Senior Staff Writer Chris "Pwyff" Tom ventured into the beautiful world of Drakensang Online to see if this Diablo-esque MMO can up the ante on browser-based gaming.

Whenever anyone mentions browser-based gaming, a lot of opinions go running through my mind, with very few of those being positive. Call me cynical, but the only time I've ever sought out a good browser-based game was when I was in University and I needed something small to run while I pretended to take notes in lectures. These days, when I'm in the comfort of my own home, the lure of high-power gaming on my trusty ol' desktop usually takes precedence, and whenever I find myself traveling, a Nintendo DS and a good book are pretty much all I need. I am, however, the kind of guy who loves to be proven wrong so, with Bigpoint's browser-based, free-to-play MMORPG Drakensang Online entering open beta, I decided that now was as good a time as any to see if browser gaming might have something to offer after University.

The first thing anyone will notice about Drakensang Online is definitely how good its graphics are, especially for a browser-based game. Most browser games have a set resolution, and when the game is toggled into fullscreen mode, resolution ends up getting stretched. With DSO, while that option is still there for low-end computers (it saves a lot of resources), there are also multiple resolutions available for anyone who wants to play in fullscreen without the blurry vision.

Drakensang Online's general gameplay pretty much feels and plays like everyone's favorite Diablo II. Combat is a classic point-and-click affair, with the ability to bind abilities to the left and right mouse buttons (you can also toggle a new bound ability by pressing tab). Most of the content currently consists of running along a fairly standard quest line before delving into dungeons for loot and experience.

Class selection is, unfortunately, a little shallow right now, as players will need to decide between playing a Dragonknight (warrior) and a Spellweaver (mage), but the promise of two additional classes does make things look a little better in the long run. If you're looking for unique classes or interesting takes on classic MMORPG archetypes, however, you may not want to look to Drakensang, as both of the current classes are essentially all that you would expect from their names, and not much more.

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