I didn't realize I would need to change classes to play a male character! While many of the archetypes are typical fantasy fare (like warrior, paladin, druid and priest), the Noblian classes tend to be much more armor-and-gun oriented when it comes to their visual style. Even the warrior class I toured with came with an electrified sword and a long-range rifle.

Each class also has multiple weapon types: in addition to the sword and rifle, my warrior also had a spear. These weapons can be changed instantly in battle, allowing a player to start out by attacking from a distance with a rifle before switching to a sword or spear once the enemy closes in.

Each class also has several talent trees. The main class trees have talents gained through leveling and improve the three weapon types and stats of the character. There are also “adventure trees,” with the points being earned through an achievement system, potentially from activities like exploring. Finally there is a “nation” tree – the talents in this tree are shared by all members of your nation. Outside of talents, all players have a backpack that uses Earthdium for an activated bonus. I primarily used “Dash” on my touring character; while active, this gives a 15% movement speed bonus and double jump ability. My character also had a mount available; I could ride a hovering motorcycle around. While on the motorcycle, my character had the option to attack with his guns or use his own weapons.

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