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Age of Wushu: Dynasty - Sometimes you want someone else to grind for you

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Age of Wushu: Dynasty - Sometimes you want someone else to grind for you

Age of Wushu: Dynasty is an interesting one. It's an MMO, but squished down to fit mobile play sessions.

It's got more in common with card battlers than World of Warcraft to some degree. A lot of what you do is automated - tap the quest icon to run around, pass on messages, and occasionally get in some little scraps.

Then there are instances that give you far more control. There's a slick combat system, some complex levelling, and an awful lot to do.

And it's a lot of fun. The violence is sharp and exhilarating, the game looks super-polished, and while there's still grind present, it takes a lot of it out of your hands.

So what's the skinny?

Well it's a martial arts online action RPG. You pick a character from one of four classes, then run around the world taking quests and killing enemies with your kung fu skills.

Most things are automated, or at least they are if you want them to be. The bigger story missions give control back to you, and they're where the game shines the brightest. The combat is chaotic, but there's some skill involved too.

You control everything with on-screen buttons. There's a standard attack that spins out combos if you mash the button, as well as extra attacks and special moves that you unlock as you level up.

There's a parry system as well, and a feint button. It makes for a complex set of skills that evolves as you play. There's a bit of screen-bashing, but once you get to grips with things you'll be throwing out kicks, punches, and slices like a modern day Bruce Lee.

How free to play is it?

Not especially. I mean, it is free to play, and there's stuff you can spend your real-life money on, but if you don't fancy it you can just keep playing and not paying. I've put a good few hours in and not hit any pay walls yet.

Rather than trying to force a genre onto mobile that just doesn't fit, Age of Wushu: Dynasties tries something different, and it just about pulls it off.

It's alarmingly slick, really easy to pick up and play, and its short sharp compulsion loops are easy to get entangled in.

It might not be the fully fledged MMO some people are hankering for, but, if anything, it's more fun than that. Definitely worth trying out if you like your mobile games with a little depth.

Age of Wushu: Dynasty - Sometimes you want someone else to grind for you

A slick hack and slash MMO, Age of Wushu does an awful lot of things just right
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Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.