Corum Online

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Decent free MMOG, but creates need to spend money.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), in the vein of Everquest or World of Warcraft. Violence is front and center as the most dominant aspect of the gameplay. You can fight against computer-controlled creatures or other human-controlled characters. While the game is offered for free, parents should also be aware of the pressure from within the game to shop at retailers for gift cards that can be redeemed for items to use in this game. The game has chat, so that communication can be unpredictable.

  • Characters are of all shapes and sizes, with different fantasy races in addition to human characters. However, female characters are frequently presented as busty, scantily dressed characters. Since helpful in-game items can be purchased instead of earned, the game creates an uneven playing field for those without economic resources.
  • Cartoon violence. Enemies sink into the ground after defeat, but game is based around violence
  • Some female characters have skimpy outfits, similar to other titles in the genre.
  • The core game is light on harsh language, but as with any online game, the player on the opposite side of the world may be offensive.
  • The game while free, also encourages real-world money be spend on items to further enhance the title. This business model is known as a "velvet rope" because it entices kids to play for free, but then ropes them into making purchases. Game cards to make these purchases are sold at major retailers including Target, Best Buy, and Toys R Us.
  • Fantasy references to alcohol and tobacco may be present.

What's it about?

CORUM ONLINE is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) in which you choose a character class of your liking and, without very much guidance, venture forth into the online world that has been created. While a very simple premise, the sheer amount of hotkeys combined with the ability to go almost anywhere and do almost anything make the game seem a little overwhelming. In order to advance the story, you must find someone in the cities who has an errand for you to run, which could be anything from collecting treasures from fallen enemies to finding an item from a shop in a far away city. In addition to the fetch quests, player vs. player (PvP) fighting is encouraged in the game. But instead of randomly attacking people or being attacked, you select who you'd like to fight with and then are warped to a special arena where the PvP battle takes place.

The game is divided into cities, an overworld, and, for lack of a better term, dungeons. In the latter, you fight enemies of various skill levels, and earn experience points to level up your chosen character. Fighting is extremely simple initially, but can become more complicated as you unlock more spells and enchantments. Simply left-clicking on a creature when a sword icon appears on them is all that is necessary to engage in combat, while a right click will perform a spell or another special attack, depending on how the controls have been configured. Moving your character is also tied to the computer mouse via simple point and click, or even clicking and holding the button down while moving the mouse will work.


Is it any good?

 

Even though the controls are somewhat simple, the game's graphics and design get in the way. The graphics are too poor to properly render which obstacles to avoid. And trees or other large items frequently get in the way, blocking not on your path – but also the view of the game. Initially the title works well as a single player game, but as you gain higher levels and tackle high level dungeons, it becomes essential to join hunting parties and take on the enemies with a group. Finding a party or guild to join was a little difficult.

While the price of the game is definitely hard to beat, the title itself suffers from hasty production. Spelling mistakes and poorly formatted text onscreen made for some confusing moments when trying to decipher where to go next or what to do.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about some of the issues with online gaming, such as privacy concerns and the level of anonymity that the internet can offer anyone. How are women and men portrayed in the game? Given that they both have similar skill sets, why do females seem to always wear very little clothing?


This review was written by Jeff Paramchuk

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This review was written by Jeff Paramchuk
Platforms:Windows
Available online?Available online
Genre:Massively Multi-player Online Game (MMOG)
Developer:gPotato
Release date:July 15, 2007
Price:FREE
ESRB rating:NR

This review was written by Jeff Paramchuk

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

 

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