The idea was an offshoot of a bigger, high-profile project. Back when Flagship was first working on the title Hellgate: London, the idea was that the game would be a massively multiplayer online game. The evolution in the development of the title precluded that idea, and the game instead became focused on the solo player campaign.

But Flagship – which was spawned from a creative group that had worked on such titles as Diablo 2 – already had some of the MMO assets in place. So what to do with them? Well, why not spin them off into a free-to-play MMO. The result is Mythos, a title that bears a remarkable similarity to the online portion of D2, in the look and structure of the gameplay. Both have that three-quarters (isometric) vantage point, both involve traversing an area that has boundaries, mobs that you can wipe out and treasures to find as well as dungeons you can descend into with various levels and tougher mobs per level as well as greater rewards.

Where Mythos deviates from D2 though is in the character classes, of which there are three – gremlin, human and satyr. There are also three classes of characters – gadgeteer (think ranged attacks with guns and such), bloodletter (melee) and pyromancer (magic).

This is a point-and-click game, in that you use the mouse cursor to point where you want to go. Likewise, you also select your targets and then use the left click to attack in regular fashion, or the right click to use the pre-loaded special attack. Each class has a skill tree and as you level, you gain points that can applied to the various skills.

For example, a pyromancer only has a kicking attack when first inserted into the game. Complete the first mission (NPCs have question marks above their heads to indicate that they are a quest-giver) and you will achieve your first level. You can then open the skills menu and you will see two available skills to choose from: flaming fist (which causes 1-2 in fire damabe but has a 10% chance to ignite the target) or fiery weapon (any melee attack deals extra fire damage). At the next level, for flaming fist, you can do 1-3 damage, and so on. But you don’t have to be content with those two skills only. They are both on the cinderblade subclass of the pyromancer tree. There are two other subclasses – flamecaster and coalsmasher. Each have different skills and defines your character, as well as allowing for some customization.

As you level, you also receive stat points which can be allocated into four areas: strength (improves melee damage), dexterity (attack speed and the ability to avoid damage), vitality (increases your health bar) and wisdom (increases mana).

A minimap in the lower right-hand corner gives you a quick reference point for your current environment. There is no free roaming, but there are spawns for each map on each visit.

Graphically the game harkens back to a less intensive time. The isometric view does allow for ghost images when environmental elements obscure your view. The environments are done in pastel shades, and even at 1440x900 resolution, there is a softness to them. The effects are done well, for the most part (the gun effects are a little simple). The audio is fine (some of the voice acting is a little iffy, but this is a beta so allowances are made), but don’t expect it to jump out and surprise you.

The gameplay is very much a directed experience. You pick up quests, can team up with others for adventuring, and move throughout the world. Fight, gain xp, level, collect drops, complete quest, repeat. Head into town to meet merchants to sell or buy, socialize – the game does not do much on a very deep level, but it does have the elements in place for an solid experience.

Mythos is not about to set the MMO market on fire (pyromancers aside). But it is a nice casual gaming experience that will allow players to drop in for either a few minutes here or there, or extended gaming with equal entertainment value.

As the game is in beta, there were occasional connection problems, as in server drops for no apparent reason, but these and a few other bugs may be cleared up when the game finally launches. This will be a digital download, so do not expect to see it on retail shelves.