Why I buy this one ?
- Powerful Multi-Character Control (MCC) gives players simultaneous command of up to three characters.
- Striking Original Graphics. Sword of the New World’s bold art direction was inspired by the supremacy of Europe’s Baroque period.
- Knock-Out Classes – Fighter, Wizard, Musketeer, Scout, and Elementalist – are created in an impressive barracks under one family name, which each character carries as a surname.
- Exciting Stances deliver unmatched gameplay variety and depth. Each class can change between several distinct stances, and each stance offers unique skills, abilities, and equipment options.
- Intense PvE and PvP Combat challenges players with rapid, dynamic action, whether they solo or group.

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What our customer's say!

"Flawed, but a lot of fun...", I haven't played many MMORPGs, most notably Guild Wars and some of the other lesser ones. I liked the idea of them, but was put off by the slow based combat, taking forever for my character to kill off a mob of enemies. Not to mention the whole monthly fee aspect.

Since this is free now, I gave it a whirl and was hooked. Instead of controlling only 1 character, you control 3 at a time (you can have up to 45 characters). And most enemies you fight die in one or two hits. The catch is, there are dozens of them, sometimes hundreds. It's really like John Woo made a MMORPG. You can even equip some characters with two pistols.

The graphics are stunning, maybe not the best anymore, but it rivals any that came out in 2006. And it runs well, I can max out settings at 1440x900 on my 3 year old computer. It's also got a unique art style, sort of Regency-Victorian-ish.

It's got its problems, though. Like a lot of Korean RPGs, it's grind heavy. There aren't a whole lot of quests in it. And there's not much in the way of visual customization of your characters. Still, it's a lot of fun.

Since it's free now, why should you buy this? Well, for one, the game is rather large (3.7 gigabytes or so) so it saves a big download, and if you buy the retail box, you get 100,000 in game currency, 1000 cash shop gold (which is how they make money these days) and a UPC, which is a playable version of an NPC.

"Clunky, not much fun", I tried Sword of the New World (SotNW), because, basically, I prefer games, either multiplayer or single-player, that have hireable or recruitable minions so that you can ALWAYS play even when you cannot always find other live players to quest with. Need a healer or a tank to help out your mage? Just bring one or two henchman/NPCs along with you.

Thus, the multi-character feature of SotNW was appealing to me. However, I was unimpressed with this game. My first reaction to the game was: "You have got to be kidding me." Hours later, no real improvement in sight, my feeling was essentially the same.

I disliked the:

--Clunky interface. Movement and combat felt very awkward to me
--Gameplay that felt more like SuperMario Brothers or Donkey Kong. This might appeal to some ... but not to me. Bouncing boars and hopping alligators, give me a break! If Luigi had shown up as a boss, I would not have been surprised.
--Tedious interactions with NPCs. Too much text: but you have to read it all to figure out which "option" to choose.
--The overall "anime" aspect of the characters and world (like I'd fallen into some sort of bizarre Baroque Pokemon cartoon)
--The frou-frou prettiness of the game: male characters are just as pretty as the females and virtually indistinguishable from them were it not for the female character's (ample) breasts. The "armors" were great if you're into paper dolls dressed for an 18th Century tea party...
--Combat is too easy. As others have noted, all you have to do is stand there and your characters just fight on without you. Monsters get harder for those who level up, assuming you can stick with the game that long.
--Totally unengaging story line (maybe it gets better?)

I think that, like a good book, a good game needs to get your attention quickly and be fun right off the bat. I played this game for several hours before it got even remotely interesting. Smart video games of any kind (WoW, etc.) will plunk you into the middle of the fun right away; SotNW absolutely does not. It really mystifies me how anyone could enjoy this game or give it four stars, but oh well.

All in all, I think I'll stick with Guild Wars until Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising* (two games which also offer the henchmen option) comes out. Having done a lot of online questing with both live and computer-generated characters, I have to say I generally prefer the computer-generated kind. (Although I do enjoy occasionally grouping with PCs [player characters], I find that the NPCs [nonplayer characters] are often "smarter" and generally a lot more pleasant, patient, courteous, and cooperative).

*[EDIT (10/25/07)] The Gods and Heroes MMO has been shelved, alas. That leaves only Guild Wars and ... Guild Wars. :-)

"Solid MMO ", SotNW does a good job of giving plenty of variety and depth to an MMO world. The ability to control 3 characters at once and create your own party dynamics is a great addition, as is the fact that soloing and grouping are both encouraged. It's an easy world to immerse yourself in.

"An interesting concept, and a very fun game!", Sword of the New World offers an interesting spin while educating a bit on the colonial period. Overall, the translations are fairly good and improving. The gameplay is fantastic.

As with many Korean MMO's this looked to me like it would be a grind, but surprisingly it is and it is not.

I would not call it an MMO. It plays more like a RTS game than an MMO, you play 3 chars at once and thus are limited to an isometric view of the 3 chars and a point and click interface (Read as, it plays more like Age of Empires). However, the characters are easy to control, keys are mapped to allow each to cast/use abilities independantly, etc. You fight spawning enemies in kind of the same numbers as in another game like gauntlet.

There does not seem to be much of a grind, as the whole system is geared around fast play, and things are spaced out well.

The artwork is fantastic. American designers should get a clue from games like this which manage to push out fantastic graphics and code without even making a low end pc hitch.

Overall, this game is extremely fun to play. And it does not require a massive sit down session to get in and out of places. Quite different and worth a try.

Game is about $20, first month is free, and its about $9 to play.
I would highly suggest you check out the sword of the new world website and see what it has to offer.


"a refreshing new perspective to MMORPGs", I've played most of the 'major' MMOs since Ultima Online, and beta tested a good number of them. When I joined the open beta for this one, my first thought was:

'A Korean MMO. It is going to be a *GRIND*'

Rather refreshingly, not so. K2 Networks have imported this game for the western market, localised it, and tweaked it to cater for more... American/European tastes. Playing in beta was painfree (both in terms of levelling speed, and bugs) and lots of fun, the game ran smoothly on my low-end PC (even during the end of beta event, it was at least playable), the graphics and music are wonderful, and I'm looking forward to playing the game on 'live' servers soon.

The multi-character concept (you can play up to 3 characters simultaneously) adds an interesting new dimension. Never again will you be stuck looking for a healer, or a tank - bring your own. It also adds spice to group play, allowing players to try many different character combinations. Though you'd think that all of these characters on screen would bog the game down on low spec machines, they seem to have done a great job with optimisation, with very little slowdown at all.

My main gripes would be the somewhat iffy translation to English in parts, and the lack of character appearance customisation - both of which are apparently being addressed.

A promising title, and at this price (with a month of free play included), definitely a game to try, whether you be new to MMOs, or a veteran gamer. Worth a look.