City of Steam is a clear entry into what we like to think of as a new sub-genre of MMOs, steampunk. We offer our readers a brand new hands on preview of City of Steam. Check it out and then leave your reactions in the comments.

Whenever I hear the phrase “web based MMO” I instantly think of either MMOs for kids such as Marvel’s Super Hero Squad Online and Wizard 101 or turn based “social games” which require you to save up turns or energy while offline so you can play in tiny chunks of time. Don’t get me wrong, me and my kids are big fans of MSHSO and the 101 games, but the phrase never makes me think of a “full-fledged” MMO experience. So naturally, when I got an invite to take a tour of City of Steam’s upcoming beta build, I wasn’t expecting much. But I was intrigued based primarily on the setting and the idea that there could be a solid MMO experience in a browser. It has been one of the promises of the Unity Engine for a while now; someone has to eventually knock one out of the park right?

Read more of Richard Cox's City of Steam: Diving into the Closed Beta.

It's a fun game, especially if you play to enjoy story and music. The setting and the way the lore is told sets itself apart from other games. 

Pro:

-  Great music

- Original lore and story telling (near poem like cutscenes)

- Very accesible due to it being browser based

- Distinct setting (area)

- NPC's aren't all clones (yes they exist but not as much as most MMO's)

cons:

- Lower quality graphics (obviously due to it being browser based)

- Slightly slowpaced due to lengthy text and slow cutscenes (great for RPers though)

- Tutorial isn't very useful at all (IMO) 

- (accidently) unequipping your gear just after character creation leaves you unable to              re-equip until you level up ( you start with lvl 2 gear on lvl 1, for whatever reason?)

- (as of yet) almost non existent customisation

The games textures look good. The camera takes a little getting use to, it reminds me of playing games on the xbox. So far i like what i have seen,  alot of hard went into making this game and it shows.

I think you are going to see more and more good browser games.   Certainly beats the huge downloads of client based games these days, nothing worse for me when I look at an all day download just totry out a game.

To the guy above, don't see cutscenes as being a plus, even in story telling.