Sword of the New World Exclusive at GamesRadar

By Tyler Nagata

We always thought our history lessons needed more monsters. If only John Smith had slain a demon or two, we might have remembered that he founded Jamestown. So when we heard about Sword of the New World, an MMO loosely based on the colonization of North America, we were intrigued. "Everyone's trying to build the WoW clone or the Oblivion clone, but no one's doing a Baroque style. [Sword of the New World] has a really unique look," says Grantley Day of K2. Sounds a bit bizarre? It is, but Sword of the New World 's anime-styled mixture of extremes works.

Aesthetically, the game successfully melds its 17th century setting with traditional high-fantasy flair. Dapper casters - that look more suited for a night at the ball than a dungeon - fling area-of-effect fire blasts, and gun-slinging dames in saucy bodices riddle demons with lead.

But besides its fresh look, Sword of the World looks ready to slice up stale standards of the MMO genre in all the right places. We were particularly interested in the game's rich character system. Unlike most MMOs, you don't just have a character; you have an entire family. In addition to the regular characters you can create, a wide assortment of unique-player characters (UPCs) can also be collected via quests and added to your bank of avatars.

And you don't just control one character at a time, you control three. This brings single-player RPG-style combat to the massively-multiplayer scene. Don't like squatting in the looking-for-group channel to find a healer? Just include one in your party and bask in the warm rays of heals and buffs while you focus on commanding your damage dealers. Ever feel like starting a new character without grinding your way up from step one? No problem. Just take your freshly minted adventurer out with your stronger family members and ride the experience train for quick levels.

With the level cap at 100, and a long list of characters - of Suikoden proportions - to choose from, there's a lot to look forward to for level-up lovers. We got to look at what will be one of the most powerful UPC characters you can gain in the game, a puppeteer named Catherine. It's estimated that the average player will need to spend three to four hours a day for three months to complete the lengthy chain of quests to acquire her. It sounds daunting, but being able to command 20 deadly pet marionettes in battle makes her an incredible asset to your party in almost any situation. And it's this sort of reward that we'd like to see for hours of time logged in, instead of a slightly more powerful piece of armor or faster mount.

But that's not to say that questing will be a grind. A shot of espresso has been injected into the game's combat system. With so many monsters on the screen, fighting is fast-paced, and looks more like Diablo II than your typical MMO, where you're locked in the usual I-swing-at-you-now-you-swing-at-me animations. "It doesn't take a minute to kill a monster. It takes a minute to kill 50..." continues Day as he planted an area-of-effect spell on top of a mass of monsters.

Instead of strictly sticking to monthly fees or micro-transactions, Sword of the New World's payment plan strikes a compromise between the two. A system where players can purchase virtual goods for real dollars will offset its lower-than-expected monthly fee of $8.95. Expect more news regarding Sword of the New World as its summer release draws nearer. In the meantime, click on the Images tab above for exclusive new screens of this pseudo-historical adventure.