When I received a closed-doors demo from Cryptic at last year’s E3 for Neverwinter, it was one of my top games of show. Then, last fall, Cryptic announced that they had been purchased by Perfect World International, and that Neverwinter would be taking a drastic turn as a free-to-play MMO. My heart immediately sank into despair, for history has shown how this sort of drastic turn for an online game usually turns out. After seeing Neverwinter at E3 2012, however, my fears have been allayed, the demons of doubt and sadness vanquished as if by a +4 Vorpal Broadsword.
It’s a storied tale in the industry, one that has plagued many a game in the past. Game is well into production, new management comes in, game takes radical new direction, game dies a fiery death either before release like a failed phoenix hatchling, or tanks at release like Icarus flying too close to the sun. Star Wars Battlefront 3, Duke Nukem Forever, Starcraft: Ghost, NBA Live; all such are similar notable victims of the crucible. There are exceptions, of course (Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance slashes its way to the forefront of my mind), but by and large, such symptoms are generally a prophecy of sorts, foretelling doom and gloom.
While much of the PR surrounding the Perfect World buyout and the Neverwinter redux seemed to suggest that Perfect World was controlling the change, one of the lead developers for Neverwinter was happy to correct this impression, indicating that the original vision had actually been for an MMO, but that it had been scaled back initially. With Perfect World’s financial backing and successful experience in the free-to-play gamespace, the original ambition could be realized, and the change was offered to Perfect World, not the other way around.
One of my biggest concerns for the Neverwinter redux was the Foundry, a system that let users create their own Neverwinter content and missions, and unlike previous Neverwinter entries, did so with an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. I have personally been assured that the Foundry remains intact, allowing players to create missions or even entire campaigns from scratch and deliver them to other players with the same ease-of-use found in previous builds.
As for gameplay, our hands-on demo confirmed for us that it is actually much improved, combining simplicity and strategy into a well-balanced mixed cocktail of gaming love. Gameplay is a mix of DC Universe and Diablo 3, while still throwing in a few pinches of D&D 4th Edition. There are two “at-will” attacks, one for each mouse button, and the frequency with which you can use this is limited only by how fast you can click (and likely also network ping). Then there are “encounter” powers, which have a small cooldown and have special effects or do greater damage; these are tied to the Q, E, and R keys. Finally, there are “daily” powers, assigned to the number keys, which, while you can do more than once per day (thankfully, and anyone who thinks this should be otherwise is a cruel puppeteer at best), will be even more infrequent, as their usage must be earned by building up a meter in combat.
All told, characters generally only have 7 attacks to choose from, but this is part of the design of the game; Neverwinter’s creators know that most players really only use about 7 or so attacks from their MMO characters’ builds, so they have elected to have more classes and class builds with a limited, fixed set of powers, rather than an overwhelming stable of powers with many that rarely see use.
As a die-hard D&D fan, especially that of the Forgotten Realms setting in which Neverwinter takes place, I have a rather sizable vested emotional interest in Neverwinter; hence, my depression when its direction was radically changed. But I can personally confirm that all of these changes have been for the better, as we will all surely find out when the beta starts in the coming months. Perfect World has aimed to make this a AAA-level free-to-play game, a glorious ambition to be sure, and so far, it is shaping up to take the gaming world by surprise. Don’t worry, Stark family; Neverwinter is coming, but it is surely a good thing.
Watch for more Neverwinter news and reviews here at Padinga.com in the coming months!
