Amazon’s MMO New World shows promise – in everything but queer representation
Brace yourself – Amazon’s upcoming MMO New World is… pretty good.
Such a statement almost seems to defy expectation. Amazon Games’ last major effort was its doomed hero shooter Crucible – launched in May 2020 only to be killed in November. That game had been in development, in various forms, since 2014, and yet it barely lasted six months – what hope was there for a full MMO with a vastly more complex world?
Thankfully, following a hands-on preview session, New World is shaping up to be a far more rounded, enjoyable experience – albeit with one major caveat that we’ll get to shortly.
Applying a mythological twist to the Age of Exploration, New World casts players as a castaway on the strange island of Aeternum, lost somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Those who find their way to Aeternum find themselves immortal, and that the strange properties of the unexplored land extend to its plants, wildlife, and even ambient energies, creating forms of magic. This is no eternal paradise though – the island is under constant assault from an unnatural force known as The Corrupted, which warps and infects the natural world as it seeks dominion of the mysterious isle.
Unlike many fantasy games – online or off – New World opts for a classless approach to player growth. Instead of choosing a specialisation at the start, you’ll simply design your character – all humans, meaning no playable fantasy races, but with a solid approach to diversity in how you create your avatar – and then customise them as you level up. It’s a nice and still too-rare approach to character development, allowing players to experiment with play styles and loadouts as they go.
For instance, if you fancy a warrior-type character, you might put all your character points into Strength early on. However, if you find a cool piece of magical weaponry such as a Fire Staff, you might want to refocus on Intelligence, boosting your mystic might. In New World, you can alter your approach as you see fit, without having to start from the very beginning with a new character, just to see how different types handle.
New World’s approach to character growth is multi-faceted too. Alongside character levels, you’ll gain proficiency levels in each weapon type, unlocking branching ability paths for them, and Territory Standing based on building your reputation in a particular area, which provides bonuses in certain categories (such as gathering speed or crafting costs) but only when you’re in that region.
Despite a very frustrating lack of controller support, New World’s combat is much more engaging than a typical MMO, too. A mixture of light and heavy attacks, dodges, and parries keeps melee encounters entertaining, while skills learned through weapon mastery allow you to unleash hell with special attacks. Like many MMOs, these specials are mapped to the number keys on the keyboard, but given the speed that combat can reach, would feel much more intuitive on a controller.
It’s an update we hope comes to the game sooner rather than later, as there’s potential to do a lot of fighting in New World. Alongside the level grinding skirmishes to build your experience points, there’s potential for players to invest in PvE and PvP events. The former takes the form of Invasions, mass uprisings of Corrupted that seek to take over human-dominated territory. These will last for 30 minutes, challenging players to survive waves of increasingly challenging foes in a sort of fort defence clash. Conversely, Wars see players battling in 50-on-50 encounters to determine control of a region.
Thankfully, New World also caters to the less viscerally minded. While combat can play a large role, it can also be avoided entirely – players can focus on crafting or exploring instead, building and recovering items to sell to other players or otherwise help their factions. Crafting in particular is set to play an important role in New World from its earliest moments, with Amazon Games expecting those who focus on the skill to become major players in the game’s in-world economy. There will even be certain high-level or rare items that are only available if crafted, and otherwise unattainable in the game.
Visually, it’s all rather lovely too, with Aeternum packing in a mix of beautiful open world environments, bustling settlements with a charming 17th century approach to architecture and design, fantastic ruins hinting at the island’s secrets, and blighted landscapes and dungeons where the Corrupted roam. It’s still undeniably fantasy aesthetic, but it’s one that offers something refreshingly different to the typical orcs-and-elves approach.
Beyond controller support, New World’s one major omission – and one that will likely be felt by a lot of LGBTQ+ players – is any form of relationship system. Despite the ability to buy a house in many of Aeternum’s settlements, there’s no chance to build a virtual life in it. You can’t even woo non-player characters, much less “marry” other players, as you can in the likes of Final Fantasy XIV, with its popular ‘Eternal Bond’ system.
When asked, an Amazon Games representative simply said that “there is no relationship system in New World“.
It’s an odd oversight, especially since player relationships in MMOs aren’t a particularly new aspect of the genre, even if LGBTQ+ partnerships might not have always been an option. In 1997, UK games magazine Next Generation reported on “player weddings” taking place in Meridian 59, one of the first MMOs as we’d recognise them now, while Ultima Online offered players rings and officiated ceremonies if they wanted to tie the knot in-game.
Since then, online games as varied as MapleStory, ArcheAge, and Ragnarok Online have implemented opposite-sex marriage systems, and Star Wars: The Old Republic introduced same-sex love interests – albeit inelegantly, with an NPC who couldn’t leave the ‘gay planet’ you met them on. When online worlds effectively ask players to live a second life in them, being able to foster relationships in those worlds is an increasingly popular option, straight or gay, and the absence here will be keenly felt.
However, as New World grows post-launch, one thing that could see the feature added to the game is player demand for it.
“We had the preview event last year, where thousands of players played and we’re listening, and I think if you look at all the changes we’ve made this year, hopefully you can see that our goal is to work with the community to build the best game,” says David Verfaillie, creative director of New World. “I think once we’re live, we can really begin that process even more, and our plan is to support this game and continue to develop it with the players.”
Despite this, it’s tough to shake the fear the game might be gutted if not an overnight hit, as happened to Crucible. It will also be interesting to see what metrics Amazon Games measures success by, as New World isn’t supported by a monthly subscription – players buy the game outright and then online play is free, although there will be microtransactions for cosmetic items.
If Amazon Games does give New World time to grow and continues to respond to player feedback though, then it could have its first bonafide hit on its hands. What’s on offer from the current alpha build state of the game is already enticing, but with a few tweaks – and a dash more inclusivity – it could bring in a lot of players who find more traditional MMOs played out.
New World launches in public beta on 20 July, with the full launch following on 31 August (PC only)
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