Kevin has told me over and over again that “free” games are just no good. I have always argued the point with him. The term “free” is that it is free to download and free to play. If you want double xp items or something like that, then you will have to pay. Payment to the game is based on people who are really really serious about the game.
With that being said I want to talk a little about Sword of the New World. SotNW is produced by Gamers First. Gamers First produces several free to play games. They are all based on some sort of D&D/MMORPG style combat. Try some or all of them out.
SotNW is a unique game. It has a mix of GuildWars and other MMORPGs aspects. The character creation is lacking. as it is with one of the other games that I tried out from Gamers First but I can’t say that for all games.
What they did was created classes and assigned a male/female model to those classes. The magic classes seem to be female, while the warrior style classes seem to be male. It is not a bad thing, it keeps things simple, and the only thing that really changes are the clothes your wear and weapons. What is good about it is there are only a few models that need to load for everyone playing the game. This takes up less memory and allows the game and load times to run smoother.
The game play is good. You mainly have 3 characters in your group. This doesn’t mean that you can’t play with a single character. With having 3 in your group, and at your control you can just about take on anyone at your level. While I have been waxed quite a few times in the game, it is really about being balanced.
I have been running around with a warrior, elementalist, and a wizard. So I’m out adventuring with my 3 characters. I can now be invited into a group or join up with someone that is also playing 3 characters. This can continue to allow up to 12 people playing 3 characters for a total of 36 characters for a raid or something.
The visual effects in the game are great. I think that mine are a little saturated but I have them turned up all the way and the game runs smooth. There are eccentric parts that are lit up, like in most games today. They catch the eye or twinkle just a little. I would put them with WoW or GuildWars style graphics.
Playing though the landscapes so far had been winding though tunnels or hall ways leading to rooms. I have yet to see vast open areas. This doesn’t mean that they are not in the game, just play style so far has been more dungeon than anything else. That is okay by me though. The rooms are large enough that 9 characters could be in the room and still gain good xp. The maps are large enough that you could have 100 characters in them and still be good.
This game will not suit everyone’s game still of play. I have yet to find a game that I have enjoyed as much as EverQuest, and I can’t even enjoy that anymore. I would suggest you see what all is out there before you buy and continue to pay for the next gen games. Sometimes there is something to what you get for free.
