Neverwinter
– Open Beta
May 2, 2013
First
Impressions, Level 1-5
I chose to take a relatively easy
course in my open beta character selection, a human warrior, Guardian
class. I figured this would give me the
best chance to take a beating and get to know the games mechanics and combat
dynamics.
The story starts off with a shipwreck
on the shores of Neverwinter. This is
not very original and I can name two more games that start the same way, Age of
Conan, and Path of Exile. But with that
lack of originality aside, you run straight into the simple tutorial and almost
immediate combat.
Any experienced MMORPG player will
have no issue managing the controls of the game and understanding the
combat. So far I’ve seen that combat is
based more on action than strategy.
Quick fingers and well-timed use of skills are essential and it reminds
me of my first game play in Age of Conan, which I believe pioneered this style
of combat in an MMO.
After journeying through the first
introduction and storyline portion of the game, you find yourself in the city
of Neverwinter itself. The city is
crowded with buildings and feels a bit claustrophobic, but its vivid colors make
up for some of the crowding.
Graphically, it reminds me of an updated World of Warcraft by some of
its styling and color use.
As you continue your storyline
progress the use of the games pathing system really comes into its own. It uses a sparkly magic like path along the
ground which leads you to your next objective in quest you are working on. Keep in mind when following this path that you
should be sure to look around. You don’t
want to get so focused on the path and miss a treasure chest or secret entry
off to the side (not to mention some monster).
Neverwinter obviously has its roots
in the Dungeons and Dragons world, but it hasn’t felt like it yet for me. Other than the name of the game, it feels
like a split from the class system I would have expected from Neverwinter. If you come to this game expecting it to be
like Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, you may be disappointed.
Though I’ve reached level 5 now, I
haven’t had to group with anyone to complete any missions. Instances have been manageable on my own and
I’ve only had to use health potions twice.
Neverwinter’s free to play format
limits your character slots to two, but since I only have one character for
now, it hasn’t felt limiting. As you
walk through the city you get to see lots of shiny bobbles which Zen points
could buy you. This is obviously a
selling tactic, but since the game is free to play I can’t fault them for that.
The Foundry is going to be
interesting to see in the long run as well.
It allows for player created content, instances and missions to be
created and played. I haven’t tried it
yet, but I look forward to it!
Overall I think the game plays well
and I haven’t run into any glitches.
Admittedly my PC hardware is really decent, but I don’t think the game
will graphically overpower the average PC gamers system. For my first impression rating, I’ll give the
game a decent 6 out of 10. It hasn’t
blown me away with any new innovations as of yet, but the gameplay is
intuitive, the HUD is simple and the storyline has some potential. PERFECT WORLD has a lot of games to manage at
once, so I hope they have the staff to manage this one properly.
