"Go speak unto Gwenn of the treefolk. She knoweth many skills that might be useful for thee, if thou beist a treehugger. Fie! I can ne'er fathom fighting in such a wussified manner, mayhap that is more thee's style?! Thou might as well eat some granola and tofu while thee is at it..... hippee!" So sayeth Lothar of the Mound People.

Welcome to the world of Dungeon Runners, NCsoft's FREE massively multiplayer online (MMO) game. This tongue and cheek romp through the copycat fantasy role-playing genre brings casual and hardcore players to the MMO realm. While only three classes exist (Fighter, Mage and Ranger), each one can learn and utilize skills from the other classes, opening them up to an infinite number of possibilities. By gaining experience and leveling up by completing a multitude of quests players unlock powerful new skills and find a slew of loot (i.e., armor, headgear, boots, gloves, weapons and gold).

Character creation, while basic compared to other well-known games in the genre, offers enough choices to make a visually unique character. Male or female, ponytails, chiseled chins and demur looks are offered out of the gate. The vast array of available armor and other items found along the way ensures that every character eventually sports their own distinct appearance.

Dungeon Runners appearance was conceived by X-Men artist Joe Madureira. That NCsoft wrangled such a big name comic book artist shows that the company spared no expense at establishing a high-quality look for the game. Music and sound effects are just as glorious as the graphics. Voice acting for non-playable characters sounds vaguely familiar (i.e., Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies and an exaggerated Sean Connery), and the dialog they spurt adds an exquisitely humorous touch to the game.

While weapons, armor, powers, etc., don't bring anything new to the genre, NCsoft added a layer of snarkiness to everything. Weapons have different speed characteristics (ludicrous, freakin' fast, fast, normal, slothful and grandma) and modifiers based on their wielding requirements. For instance, the one-handed "Blazing Cardboard Dagger of the Hypersonic Muskrat" has an attack speed of ludicrous, while the "Cardboard Warhammer" gets tagged with grandmas slow. Each piece of clothing and armor presents various modifiers to make them different. For example, a "Rusty Great Helmet" (which looks cool with its polished chrome and wings) has a defense rating of 17, but a -2% deduction on movement speed. The "Celestial Rusty Lid of the Tigon" looks plain, yet has a defense rating of 83 and a slew of other enhancements (+3 to strength, agility, melee damage per second, etc.) It all boils down to form or function, and the player makes the final choice.