In addition to playing through the hack-and-slash portions of the game, we caught up with Nexon to get updated on other content that will be added to it, including Evy, the mage character, who wields a quarterstaff (that can be modified to become a giant scythe) and the power of Source-engine-powered sorcery. In a brief demonstration video we watched, we saw Evy lift her foes clean off their feet with a telekinetic power and also summon powerful golem creatures by using those same powers to lift piles of stony debris off the ground and assemble them into huge, lumbering humanoids under her control. In addition to getting a sneak peek at the next character, we also got some more details on the game's cash-op online store, which will let you purchase in-game items by way of microtransations--basically, paying small amounts of real money out of pocket in exchange for in-game stuff. The current plan is likely to keep most cash-op items focused on superficial apparel items that let you play dress-up with your character, though there may be a few consumable items in there as well. A Nexon staffer suggests that one potential candidate might be a potion that doesn't spill while drinking on the run. In any case, Vindictus doesn't look anything like what you'd expect from a free-to-play game. Its high-end graphics and surprising physics modeling put it a cut above other free-to-play games and its hack-and-slash gameplay is an interesting departure from the usual statistics-based, dice-rolling combat you find in most games of this sort. The game is scheduled to launch next year with a beta sometime before then.
