As January began, Jagex released the much anticipated new mini-game: Barbarian Assault. This game went off of a similar tact as that of Pest Control. You join a team, and participate to destroy marauding monsters, and to protect the land from oblivion. There is, however, a surprising twist. Teamwork is absolutely essential in winning the game. Another interesting aspect is the different jobs you can take: Attacker, defender, collector, and healer. This idea had been suggested many times, and Jagex has taken it upon themselves to incorporate it into their newest mini-game. Altogether, Jagex has created a hopefully successful new mini-game that will not fizzle out like so many others. Let’s delve a bit further into this, shall we?

First I’ll take a look at the teamwork required for gameplay. Jagex obviously wanted RuneScapians to focus on getting along, and with this mini-game, you basically have no choice. If you fail to participate with the others, you will inevitably fail the game. How it works is, there are four jobs. Each job has a task assigned to it that needs to be completed. This job cannot be completed without certain information. That information can only be provided by another member of the team, and vice versa. Each player is depending on one another to provide the proper information to defeat the raiding monsters. I believe this was a very good move on Jagex’s part. There are not many activities in RuneScape that encourage teamwork, and Barbarian Assault helps improve the friendly atmosphere in the game. Except for when the teammates are screaming at each other to hurry up and tell them what to do. …Bad memories. Let’s move on.

The multiple roles were what really got me excited. I loved the thought of different assignments and abilities. Though the reality of them wasn’t as fantastic as I had imagined, I was content enough. There are four roles: Attacker, defender, collector, and healer. Attackers, obviously, attack the invading monsters. They are required to attack with a particular style, which is told to them by a collector. High combat is very good, as basically your whole job is killing monsters as fast as you can. Defenders aren’t exactly what you would think. Instead of, for example, defending a particular object, person, etc, they need to lay a trail of food for a particular monster (that attackers cannot damage), leading them into saw traps. Defenders need to know what kind of food to drop. Healers are responsible for telling defenders their needed information.

Healers are, as one would think, the ones that go around, making potions and healing his or her teammates. This is very important, since the attacker can lose health quickly. Healers are also assigned with poisoning a certain type of monster (Penance Healer) with certain poisoned foods. It is the defenders job to inform the healer what type of food the Penance Healer is vulnerable to at that time.

Finally, the collector, my personal favorite, is assigned with the task of collecting multi-colored eggs, of which are dropped by all of the monsters when they die. The collector must pick up the correct egg, or else it will explode, dealing damage that can be quite substantial in some cases. Once acquired, the collector must load the eggs into an egg machine, and then fire them at the enemies. Red eggs explode, blue eggs stun, and green eggs poison. This can greatly aid your team against the monsters.

After playing for a few hours, you might accumulate enough points (which are earned after each round) to purchase some of the mini-games fine upgrades or armor. For 200 points you can upgrade a specific role, improving the performance in different ways. Also, for a substantial sum, you can purchase such items as the granite plate, or even Penance-themed armor. If you’re a person who likes to take chances, you might enjoy gambling your points for even bigger prizes, including the much-admired dragon chainmail.

The entire minigame Jagex has created is undoubtedly one of their better works. It promotes teamwork, and introduced a popular idea: specific roles. The only obvious flaw is, the entire waiting room is empty in most rooms. It is a huge struggle to find a team for your particular wave. The main cause of this problem is the mini-game’s remoteness. Hardly anyone wants to travel to the far reaches of the gnomish lands just to try out a new mini-game. If Jagex relocated it to somewhere more easily reached, I’m sure it would be a great improvement. Overall, it is one of Jagex’s better works, and I myself am hooked on it pretty well, other than the part where I have to switch worlds again and again to find a waiting room large enough to go through a round with. Ah, well. Such is the life of a brave adventurer such as myself.

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In other news…

Users of the scientist Ava’s ingenious device will be delighted to know that now, it not only generates arrows, but also retrieves several of your projectiles, should you be training your ranging skill on some monster. Beware, however, because if there is something obstructing you from your small collection of arrows on the ground, the device will be unable to retrieve them. Also, on a darker note, the generation rate for arrows has been slowed slightly. Oh, don’t complain! Even undead chickens can be overworked!

Also…

The games necklace has been altered, and now teleports you to Barbarian Outpost as well as the Burthorpe Games room! Thank goodness. That will save your poor feet from some awful blisters.

Additionally…

The Lunar spells have been experiencing some bug infestation, allowing them to cast spells on friends in non-multiway-combat areas of the Wilderness. Thanks to some Jagex bug extermination, this has been fixed.

Furthermore…

Convenient right-click options have been added to the magic carpets and gnome gliders.

And lastly…

As the world of RuneScape enters the month of January, thoughts of Christmas slowly melt away, as does the snow on Karamja. No longer shall troublesome Gublinch bother us adventurers! However, I would watch out for any stray childerkins being childernapped. Sheesh, kids! You never know with them these days, you know what I mean?