New World: What you need to know about Amazon Games’ MMO

Amazon Games has unveiled ‘New World’ massively multiplayer online game (MMO) that’s set for release in May 2020, here’s everything you need to know about it.

All we’ve got so far is a cinematic trailer and a few sparse details. Watch the trailer below…

The game is set in the ‘Age of Exploration’, or the 17th Century. Players venture to ‘Aeternum, the Eternal Isle’ which seems to be home to a hoard of Roman legionary zombies, among other things.

The game looks like a bit of a mish-mash thematically, we’ve got legionary zombies, enchanted statues, Spanish Conquistadors and a sort of enchanted wooden deer that inexplicably fights a huge lava-monster-type thing before dying and then being revived by the aforementioned enchanted statue. Yeah… there’s a lot going on.

New World could be cool but this first cinematic glimpse raises a lot more questions than it answers.

Of course, an MMO always has to try and cater to the tastes of every player and, of course, they’re trying to attract an awful lot of players (the clue is in the name ‘massively’ multiplayer). In dipping a toe into so many different themes though, Amazon risks nailing none of them. That said, we’re eager to see quite how Amazon Games’ first MMO turns out.

The other characters and elements hidden away in this trailer include a huge monster character that looks to have been inspired by the Ents from Lord of the Rings. It features in a combat sequence and in the scene depicting a full scale siege. The siege scene alludes to the promise that the game will apparently feature battles with over 100 players on one battlefield.

We also know there will be crafting, magic and resource collecting features in the game.

In terms of combat, the trailer shows both swords and early firearms, so we presume these will both be available in the game. Whether or not the humanoid characters will be the only playable ones, or whether players will also be able to assume the roles of the animals and monsters shown, we don’t know just yet.

Pre-Order now and get access to the April Closed Beta and more! #PlayNewWorld pic.twitter.com/5ozfjCo1ze

— New World (@playnewworld) December 13, 2019

The end of the trailer also shows viewers a character that looks like a hybrid between a mage and pirate-type character, though we’ve not go too much to go on at this stage. This character, we think, suggests the level of character personalisation players could be encouraged to use.

For players who like the look of the cinematic trailer, it’s already possible to pre-order New World. Plus, those who do so will get access to the closed Beta in April.