After what seems years of waiting, indie MMORPG Project Gorgon has finally landed on Steam’s Early Access platform. For a one-time cost of $40 ($30 on sale), you can finally give the husband and wife team of Elder Game your support. There’s also an official store for larger packages for the hardcore fans. But the question is, with this being a sort of “launch”, is Project Gorgon something you should devote your hard earned cash towards?
I want to just say YES because I think independent MMOs are the lightning rod that’s going to drive our genre’s growth, but you’ll probably want to know a bit more than that. Project Gorgon is an MMO about exploration and figuring things out for yourself. There are no set classes, but over a hundred skills you can learn and level up (including Necromancy, lycanthropy, and yes… Cow). In a lot of ways, Gorgon is reminiscent of classic RPGs like Asheron’s Call. But this isn’t a FFA PVP game, rather it’s a solo-able, but hugely multiplayer experience.
You can drop items on the ground for anyone to find and pick up. NPCs each have their own personalities and ambitions that you can use to make them your friends or foes. There are animals to tame, dungeons to explore, puzzles to solve, and just well… tons of things to find.
Project Gorgon is the kind of MMO that doesn’t hold your hand, but it’s also designed in such a way that figuring things out isn’t like pulling teeth. If you read, and if you think, you’ll figure out the world before you. And if that fails, the community is super helpful too.
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Now, Gorgon isn’t exactly bad looking, to say its visuals are dated would be an understatement. It’s not the world’s prettiest game, but on Ultra it certainly has solid lighting and effects. Still, if you’re a gamer that relies on visuals to give you your jollies, you might not like Gorgon. It’s come a long way since its earlier alphas, but it’s still a visually handicapped game. But here’s the thing… if you do give it a chance, Project Gorgon’s gameplay will likely make you forget all about its pedestrian looks.
They just don’t make games like this anymore, and if you’re looking for an MMORPG experience that’s unique and *gasp* FUN, you don’t really need to look any further. Is $30 (or $40 when the sale is done) too much? I don’t think so. There are dozens of hours of game here, if not hundreds, and it’s only going to get more robust over the next year’s worth of Early Access development.
Give it a go. And if you see Begud wandering about as a Cow, don’t milk me.
