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THE GOOD AND BAD
Great Combat:
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While new world is pitched as an MMO, the combat system in this game stands apart from all other MMO's we've experienced. Many will talk about the difference between tab-targeting and the action based combat system that new world sports. While it is true that you have a limited set of abilities to choose from, spacing and timing play such a large role in the combat of this game it is easy to get lost in it.
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While not much has been said about strategy, New World boasts one of the more complex combat systems in terms of strategy. Knowing your role is key. When and where to attack and pressure the opponent is often helpful. If you find yourself surrounded, you probably did something wrong!
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Lastly, the ability to combine any weapons (while some are clearly designed to work better together you can get away with more than you think!) makes a system that is incredibly complex at its core that can take immense time and effort learning the ins and outs.
Gathering
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One of the more relaxing and casual aspects of the game has got to be the gathering side. Want to fish for hours and sell your prized catch? Go right ahead! Feel like being a lumberjack and cutting down every tree you see? Sure thing.
Honestly, there are people that still play this game just to kick back and mine some ore. The sound effect team (as well as the graphical team) have made a game that is a wonder from this perspective. The first time you hit that ore with a pickaxe you will be in awe of the detail these teams put into the design.
Bugs Galore
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The biggest knock against this game unfortunately is the level of bugs you encounter. These bugs range from the careless typo that has existed since launch all the way to bugged abilities that grant super powers. In the time we played some of the more influential ones were:
Hatchet perk granted an unintended amount of extra dmg to the point of one shotting players with a light attack
Dragging the game window granted invincibility to your character (wars were won and lost this way)
Muskets could become repeaters
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These are just to name a few. In this game there was never a time when you could play without encountering a bug. Oftentimes these bugs are being actively abused by the community who keep them secret so they don't get resolved. Many people to this day have performance issues, and the client still crashes on occasion.
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It's fair to said over a year after launch that bugs are a permanent aspect of this game and you will either learn to live with them, or play something else.
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Content and Community
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New World has enough content to keep you interested for some time if you are new to the game. Unfortunately, if you are a new player at this point there aren't too many people to level and play that content with. Most of the community that is left has played the game and been max level for a very long time. This has the unfortunate ability of gating you from any PVP activities until you put in the time to get your gear score up. Similarly the PVE side of the game has some memorable moments in various expeditions as they call them, but it can be difficult depending on your server to find people willing to do them. If you want to partake in the higher level mutated dungeons as they are called you need to acquire a set of gear for each dungeon that you then have to upgrade before groups will join you. Sadly, there aren't too many people willing to do low level versions of these dungeons to help you get to the higher levels because there is a limit on how many you can do per week.
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The community that is left isn't there to help the game succeed at this stage. At every turn they will gate the content for new players be it rejecting you for PVE groups, or harassing you for being bad at PVP (while many are abusing bad game design such as stunlocks or in some cases outright glitching to gain an advantage).
Conclusion
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New World is a good game and well worth the money AGS is asking, but the slow churn for content, the barrier to entry created by the community, and the bugs you will undoubtedly encounter can make the game a bit frustrating at times. If you want to play a beautiful game with a different take on combat from other MMO's this game is definitely worth it! Believe us when we say you will have fun with this game, but know that the closer you get to the end game the more that fun will fade as you will be faced with a lot of time sinks the developer believes is content.
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We do recommend you check it out when it goes on a sale, but if you are looking for something to play long term with friends you may need to look elsewhere at this stage.
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