World of Warcraft has had a huge following for a long time. Similar style games such as Diablo I/II and Starcraft have also enjoyed major success here in the USA. People have spent hours upon hours honing their online skills and successively wasting their lives away in front of the monitor (NOT a bad thing :). However, over seas the innovators of video games, namely the Asian population are enjoying a game which Americans have not been able to get their hands on. It is an MMORPG, created by the Korean company Webzen then sold to THE9 (China) for $13 million USD in total, “which at the time was the largest single export transaction in Korea’s online game history.” (wiki) The game is called Soul of the Ultimate Nation, and it has been changing the way people look at MMORPG’s the world over.. just not in the USA.

Players are part of a rebel group known as "The Guidance". Items can be strengthened and upgraded throughout the game play of SUN. For large-scale combat such as siege warfare, Soul of the Ultimate Nation utilizes a combat map with partitions that divides players into multiple fields each containing 20-40 characters; the outcome each battle directly affects the combat occurring on other fields. SUN also allows players to strategically set the stage for battles by choosing different types of maps, entry numbers, degrees of difficulty and types of monsters for a customized game play experience. SUN has three types of specified maps using a zone map system. Players start the game in a city and have to create zones to play the game. In terms of maps, the mission maps are the primary places where players can solve missions. The hunting maps are for tracking down monsters to level up characters, gather items and acquire in-game money. The quest maps are used to fulfill quests and to help users better understand the overall scenario of the game.” (Webzen official website and Wikipedia)

The game has already undergone four stages of beta from September 2005 to May 2006 in South Korea, and received high marks from gamers. SUN Taiwan moved from closed beta to open beta on 20th December, 2006. The current open beta is allowing the game developers to improve the field maps, add a competitive hunting system and a mission ranking system. All this hype, all these improvements and still no one in the USA has been able to enjoy a game which has received immense popularity in the land of the rising sun. Where is our copy? When will American jump on the bandwagon and give us SUN!?

However, I have been following the happenings of this coveted game since I heard of it’s release since 2006 when it was the “the most anticipated online game at the 2nd Annual ‘Best Online Game Selection’ in China.” This was in 2006! People have been enjoying this masterpiece of a game for a year now since it’s official release in 2007. In a survey by Gametrics, the largest Internet cafe survey website in Korea, SUN was ranked among the top 10 games in Korean Internet cafes. Also, SUN received the Award at the Digital Contents Awards by Ministry of Information and Communication and SK Telecom in 2006. Do you realize yet that this game is incredible!? Do you realize that we are missing out on an epic title!?

Well, good news comes to those who wait. For I have in fact gotten my hands on a copy of this elusive game. The game is in all Korean (so installation was a bitch) but through perseverance (and much help from a certain Korean friend of mine) I was able to get it running on my PC and what I experienced, although limited due to the language barrier, was absolutely breathtaking.

If that wasn’t enough to get your mouth watering and your finger itching, here is my most impressive find. The user interface (item inventory, character tweaking, etc.) was so easy to become familiar with that I was able to understand and use it without knowing a word of Korean! It is surprisingly similar to most American UIs, but made even more simplistic with the added features like having user customizable items and stats displayed on screen while playing. Meaning that while playing the game the gamer can decide if he/she wants to have different items displayed at all times for easy use, or show the characters health/ stats so the player doesn’t need to keep pausing the game or cluttering the screen with a so called “start menu” with everything shown at once. That gets confusing and Webzen has eliminated that problem entirely, again, so easy that a complete illiterate can know what he’s doing.

There are four different character classes to choose from, all with fully customizable features. They are:

Dragon Knight - A Knight who uses swords and spears. There are two different builds of the Dragon Knight: Dragon and Battle.

Berserker - He is skilled in melee range attack. He can use swords or axes. Additionally, he is capable of using all kinds of swords. If necessary, he can go into a crazy state to cause more damage, but this will expose him to lethal danger.

Valkyrie - She can use two small crossbows simultaneously, or a large one. She is also skilled in swordplay and many other kinds of combat skills, having a perfect command of range and melee attack.

Elementalist - She uses a variety of long and short ranged magical attacks. She can also use the staff to attack her enemies, although this is far weaker than her magic attacks.

Each character is spectacularly realistic and have many upgrades, customizations and items to posses as the story arc and online experience unfolds.

“Under the reign of the Immortal Emperor, the Geist Empire has ruled the Brakion continent for half a millennium. Possessing the power of Ether, the Emperor uses dark energy to maintain control over the continent and his formidable armies. The Emperor recruited the four commanders of his army from the tribes of his domain. These Commanders of the Imperial Army united the strongest powers on the continent: Demons, Dragons, Dark Knights, and the Undead. With the power of Ether to support them, no force can stand against the Emperor's Army. Over time, the continued extraction of Ether impoverished the lands of Brakion, forcing the Emperor to turn his eyes to the rich lands of neighboring nations to continue his supremacy. With insurrection inevitable, a rebel leader, Ignis, has formed an elite force called the Guidance, which has declared war against the Empire.” (Webzen)

Even the music soundtrack was done beautifully by the award winning composer Howard Shore and features renowned soloist Lydia Kavina on the theremin. A small, yet crucial element to a good game (think about how much the musical score of the Halo series has helped make the game show stopper).

All in all my limited experience with the game been something of a dream. It was unfathomable to think of how far advanced this game is compared to what we Americans have been playing so feverishly. This new kind of MMORPG, which focuses on graphics as well as game play, could usher in a new era of online gaming and renew gamers enthusiasm who may have become tired of the same old same old. And yet, with all this potential, it remains carefully seated at the top of the charts in some far away unattainable place. We need Webzen America Inc. to make good on their promise and deliver us the game that has become such a hit over seas.

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