Game news 3 years after its release, this online role-playing game is getting a big overhaul and we played it in Los Angeles! It follows the lead of Final Fantasy 14, but is it as good an MMO?
A few weeks before blowing out its third candle, this online role-playing game, developed and published by Amazon Games, is about to undergo a very big overhaul and not the least since it will allow the title to migrate to the living room consoles. If you followed the Summer Game Fest ceremony, you know that we are obviously talking about New World. For our part, we were able to play it for almost an hour in Los Angeles during Play Days, and we share with you our feelings about this first handling.
This year again, the Summer Game Fest ceremony divided the public. Some would have liked a slightly more packed set of surprises, but there were still some interesting announcements. Among these, there was obviously the announcement of the arrival of Amazon Games’ MMO, New World, in a new version designed for home consoles.. Indeed, the success of the MMO was dazzling when it was released but had difficulty being sustained. To get back on track, New World has reforged its experience to transpose it onto new gaming platforms, but not only that!
In reality, this is a real overhaul to offer players of all backgrounds the best possible experience. Between now and October 15, New World Aeternum will conquer a new audience and reconnect with old ones by promising them a much more accomplished version. For our part, we were able to embark on this adventure and that’s good because, as an uninitiated person, we really had the same experience as the one you will have in the coming months. So if you’ve never set foot in New World and this console release intrigues you, you are in the right place!
This is perhaps the best time to discover New World: PS5 and Xbox Series players are spoiled!
Casually, there are many MMOs that have wanted to catch the eye of console players. One of the most evocative examples is obviously Final Fantasy XIVand it was clearly a success as the controls on the controller and the ergonomics, in general, are well thought out and quickly become quite clear to use after a few manipulations. As for this version of New Worldit’s overall a fairly similar sensation that we felt. Let’s say that of the hour of play that we spent almost on this Aeternum version, we didn’t spend half of it getting confused with the pad controls.
What is just as clear and fluid is the handling of our character. The particularity of New World, is that the game does not require us to choose a class and lock ourselves into a straightjacket. Conversely, the first minutes ask us to choose, among other things, one archetype among seven then move on to the customization stage. As we said, the game leaves us quite free in terms of the character we want to play. Here, it’s practice that makes us more effective. Understand that the more your character uses a bow, for example, the more effective he will be with this weapon and will recover skill points to develop its talent trees. Note also that you can carry two weapons at the same time and alternate easily during and outside of combat.
This concept is also found through progression in the different professions. Consequently, this strategy greatly increases the content of the game since it will take time to reach the highest level of mastery, both in terms of weapons and professions. If we have only scratched the surface of the game, we still had confirmation that New World is a generous MMO. There are several types of story (main, factions, seasonal, annexes), quests (mounts, events) and, above all, documents to recover and achievements to complete. So no time to get bored! For our part, during the test, we must say that we did not see the time passing, but…
The MMO changes skin, but retains small flaws…
Although the vice president of Amazon Games, Christoph Hartmann, is convinced that this overhaul of New World is a refreshing experience, it is obviously a little difficult to be so categorical. Indeed, the beginnings of the adventure are fluid but it is quite complicated to be of the same opinion while the few quests that we were able to complete consisted of beating a certain number of monsters or going back and forth. As for the refreshing part, we didn’t really taste it and the few confrontations carried out gave us the impression of a lack of punch in the fights, some inaccuracies in attacks and dodges. In short, we were on something quite classic, which is not enough to worry the competition or attract newbies.
We therefore regret this lack of impact, despite the numerous projects on which the teams have worked. Controller navigation, target lock, aim assist in combat. This is not a small overhaul, and this is precisely why Amazon Games now talks more about Aeternum as an action-RPG than as an MMO. Please note, this does not mean that the teams have cut corners on the multiplayer aspect. Among the additions, we find the very first large-scale player versus player zone, the introduction of cross-play as well as a difficult ten-player raid. For the moment, we lack a lot of visibility on the more advanced elements of the overhaul to make a judgment since, as we recall, the extent of the session only allowed us to discover a portion of the prologue.
That being said, we feel that efforts have been made to streamline progression because our character gained his first levels quite quickly. Ultimately, this may be the best time to discover New Worldwith others or entirely solo, or get back to it since players who have already acquired the game and its expansion will be able to enjoy Aeternum at no additional cost. New World therefore takes a new start, it remains to be seen whether the winds will be favorable to him and will carry him further than at the start. Get ready, the release is scheduled for October 15 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series.