The Chronicles of Spellborn features a very active combat system where even the NPC mobs will attempt to flank you mid-combat. How cool is that? Having to actually aim at your opponents to land a blow takes so much more concentration and involves the player so much that going back to the lazy point-and-click RPG feels shameful.

The combat I love ever-so-much though is that from the indie Action / Strategy RPG Mount & Blade. If ever there was a game that simulated midieval melee combat more fantastically, well... I've never heard of it, but Mount & Blade is the best thing I've come across for that sort of combat and so many games can learn from it.

When you think of Mount & Blade--and the fact that it was developed by one guy and his wife--and then peer over at all the other big-name titles--sporting teams of thirty working months on end to rush out a copypasta product--you can't help but wonder what the hell is going on. You also can't help but wonder why there aren't any MMORPGs that have cropped up to try and show-up all the would-be big-name titles like Warhammer Online and Lord of the Rings Online... Until recently.

Just released was Darkfall Online, an MMORPG very similar to Mortal Online and its now-ancient predecessor, Ultima Online.

The only difference, in my opinion, is that Darkfall fails at being a stable MMORPG, but then all MMOs have a rocky launch, right? Of course, they don't all linger in developement for eight years, but whatever--the game's finally out now. That aside, I still don't like the art direction in it, and I certainly don't like the way it's been shaping up either... But then that could simply be the fanboy in me.

Which brings me to the gem of my attention: Mortal Gold

Here is Ultima Online's original core mechanics, after being punched in the face and then completely looted by Mount & Blade's combat, and then laced with absolute awesome. It's set to feature open-world PVP, full-loot on death, player cities, an expansive continent, mounted combat, hitboxes, completely first-person perspective, siege warfare, and so much more that they haven't even revealed yet. See the image above? That's the alpha build; the way the game looks without the detailed textures that you'll see in the full build. Mortal Gold sets out to be a fistfull of freedom above every cookie-cutter MMORPG to date, and I am white-knuckled, holding patiently on to the hope that it delivers on every promise, and with developers like the ones nurturing Mortal Gold, I'm certain they can do it too.