Power Up: WoW vs. Warhammer: It's war

World of Warcraft, beware.

While Blizzard's role-playing epic has dominated the online gaming scene since its November 2004 release, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is poised to become the first legitimate challenger to WoW's crown. I've been immersed in the new massively multiplayer game in recent days and I can report that it is both highly entertaining and even somewhat addictive.

For the uninitiated, Warhammer Online is the latest iteration of the Warhammer role-playing universe. The series began more than two decades ago as a tabletop affair and has been depicted several times in video games. However, this is Warhammer's first go at massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming. Devotees will pay $14.99 monthly to quest and do battle in a persistent universe in which their character's skills and gear increase in direct proportion to the amount of time invested in the game. And, since the game never ends, that time can be substantial. Some hard-core fans of online role-playing games have been known to lose jobs and even spouses to their obsession.

Development chores for Warhammer Online were handled by Mythic Entertainment, the team behind an earlier, well-regarded MMO, Dark Age of Camelot. In the game, players choose to play for one of two factions. The Armies of Order include Dwarfs, High Elves and humans. The bad-guy Armies of Destruction include Orcs, Goblins, Dark Elves, and another group of humans known as Chaos. Characters are further broken down into classes such as healers, engineers, warriors and spell-casters.

Graphically, Warhammer Online is a treat, with a landscape that is often dark, foreboding, and reminiscent of the scarier bits of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Its quests and combat system are impressive, and MMO fans who have grown weary of World of Warcraft will find Warhammer Online a more than suitable replacement.

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While there is some speculation that the iPhone poses a long-term threat to the handheld dominance of the best-selling DS, a massive owner base ensures that there will always be plenty of great games, as well as a few controversial ones, for Nintendo's system.

Let's start with the controversy. At the E3 Media and Business Summit, formerly known as Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Nintendo stunned the crowd with a surprise announcement that Rockstar Games was developing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown for the DS. Since GTA titles are always edgy and Nintendo is generally thought of as the most family-friendly of game companies, that in itself was big news. But Rockstar upped the ante recently by revealing that there will be a drug-dealing mini-game within GTA: Chinatown. Parents are not likely to be pleased.

Despite the looming GTA controversy, the value of the DS extends well beyond traditional gaming. In recent times we've seen DS titles designed to help smokers kick the habit, to prepare high school students for the SATs, and to teach players of any age to speak foreign languages.

Even better, Nintendo is said to be readying a new version of the DS that will incorporate a digital camera as well as the ability to play music.

Grade: A

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Electronic Arts. PC. $49.99

Rating: T (13 and older)

On the Web: www.warhammeronline.com