Overview
Gardens of Gonzo is a free-to-play MMORPG with a timeless, old-school graphic style and real-time combat. The goal is to achieve a nice cozy feeling, resembling that from the old Ultima Online days while providing a fast and responsive combat system. But the really special feature is the highly dynamic persistent world engine that provides the basis for a very unique MMO-sandbox experience. Due to this feature one could outline two non-exclusive gameplay styles.
The Basic Gameplay – Combat, Character Development,
Player Interaction
Of course, a very central aspect of Gonzo is fighting. There is no enemy-lock-on-and-press-ability-button, like in most MMOGs. In Gonzo you hit what you hit when you hit. Remember the old Zelda games? Just like that. Killing enemies grants you experience, resources, coins and loot. With enough experience you gain a level und can spend skill points in one of the three skill trees: Combat, Exploration, Construction. So explore the world, find new challenges and enhance your character! Additionally, you can trade with some NPCs or other players. Certain players who focus on trading skills will possibly give you more coins for your items. So seek out interaction with players – it could be worth your while! Tired of having to buy every item from another player or NPC? Gather resources and craft your very own stuff!
Highly Dynamic Persistent World – Not an Oxymoron!
Sounds fancy, doesn’t it ? What it means, however, is rather simple: you are playing in a persistent world – there are no instantiated sessions. If you drop some berries under a tree and come back after a while, the berries will still be there. Well, if they didn’t decay. And no one stole them. “And the tree will still be there, too. Right?” Err…maybe. Because of the high dynamic capabilities of the game engine, practically everything can change at any time. No static world is downloaded or maintained. Every ingame content is being streamed as needed. This allows for rich in-game changes that everyone can see instantly, including uploading and embedding entirely new graphics and sounds into the live game. If you’ve got the appropriate privileges to do those changes, of course.
The Construction Gameplay – A colorful Sandbox
For players those aforementioned privileges are, of course, limited. You cannot destroy or repaint the hard work of others. But there are regions throughout the game world that allow for the purchase of estates. Additionally you can create whole new worlds. Those estates and your created worlds are your property. And on your property you can construct whatever the handy ingame toolbox and your earned resources provide. Build a swamp with a hut. Or a castle. The inside of a tavern. A cave. A magical grove. A rocket base? The possibilities are only limited by your fantasy, the features of the toolbox and the plentifulness of the provided graphics – which can be expanded by players themselves. On top of it, you may add ambient sound sources, lights, triggers and NPCs. Ultimately, design your very own quests that other players can play! Or lay down the hammer for once, pick up the sword and solve quests that other players’ minds have spawned. Discover something new every day!