Crush Online

Crush Online Review

By, Marc Marasigan

Crush Online is a 3D MMO Battle Arena set in the mythical world of Gaia where three factions are constantly fighting for control. Players take on the role of Protectors fighting for their chosen realm. The game features cel-shaded anime graphics that look decent enough but don't compare to other recently released MOBA’s or other cel-shaded MMORPG’s for that matter.

Now, I do have a fondness for cutesy anime-style games, even the Chinese-made ones, but unfortunately Crush Online doesn’t do it for me. A little more environment detail and color vibrancy would have made a big difference. The art style looks awesome though. The game audio also sounds disappointingly generic much like League of Angels and other Chinese-made production line MMORPG’s.

Saint, Punisher, or Guardian

Like most MMO’s players first create their character before entering the game world. Character customization in Crush Online is a straightforward affair. Although, when it comes to customization, simple isn’t necessarily a good thing. Players choose from one of three factions with nothing to distinguish them from each other except for the color of their sectors. They look the same and also have the same classes which, disappointingly enough, are gender-locked.

Players can choose between 3 classes: Saint, the support class; Punisher the DPS class; and Guardian, the Tank class. Another disappointment is the limited number of customization options available. In the wake of games like Black Desert Online, ArcheAge, and Blade and Soul, giving players a handful of options for face, hair style, costume, hair, eyes, and costume color isn’t going to cut it.

Lost In Time

Before setting off into the vast war-torn world of Gaia, players first complete a series of tutorial missions to get them acquainted with the basics of the game, such as controls, progression, NPC’s, questing, item management, and, the game’s key feature, battle arenas. These tutorial missions seamlessly blend in with the game’s story and main quest line and are an effective way to quickly learn mechanics.

Unfortunately, they don’t do as good of a job directing players to where exactly they need to go to complete a certain quest. Players suddenly find themselves teleported into the middle of a fierce battle for control of a territory with neither a clue on where to go or even how to get back to the main town/city. Luckily, players are asked to buy return scrolls as part of the tutorial quests which are invaluable items to have when you get lost. And believe me, you will get lost at some point in the game.

MMORPG/MOBA?

At first look Crush Online look like your run-of-the-mill MMORPG. Players go on quests for various NPC’s—which mostly involve killing mobs and/or looting items. Once you start playing the game, however, you’ll start to notice a few subtle differences. For starters, the controls and interface are similar to MOBA’s. Like MOBA’s, the camera is locked to top-down view. Players use the RMB to click and move, the QWER keys to trigger abilities, and the left mouse button to select targets.

Characters have six slots for their gear. Each gear type can be upgraded up to 6 times using SP earned from killing monsters. It’s important to note that all gear upgrades are reset when a player enters another zone, one of the many unique aspects of the game.

Crush starts out as an MMORPG with breadcrumb quests taking players to different areas of the map while also allowing players to engage in PvP and Territory Wars any time they want. It might seem like questing and killing mobs is the game’s main attraction, but it quickly becomes apparent at higher levels that the whole MMORPG charade was just so players can gain access to better gear. A necessity if players want to effectively compete in the three-way faction war.

Control, Conquer, and Defend

The mechanics of Crush Online’s persistent three-way faction wars will be familiar to players who spent time playing PlanetSide 2. The entire game map, with the exception of dungeons and other instances, are divided into small sectors. Each of these sectors are MOBA arenas complete with defensive towers and a Nexus for each team. Players must capture the towers and destroy the opposing team’s Nexus to gain control of the sector and receive faction-wide bonuses in return.

Players can enter war zones regardless of their level and get max upgrades to all their gear. This, however, doesn’t mean that they can go toe to toe with every other player in the zone. Higher levels and better gear still rule the day.

Choose Your Weapon

Another unique feature of Crush Online is the ability to use and master multiple weapon types. Your weapon choices are limited to your chosen class. Saints, for example, can equip dual guns, magical levitating swords, and wands. While Punishers can only equip bows and daggers. Weapons can be switched on the fly by pressing the spacebar. Each weapon type also comes with a specific set of skills, with their own independent cooldowns.

Firing off a Q skill with a bow and then switching to a dagger will allow you to use the dagger-related Q skill while the other cools down in the background. Before you get too excited about levitating swords let me just point out that they make look cool but don’t do a whole lot of damage since Saint is primarily a support class. For damage, you might want to go with the Punisher class. Whichever class you choose, however, you still get five slots for your weapons.

Players initially start out with one weapon slot and progressively unlock more by leveling up. Each weapon equipped can be upgraded using Spell Stones acquired from quests and mobs with each level requiring more and more Spell Stones. Upgrading weapons not only increases their damage but also increases the effectiveness of the bundled skills.

Jewels

Crush Online doesn’t have an in-game cash shop like other free-to-play MMO’s. Instead, players can purchase premium currency which they can use in-game to craft gear even without the necessary materials, as long as they have the required gold and have a high enough level to actually wear the gear. Jewels can also be earned by completing various achievements such as killing a certain number of monsters or exploring a certain number of sectors on the world map. While the free-playing community can still earn Jewels the hard way, the ability to craft mid to high-end gear using real-world money feels a bit unfair.

Final Verdict - Good

Crush Online is definitely a unique game, and probably the first of its kind. The game isn’t bad by most standards but is confusing as hell and feels like a weird cross between an MMORPG and a MOBA. Think of it as the lovechild of your favorite PvP-centric MMORPG, League of Legends, and PlanetSide 2, and one suffering from identity crisis to boot. The game also has premium options that some might consider to be bordering on pay-to-win. And don’t even get me started on the lag. On a positive note, the persistent three-way territory wars make for a very dynamic game with fun, fast-paced, and action-packed clashes where the tide of battle can turn on the flip of a coin. That being said, unless you’re a die-hard fan of persistent territory wars this game isn’t really worth the time. But, I'll give the game a "good" just for the sheer uniqueness of it.

Crush Online Screenshots

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Crush Online Videos

Crush Online Links

Crush Online Official Site
Crush Online Steam Page

Crush Online System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10
CPU: 2 GHz Modern processor
Video Card: Shadow 2.0 capable video card
RAM: 1 GB
Hard Disk Space: 1 GB

Recommended Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10
CPU: 2.4 GHz Modern processor
Video Card: Shadow 2.0 capable video card
RAM: 2 GB
Hard Disk Space: 1 GB

Crush Online Music & Soundtrack

Coming Soon!

Crush Online Additional Information

Developer(s): JoyImpact
Publisher(s): GAMESinFLAMES

Closed Beta: June 29, 2016
Open Beta: September 9, 2016

Official Release Date: October 10, 2016

Shut Down: May 01, 2017

Development History / Background:

Crush Online is an MMO with MOBA elements developed by JoyImpact, a South Korean gaming company, known for creating mobile games such as AIKA Online, and published by GAMESinFLAMES, a German-based gaming company. The game is expected to be launched in Europe late 2016. There are also hints of a mobile port of the game, called Crush Mobile, being developed JoyImpact. The game launched into open beta on September 9, 2016, and was fully released through Steam October 10, 2016. The game was shut down on May 01, 2017.