Recent reviews by F101 | AOC

I played MapleStory for a little while 15 years ago on a dusty old Dell. I never got to reach level 30 back then seeing as I was still a preteen and my computer went BSOD. So, after about a week of reliving my childhood, I can definitely say this was a pleasant blast of nostalgia.

The Good: A LOT has changed game-play wise and you'll definitely feel overwhelmed at first but just take it slow, focus on location/region quests first. You get rewarded for the time you put in to learn the game and with events like "Burning" events, you'll blaze past your levels. I really enjoy the new classes I've played. The visuals and mechanics are all so different and there are even "Street Fighter"-like combos for some characters.

The Bad: There are some issues like insane prices for starforcing equipment, character balancing, and other things like NX CASH pricing, but the game is definitely worth a look if you're free-to-play.

As a long time fan of Dead Frontier since 2008-09, I can say that this game is definitely a huge improvement from the previous games in terms of interactivity.

Graphics:
The graphics are really good especially compared to the previous iterations of the game. The effects in the game really make this stand out. The movie bar and coloring of the game really immerse you. They will definitely scare you ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ if you're faint of heart. I've gotten got off guard by those zombie children multiple times. lol

Gameplay:
This is your atypical zombie looter shooter with mmorpg elements. The open world update has really saved this game, I believe. Shooting feels good. Melee combat is slow and unforgiving, as it should be in a zombie apocalypse! Looting feels rewarding, to a point, since you can either make money by selling necessities or scapping rare equipment by killing mutated zombies. So whichever is your forte or whatever you want to focus on is your choice. The skill and stats system is very unique as you can either be a jack of all trades or specialize in one thing and you're not limited to any function. The different area's level scaling feels justified depending on your skill choices but becomes very difficult to solo if you don't specialize in any form of damage. The game is however still unfinished but the core elements are solid.

Personal Feedback:
This game can stand to make a few quality of life changes that will make the game feel more complete:
0. A tutorial or "Tips" system that explains the different functions and game mechanics. Without this, it turns off a lot of new players who are playing by themselves and don't have any idea how to play.
1. Weapon draw and holstering animations.
2. Sneaking melee animations separate from the normal melee animations.
3. More variety of quests; i.e. Escorting NPC back to an outpost with increased open world aggro or find and kill an NPC who did something wrong.
4. Enemy NPCs who use either melee weapons or guns. Like raiders who randomly spawn in buildings or the open world and try to kill the player.
5. NPC interactivity. These guys need to be walking or moving or SOMETHING. These guys literally stand or sit and one spot. Adding this one thing will make this game feel way more alive.
6. Fences or barricades around the outpost entrances. This will help during outpost attacks tremendously and give some of the lower level players incentive to use the fast travel and participate in them.

THIS IS NOT THE GAME FOR YOU IF:
1. You're looking for fast paced action combat.
2. Grinding for loot and exp is something you don't want to invest hours in.

TL/DR:

The overall game feels great since the open world update and has constant patches from the developer(s). Still needs a lot of work overall but the game has a lot of potential! This game is by far the best free-to-play open world zombie survival mmorpg on Steam.