Neverwinter, the Dungeon & Dragons-based MMORPG by Cryptic Studios, has now entered it's open beta period. So far, despite the game not being completed, many have pointed out that the free-to-play game is pretty polished so far, and may become a force to be reckoned with once it is officially launched.
The game takes place in the Forgotten Realm city of Neverwinter, and invites players to explore the city and the surrounding environments looking for quests and loot. While some early complaints highlight the lack of exciting environments (for the most part, players will be running along grimy tunnels for awhile), the game opens up eventually and offers a wide variety of different quests for players, according to Massively.
"There are open areas where you quest alongside other players, but a great deal of the game's content unsurprisingly takes place within dungeons," reporters the publication. "I'm used to an open-world feeling in MMOs, so I'll admit I actually felt claustrophobic for the first several hours. However, once PvP opened up, I found myself moving smoothly between running storyline quests, Foundry quests, PvP matches, and whatever skirmish or dungeon queues were available."
Player reaction to the beta version of the game is positive, and even has those who dislike most MMORPG's taking notice of the game. Even Forbes has taken a liking to the game.
Forbes states, "I don't normally like MMOs. I'm a hard sell when it comes to the genre, often growing bored with the combat and never finding myself able to drum up the requisite devotion to really get into all the raids and other content that so many people find so addictive...But I like Neverwinter and I like it quite a bit, imperfect though it may be."
Will Neverwinter become the next World of Warcraft? With solid gameplay, a free to play model, and the ability to create and play user created content, it may have the ability to rival the MMO juggernaut. Readers can sign up for the beta here.