Planet Calypso Review

Planet Calypso Review   Free to play Sci-Fi MMO Developed by Mindark

Planet Calypso is a part of the Entropia Universe, a series of not-quite MMORPGs that largely fit the PlayStation Home/Second Life suite of games that allow you to play minigames, explore, socialize and dress up your character in interesting ways. Planet Calypso, however, IS a full-blooded Sci-Fi MMORPG, but the transition seems to have caused more than a few problems. There are good points as well, of course, but it’s the limitations of the system that really stand out. Planet Calypso (and the rest of the Entropia games) label themselves as The Real Money MMOs, and with good reason. But is it just a scam? Is it worth jumping aboard a spaceship and travelling to some distant planet? We played to find out.

Planet Calypso Gameplay

Landscape – Planet Calypso is designed in CryEngine 2, and it shows. Although, as you’ll see below, I was a little underwhelmed by the rather average character models, it is the locations that will really blow you away. Whether it’s snowy mountains (complete with a constant stream of fresh snow) or elsewhere, you’ll see sights that will leave you open-mouthed.

Community – Whenever I’ve had trouble with a control or with  a mission, there’s been someone willing to help. I’ve really never seen anything like it. Without asking, without even looking especially stuck, somebody would pop along to see if I needed help with something (editor: too many GM's or what?). Despite everything I say below, this is an MMO worth playing for the friendly people alone.

Real Money MMO – Planet Calypso, like everything else in the Entropia Suite, allows you to both pay in and withdraw real money. This means two things: you can use real money to buy your way through the game, but you can also work towards withdrawing a profit. The idea of making money playing games is plastered all over the Entropia websites and that glimmer of hope is no doubt a big part of people playing this game.

I can safely say that you’re more likely to pay to play this game than you are to make a profit. While researching this game, I saw somebody explain the benefit of a real world economy: “to get the most you’ll want to spend and spend, but you’ll enjoy just spending a little as well.”

Dancing Frame Rate –If you’re in an area with, for instance, snow fall, your framerate is going to jump up and down for seemingly no reason. At times I’ll have a steady 60FPS, and then the game will drop suddenly to less than 20. I have a more-than-decent computer, and I have the game on full, but

Planet Calypso seems harder on my hardware than Metro 2033. Now that doesn’t sound right.

Remember Rocktopia – So this is one of the most ridiculous things in the world. If you donnload Entropia from the Rocktopia website, your character will end up in Rocktopia. If you download it from the Planet Calypso website, you’ll end up on Planet Calypso. There doesn’t seem to be any option when you actually get into the game, aside from downloading the world you don’t actually want and paying real money to transfer to another planet. Or you can create a new account and download from the right place.

Blot on the Landscape – While there are some genuinely pretty locations, Planet Calypso also has some genuinely horrible looking graphics, mostly in regards to the character models. They look generally undetailed and a bit blocky, but on top of that the movement animations are pretty terrible as well.

Point and Click – The control system is one of the very worst I’ve ever come across in an MMO. Most of the actions you will perform are set to a menu which opens with the right mouse button. This is a result of the game being a spin-off from the other Entropia planets – things less based on the MMORPG – but it ends up being pretty gamebreaking I think, if only because it means immersion is non-existent.

Glitches Galore – Planet Calypso has crashed my system no less than three times, and I’m thinking people with lower end computers will really have a problem with this. Keep in mind that I play Metro, Crysis and more on at least almost their highest settings without issue. Add to that that sometimes missions can be a little wonky and you’re left wondering where things have gone wrong. I was sat in my vehicle when one of the crashes occurred and I haven’t had access to it since. Hmmm….

Conclusion - Planet Calypso

Planet Calypso is an MMORPG not built in an engine that can really handle an MMORPG. As a result, you end up playing something not unlike PlayStation Home, where you feel the developers have done a fairly good job putting a game together under the limitations of the system, but that those limitations don’t necessarily fit in a good game. The graphics are stunning at times, but the glitches you may face more than balance the good with the bad, and the story/quest system isn’t enough to keep you there. If you’re expecting to receive your first cheque after a few hours playing, you’ll also be sorely disappointed.

Like everything, this is a real money economy where the house always wins.

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PlayStation Home, Second Life, The Old Republic