If a faction claims a settlement, they get to control things like the tax rates and buffs in the local area. The settlements in the world are up for grabs factions can fight over them in Wars, which are 50 vs. In short, even if I don’t get much interest out of fighting various supernatural beings, whether they be my fallen shipmates or gnarled monsters emerging from the mist, I can at least take joy in besting another player or claiming a town. The faction isn’t a permanent choice - you can swap, albeit with a 120-day timer - and if you want to join a player company - the equivalent of a guild in other MMOs - they have to be under the same banner. There’s the sneaky, scholarly Syndicate, the driven and fanatical Covenant, and the brutal, warring Marauders. The game’s faction system, on the other hand, is one of its most compelling offerings. It feels disjointed to the point of being naive. The game is determined not to be controversial at first blush, but in the end, it’s still a game about exploring and colonizing a new continent. They need me to kill monsters and maddened beasts, which is the objectively correct thing to do when living on a magic island. From my time in game, it seems that Amazon has scrubbed the lore to address early concerns about colonialism, and so when I arrive in the first settlement, I find that it’s run by good natured women and people of color. These silly names hurt my immersion, and the island of Aeternum is difficult to connect with already. Some of them have names like Gideon Greyhawk and John Holland others are called things like Swaglord420 and Weebscum Uwu. There are no elves or bunny girls or Twi’lek it’s just a lot of humans, some of whom have a cool hat or scars, running around in their various bits of armor. The player character in an MMO lets us create the lens through which we see its world, but there’s not a lot of variety in the people I see around New World. One viral negative Steam review simply reads ‘no catgirls.’ But the character creator, for one, is extremely boring. It almost feels bad to complain about the rest of the game, because the production values are so high and there are ubiquitous signs of care in textures, diaries, and monster models. The environments are beautifully designed, and I trek through lush wildlands or delve into haunted caves to slay hideous monsters. Tired of being a tank? I can equip a life staff or ice gauntlet and become a mage. I can also switch my weapons at any time. As my sailor advances and turns into a travelling mercenary and marauder, I choose to focus on hatchets and sword-and-shield combat. Image: Amazon Game StudiosĬombat and levelling feels great, and New World throws punchy choices at me without overwhelming me. No one can die on Aeternum, and so all the survivors of doomed voyages have decided to buckle down and try to build a civilization out here. My Captain is consumed by the dark, roiling mists of the island, so I must fight my way through my former crew, now corrupted and ghoulish, to the safety of an established settlement.
Fight my way online full#
I start out as a shipwrecked sailor on the shores of Aeternum, a mythical island full of treasure and curses. Large parts of New World are polished and competent. I found my feet, and then looked out at the horizon of a vast world waiting to be explored. Early on, the game manages to capture the best part of embarking on a new adventure. It’s not concerned with killing Blizzard’s goliath, but rather, content to be something of its own. New World feels like the first MMO designed without World of Warcraft’s DNA as a core feature. While the queues are piling up, and players are trying to join the same server as all of their friends, once I get online I enjoy a smooth ride through developer Amazon's world of adventure. There’s also an extensive network of constant player communication. It’s a modern MMORPG in every way - absolutely gorgeous, surprisingly stable for launch, and well voice-acted. New World promises a lush and strange continent for players to explore and conquer, full with dangerous enemies and the promise of glory and treasure.