Order and Chaos PvP Arena Update Arrives! And It’s Pretty Good!

It’s only been two weeks since Gameloft first announced the imminent release of PvP Arena, the biggest update yet for Order and Chaos Online . This week, the update dropped, and I’m pleased to say that it’s every bit as good as the company promised.

The titular PvP arenas are the real star of this update. They are rapid, brutal affairs. There’s no respawning here, no flags to capture or towers to hold; it’s pure player-vs-player slaughter. You can run the game in 4v4 or 2v2 modes (a 3v3 mode had been mentioned in promotional material but is not present at this time), as either a pre-built team or as a pick-up team (word of warning: if you PUG, you will lose). The contest has a five-minute play clock, but not once in my experience has the clock run out. In fact, it’s rare for a match to reach the halfway point on time.

In the first days of play, PvP arenas seem to be wildly popular. Finding a group to run dungeons with has been difficult, because everyone wants to PvP. Not only is it fun, but the addition of both Arena Points (currency that lets you purchase PvP-specced gear and weapons) and PvP leaderboards (bragging rights!) has cemented the arenas as the new heart of the level 60 endgame.

The other big addition, mounts, is something of a mixed bag. Yes, mounts are fun, and yes, the additional speed is welcome; but I find that the way they’ve chosen to implement them is either poorly conceived or incredibly greedy.

Here’s the deal: characters get access to mounts at level 20. But in order to buy a mount, they need … wait for it … 1,999 gold! Which is a ridiculous price that no level 20 character has any hope of attaining. Which means that a level 20 character’s only option is to be pushed into a runestone (IAP currency) puurchasable mount, thus netting Gameloft a little extra cash. Not cool, Gameloft.

Hopefully, Gameloft will see this for the nonsense it is, and they’ll re-price mounts in the future. Until then, they will remain a vanity item for high-level players. Still nice to see them in the game, but I wish they’d put a little more forethought into this one.

That’s about the worst thing I can say about the PvP Arena update, which is absolutely one of the biggest, best updates that Order and Chaos Online has seen thus far. It finally fills in one of the gaping holes in the game and fully matures it into an MMORPG experience that we players crave. Add in all the other additions — the mounts, a new dungeon, new quests, the elimination of the monthly subscription — and what we have here is a maturing of the title that bodes well for its long-term success.

If you haven’t played it before, this is a great time to start. If you played it in the past but drifted away, now is a great time to come back. Order and Chaos Online is now truly the best fantasy MMORPG experience on iOS.

Want to hear more about the new PvP Arena update? Check out the Massively Portable podcast! New episode releases August 26th.  

About the Author

Writer@Large Brian P. Hudson is an educator and freelance writer currently living in Dearborn, MI.

 

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