When it comes to MMOGs, rarely are they based in actual history. Silkroad Online places players along the Silk Road, a trade route that once connected Eastern and Western Asia. Players participate in the game as a new settler along this route, and try to make a name for themselves as a gallant hero, a fiendish thief, or a money-seeking merchant.

Players choose their character to begin their journey, which is separated into Europeans or Chinese. After they choose a nationality, players then select one of several pre-set character choices; each features a different facial look and backstory. It's a bit disappointing to have to choose pre-set characters, as so many other MMOGs today allow a great deal of character customization. The only customization in Silkroad is the character's height, volume, clothing, and what weapon they'll wield. The choice of weapon is especially important as it helps shape what kind of character they will became. The gear is focused towards either a force user or fighting tank. While the lack of visual customization is a disappointment, it is far more important that each player is able to tailor their character¡¯s skills to their play style.

The first choice after creation is to select an actual class. Europeans have options to select the Warrior, Wizard, Warlock, Rogue, Bard, or Cleric classes, while the Chinese are tied more to their weapon usage, and their options include Sword, Blade, Spear, Glaive, and Bow. After they pick their pre-set character, players then choose a class or weapon specialty in the selection of the character's weapon. For the Europeans,  wow alliance weapons like the cleric rod are tied to Clerics and daggers and crossbows to the rogues, while the Chinese's weapon options are more tied to strength and weaknesses rather than pre-determined classes. Once a player has decided upon their look and class/specialty, they'll find themselves plopped down in their starting city and ready to learn the ropes of their strange new world.

In terms of control, Silkroad Online uses the point-and-click movement system instead of the WASD keyboard controls. The click system works well, but it leads to more starting and stopping than what would usually be necessary. Another problem with the movement system is that it can be hard to navigate in areas where there are a lot of people milling around either looking for groups or trying to buy or sell stuff. On more than one occasion I distinctly remember trying to leave an area, only to run into one problem after another as I tried to navigate around the town square flooded with people. The control system works much better once you get out of town and start out into the open world.

The game's menu system is also a bit wonky and hard to embrace at first, silkroad gold as it doesn't necessarily feel as if everything is properly placed and as easily accessible as needed. The controls and menus, however, are easily overcome and adapted to after a little time, and in no way hamper the overall game.