So it’s been a few days. I’ve played quite a bit of WildStar in that time. I’ve had time to think about my experiences and my preconceptions. A number of conclusions have been drawn. Some memories have re-emerged and opinions have changed. Turns out that this game isn’t as simple to like or dislike as I’d initially thought.

If you haven’t already, I suggest you read my previous article, because it will provide a better contrast for what I’m about to write. But if you don’t have the time or the inclination, I’ll summarise the situation for you. I was sceptic about WildStar. My suspicions were confirmed, I began to dislike the game. I continued to dislike it for quite some time, but for reasons I didn’t initially understand, it began to grow on me.

I am now faced with the awkward position of actually considering the purchase of yet another bloody MMO that I basically hated less than a week ago. Some dissection of the last few days is required to determine what – precisely – the fuck.

It’s insidious. Like something worming its way through my brain, WildStar has managed to plant its roots and start sprouting vines. Tendrils of good start to choke off previous complaints, either diminishing their overall aspect or snuffing them out entirely. Remember that art style that pissed me off so much? I’ll be damned, but I actually like some of it. When I shifted my focus from the blatant fan-service proportions of the female characters, I was able to see more detail. The expressive faces, for example. Then there’s the environment art, which (while heavily stylised) is vibrant and alive. I still dislike some aspects of WildStar’s aesthetic – particularly its UI and menu system – but I no longer have a problem with what I see on the majority of the screen.

The story was another of my primary complaints. I’ve never really liked Westerns as a genre of anything, which I suppose loses me a few man-points, but them’s the breaks. WildStar presents itself heavily as being “cowboys in space”, with a heavy emphasis on trying to be edgy or quirky in its humour. Watch any of the developer videos or trailers and you’ll see what I mean. Some of what they do, say and write is genuinely funny, but a lot of it smacks of trying too hard to appear “cool”. That in itself pisses me off and coloured my perspective of the game. Going into WildStar for the first time, my prejudice in this regard was apparently much stronger than I’d have liked to admit.

I realised it was out of control when, during my second playthrough with my friend (who gave me the free trial key in the first place), I found myself blithely skipping through quest text without even reading it. I was mindlessly grinding my way through the content, trying to find fun in any of the gameplay aspects alone, all the while picking holes wherever I found them. On one hand, I definitely found them, but on the other, what the hell was I doing? Me, skipping story content? It’s like the antithesis of my entire being. Was WildStar’s story really that bad, or was I not giving it a fair chance?

My first attempt was as an Exile Medic. It was, by far, the buggiest of my playthroughs and I accepted that it could have negatively impacted on my perception of the story. It didn’t help that I was being bombarded by stereotypes – a cowboy character called DeadEye, an “undead” mad scientist, sprightly and excitable bunny-people – but those were surface elements. My second attempt, as mentioned above, was the low-point of my absorption of WildStar’s lore. I decided that a change of perspective was in order. If I was so against the idea of the Exile’s and their wild-west approach and demeanour, then what about the other faction: the Dominion?

It was here I discovered that WildStar’s schtick isn’t so much “wild west” as it is “over-acting”. If the Exiles are a parody of every Western trope, then the Dominion are the epitome of the big, evil empire out to conquer everything. The difference in the approach between the two factions, however, is that I actually found the Dominion experience to be funny. The Chua in particular – a race of miniature, demented quasi-hamsters – are portrayed in a way that made me chuckle more than once. In a similar vein, the writers seem to be less worried about seriousness and more inclined towards poking fun at themselves.

In the end, however, I found the Dominion’s motivations to be too shallow. As a parody, they seem to excel at conforming to the whole “evil because reasons” morality that you’d typically find in a Saturday morning cartoon show. While I loved me some Saturday morning cartoons, it does not make a particularly engaging plot. With this in mind, I decided that the Exiles were the most fertile ground for potential happiness in terms of story. Before rolling a third character, however, I would need to come to terms with why I disliked Westerns.

Of course, that’s not an easy task. Is it the annoying accent and catchphrases? Is it the frequently conflicting role of “good guy” and “murderer” being smashed into the single character role of “outlaw”? I don’t honestly know. There are a lot of things that rub me the wrong way about Westerns as a theme, but paradoxically, I also love a lot of things that have involved this very setting in some way or another.

My favourite movie trilogy of all time is Back to the Future, of which Part III was set in Hill Valley of 1885. The Wild West was more or less the theme for the entire film. While Part III isn’t my favourite of the three, it’s still a damned good movie and I love it to bits, even the clichés. Hell, on the topic of movies, we’ve even got that god-awful, yet somehow brilliant Will Smith escapade: Wild Wild West. If anything says over-the-top, it’s that mess… but I didn’t hate it. So what’s the common denominator?

Well let’s take a look at Firefly for an example. The setting and a lot of the story could be seen as similar in some aspects to WildStar, inasmuch as it’s “wild west in space”. It even has the stupid accents. But that’s not all of what the show was about. There was a depth of character, a strength of writing and a wealth of humour that made it excellent viewing. To compare Firefly and WildStar much further would be a mistake, because they’re two different forms of entertainment, but the similarities are there. The denominator, then, is the richness. If a movie or television show can provide quality beyond the setting and the stereotypes, then I can enjoy it and even love it.

But could this apply to games? I quickly realised that the answer to this, too, was yes. I remembered a previous experience with a desktop roleplay game I played with a group of friends over a decade ago. It was called Deadlands, a combination of western and horror set in “the Weird West”. Spell-casting gunslingers were the stars of the show, with the game focusing less on dice rolls and more on poker hands for combat. Most of the details have been lost to memory – hell, I didn’t even remember its name until I looked it up. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Microsoft are planning to make a TV series based on it as one of their Xbox Originals. I hope they don’t fuck it up.

The important part is that I had fun while playing a game in a Western setting. The bit I remember most – even more than the cool poker mechanic – was my character. Instead of developing along the standard “huckster” spell-casting path, I opted to create a steampunk-esque suit of robotic armour. Bells and whistles abounded, with my repertoire of tools, weaponry and functions increasing with every session. Of course, the GM soon realised that I was becoming slightly overpowered and concocted a scenario where my playstyle lead to my diminishment. I vaguely recall a canyon filled with ghosts and my refusal to acquiesce to their hatred of metal, or something. As my robotic suit was spirited away, my character continued releasing a never-ending string of profanity. It ranks as my second-fondest experience with desktop roleplay, because it was so damned funny at the time.

Armed with the knowledge of how to enjoy myself in a setting I don’t like, I rolled my third character. This time, I chose to be an Engineer, in an attempt to partially re-create my Deadlands experience via their robotic armour, weapons and general aesthetic. I stuck with the choice of being Exile, since Dominion still didn’t appeal to me, then began to forcibly immerse myself in every aspect of the game that I could. I paid attention to every line of text, every NPC conversation happening at the sidelines, all of the flavour text, tutorials, lore: everything possible. It was through this that my eventual breakthrough was made.

When you breach its surface, WildStar offers much more than its appearance advertises. In an effort to attract a certain crowd to their game, Carbine Studios have done a lot to alienate people like me. It is only with persistence that I have managed to pierce the veil and glimpse what might be on the horizon. A 7-day free trial isn’t nearly enough to say whether or not WildStar is a good game, but for the first time, I see its potential to be one. I’m slowly becoming used to the controls, which are so alien to my MMO-veteran fingers. The bugs seem to be lessening. My class and path choices are leading me towards gameplay more suited to my tastes of exploration and lore-discovery. I still have several bones to pick with this game, but I no longer feel the venom I did earlier this week.

The question now becomes whether or not I would be willing to spend just short of £30 on this game, plus a subscription fee (since I presume I would never earn enough in-game currency to support WildStar’s “play to pay” scheme). At £7 per month at its cheapest, WildStar represents an investment of time and money that could potentially be rewarding. At this point, it’s difficult to decide – the game is very new and has a long way to go before it reaches maturity. WildStar offers a lot of new and engaging possibilities, but does it really differ enough from the likes of Guild Wars 2 or Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn to justify said investment? After all, who’s to say that it won’t switch to a F2P model like so many other MMOs?

Is WildStar a good game? I think the answer is a surprising yes, though not without caveats. It might take some patience and time to get into – especially if you’re coming from more traditional MMOs – but my guess is that it will be well worth your time and money. But is it good enough for me, personally, to justify those costs when I have other, proven-good options available? I honestly don’t know yet. I still have a day left of that trial, though. Maybe I’ll have made my mind up by the time you read this. Either way, if you’re looking for a new and refreshing MMO experience, based on my (admittedly limited) time with WildStar, you should definitely check it out.

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