Vic Hammer

Both my wife and I played during the open beta. Before the weekend was over we both had almost 20 hours game time in and had pre-ordered the game. The next two weeks were a living hell with us literally counting down the days til launch. My wife and I have both beta tested several games, and in the last 20 years have played MMOs on launch day at least half a dozen times. Thus far, this has been the BEST launch we have had. We entered the game world approximately 3 - 5 min after our servers went live. My wife had no queue and I had one person ahead of me. I was in within 10 - 20 seconds. We start playing at a non-peak time for our server and have not had any queues. Graphics are smooth and gorgeous. The lore and setting are both entertaining and innovative. Game mechanics are enjoyable with only a couple minor exceptions. There is no swimming just literally walking underwater. The jump could be a little better, but you have a phenomenal set of movements for getting over rough terrain. There are rough spots here and there and a few minor things that could be tweaked, but again this was a new launch, and these hiccups are too be expected. I have played some MMO's that took MONTHS to get where New World is right now. Overall, if you like pirates, MMO's, or skill based systems, then this is your game. Thus far they have committed to not be a pay to win system, and so far all purchasable items that take real money are all purely cosmetic. I honestly can't say if I am more excited about the game play so far, or anxious to see what they can do with their first few major updates given how refined the game feels now. New World combines a good mix of new features with some of the better old MMO standards. I have a couple games in my Steam library that have over 1,000 hours play time, I can easily see myself doubling that with New World. I hope you give it a try.