{"id":10166,"date":"2021-11-17T12:35:32","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T10:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/?p=10166"},"modified":"2021-11-17T12:35:32","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T10:35:32","slug":"new-world-the-amazon-company-settler-training-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/new-world-the-amazon-company-settler-training-program\/","title":{"rendered":"New World \u2013 The Amazon company Settler Training Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you feel like developing a\u00a0massive online roleplaying game\u00a0in 2021, you\u00a0need to\u00a0come up with something new and refreshing\u00a0to reel in an audience. Many companies have tried and failed\u00a0at\u00a0such a feat after the zenith of World of Warcraft\u2019s popularity years ago, and most of those projects have gone under and faded, with even WoW seeming like it\u2019s standing on its last legs.\u00a0So, what does New World do to stand out?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing,\u00a0really.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Excuse\u00a0me,\u00a0adverts?\u00a0Could\u00a0I\u00a0see\u00a0the\u00a0view,\u00a0please?<\/em><\/p>\n

New World\u00a0feels like any other\u00a0free-to-play MMO. There\u2019s a\u00a0realistic\u00a0art style\u00a0with a world that\u00a0looks so\u00a0normal\u00a0and natural\u00a0it becomes\u00a0boring,\u00a0endless\u00a0resource\u00a0gathering, and\u00a0cosmetic micro-transactions. If the game really were\u00a0free,\u00a0all that\u00a0would be just dandy. However, it\u2019ll cost you\u00a0\u20ac40 to get in.\u00a0Not that\u00a0\u20ac40 is a bad price, mind you, as\u00a0I could easily imagine the game going for\u00a0\u20ac60, and there is no monthly fee like with WoW and Final Fantasy\u00a0XIV. Despite that, the game\u00a0just\u00a0feels… cheap.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead of space, what you can carry is only limited by weight.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s not much focus on the story or the lore, and everything you\u00a0do\u00a0learn is through identical pieces of paper scattered around the world. Your character doesn\u2019t have a story either,\u00a0so calling the game an RPG is a stretch. Villages, hills, and forests all look the same regardless of the zone you\u2019re in, and so do enemies. There may be 50\u00a0different\u00a0flavours\u00a0of\u00a0wolves\u00a0around, but the only thing that changes is the colour of their fur, their name, and their level.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s supposed to draw you in is the focus on player vs. player content.\u00a0The three joinable factions (that don\u2019t have stories\u00a0or any notable differences\u00a0either) can capture regions and cities,\u00a0giving their members buffs when traveling there, and letting player communities (guilds) decide how a town will be upgraded.\u00a0The open world\u00a0PvP\u00a0is also supposed to be a selling point, so I tried turning it on and seeing if I could find a\u00a0foe to duel\u00a0to the death\u00a0in the wild. I was then\u00a0immediately\u00a0one-shotted by a mage\u00a0over\u00a010 levels stronger than me, and I\u2019ve never turned it on since.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now you will see why they call me the Flying Buzzsaw!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The one thing the game has on its side is\u00a0the combat.\u00a0It\u2019s fast\u00a0and\u00a0reactive and\u00a0has a high skill ceiling for those that want to master it.\u00a0You aim your\u00a0ranged weapons\u00a03<\/span>rd<\/span>\u00a0person shooter style, making the heavy damage they deal\u00a0feel\u00a0earned\u00a0and sniping from a distance possible.\u00a0Defending yourself is done with real-time parrying and dodge rolls,\u00a0enabling you\u00a0to beat\u00a0monsters\u00a0of\u00a0a higher level if you\u2019re\u00a0skilled\u00a0enough.\u00a0Thanks to this, battles can\u00a0be\u00a0seriously tense and exciting, and one of my battles against a\u00a0thunderbolt shooting ghost in the middle of a small forest graveyard\u00a0made me feel like the Witcher in a\u00a0series finale.\u00a0Except for the parts where the enemies started\u00a0teleporting around due to lag, or\u00a0my\u00a0bullet flew\u00a0right through the enemy\u2019s skull without registering as a hit.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mooom, I broke the game again!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

New World is a soulless game where the primary gameplay loop is a charmless chore.\u00a0It has interesting ideas, like the intrigue the\u00a0PvP\u00a0elements\u00a0will have on a larger time\u00a0period,\u00a0but\u00a0reaching that endgame content is not an adventure: it\u2019s a\u00a0grind. There are no\u00a0hidden treasures or collectibles to find,\u00a0no story to be engaged in,\u00a0and everything you do is based on empirical gain rather that the inherent fun of doing\u00a0it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The original draft of this review had me hopeful for the potential of this game in the coming months and years, but after another week of mindless questing with no motivation outside of seeing my level rise, I don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to\u00a0be there to see\u00a0it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All pictures used are screenshots taken by the author<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Developer: Amazon\u00a0Games<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Publisher: Amazon\u00a0Games<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Platforms:\u00a0Microsoft Windows<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Release\u00a0Date:\u00a0September\u00a028, 2021<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Genres: Action, Adventure,\u00a0Massively\u00a0Multiplayer,\u00a0Roleplaying<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

PEGI\u00a016<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For a world that\u2019s supposed to be new, I sure feel like I\u2019ve already seen it many times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":10172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1232,247,1468,1469,1470],"class_list":["post-10166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews","tag-mmorpg","tag-action","tag-amazon","tag-amazongames","tag-newworld","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}