For the longest time, when it comes to MMOs, it seems that Tolkien fantasy has always been the rage, ranging from the World of Warcraft all the way to the Lord of the Rings Online. If you find yourself admiring Battlestar Galactica and the Ender Wiggin saga, however, up until now there haven't been many options for sci-fi MMOs. The father of MMOs – Richard Garriott – has just released his newest game in the form of Tabula Rasa, and delivers one truly immersive and excellent MMO.

THE STORY SO FAR
Humanity is on the brink of extinction. We were happily living our lives one day, when from space came the Bane, an evil race of aliens hell-bent on enslaving and destroying mankind. We fought back, but it was useless, and so discovering ancient portals, we ran and hid until we could regroup. As a member of the AFS, you've enlisted in the war against the Bane as a receptive (one who is able to interact and absorb Eloh knowledge) in hopes of being able to help turn the tides and eliminate the Bane.

Games like World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online hit the market with a mythology and lore already somewhat given to them, but with Tabula Rasa you are looking at a completely original story developed from beginning to end, and it's a wonderful tale that is told through a lovely opening cinematic, and continues through various instance reports but mostly through the story missions that you are given throughout your missions. You'll still be doing many fetch quests and the other same trappings of other MMOs, but it still feels epic and unique to the story, making the simple killing of several different alien species feel like actually gathering blood samples rather than slaughtering the same alien ten times. There are also plenty of missions that help you learn more about the Bane, the Eloh, and the plight of various races that exist on the worlds you explore.

Unlike other MMOs where creatures roam in singles or mobs, feeling like they were placed there for the sole purpose of being killed by the player, the world of Tabula Rasa is populated in such a way that it feels like a living world, and that animals and enemies roam and patrol like real people, and are never placed in an exact mission just for the sole purpose of a mission. In reality they are still being presented in such a way, but it's so seamless the way Bane ships drop enemies, and things move around so naturally it's hard to notice it without really paying attention. The game ups the immersion by constantly having war going on around you, placing Bane in places to interact with NPCs who fight just like real player controlled characters. Some MMO NPCs will help you if you bring an enemy into their midst, but then they'll go back to their stationary position and just stand there like cardboard characters than real people. With Tabula Rasa, however, it's often hard to immediately notice if someone shooting at the Bane or other creatures are really human or AI controlled – the way you run across them and they engage in combat is flawless.

GAMEPLAY
Most MMOs all start out the same – you'll create a character's appearance, name them, decide their race, and then you'll pick a job or class that you're going to play throughout the game, ranging from healers to tanks to nukers. Tabula Rasa isn't most MMOs, as you should've already noticed by now, and so it should come as no surprise things even start differently. When you begin the game for the first time you'll create your character, giving them a first and last name, with the last name being the biggest importance as it's the one you'll always have, no matter if you change characters or not, so make it a good one. You'll then choose from some faces, accessories, and then their starting clothes, but after that there is nothing more to do and you're thrust out into the world.

Wait, so what about classes? Careers or roles are done very differently in Tabula Rasa, as everyone first starts out as a recruit, and won't start making career choices until they reach level five. Once a character has reached level five, they can then choose to train as a Soldier or a Specialist. The life of a Soldier leans you more towards the hard-hitting tanks of Tabula Rasa while Specialist will lead you more to the nukers and support groups of the game. You'll get to choose your next career at level 15, once again choosing paths, with both Soldier and Specialist branching off into two other paths, and then those two paths eventually breaking off into two more paths once players reach level 30. At level 30 players will finally get their final career, being anything from a Spy or Sniper to a Medic or Engineer. It's hard to classify the careers into normal MMO roles, but they fit there to a degree while still feeling unique and different, with even Soldiers definitely feeling different than a Specialist.

I've always started a new MMO playing several characters at once, always giving them different classes so I can get a feel of what they will play like, and to see what I ultimately will want to spend countless hours playing as. Tabula Rasa gives a player an excellent way to experience the different classes without having to manually level to 30 each time just to try another character. For example, I've got one character with a total play time of over a day at level 16, a level 9 soldier at 3 hours, and another level 15 character with a total play time of one minute. So how do I have a level 15 by only playing a minute? Each time you get to a new career path option, Tabula Rasa gives you a clone credit, which you can then use to clone your character before you make a choice one way or another with your new branch. It's a bit wasted early on since reaching level 5 takes an hour at best if you're slow, but while you're still a level 4 you can clone your character, then your original character can take one path while your clone takes another. You don't have to have all your characters looking alike either, as I can take a male character and make them into a redheaded woman if I wanted. There is some benefit from playing a character from beginning to end with one career goal in mind – namely proper distribution of attribute points and ability points – but still it's a great way for players to experiment without having to go through the same mission grinds early on.

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