Amazon’s New World: Aeternum is an interesting proposal. The MMO, which initially launched back in 2021 is, in a way, reinventing itself on PC while also launching to a brand new audience with the console release. While the game has undergone many, many changes since it first blasted onto the MMO scene, the upcoming Aeternum release is, in a way, a rebirth.
While PC players will simply continue with their existing characters, companies will remain intact and there won’t be a reset of territory gains when the current version of New World is replaced by Aeternum, it’ll be a lot like the early days of the MMO for Xbox Series S|X and PlayStation 5 players.
Despite Amazon’s insistence that New World: Aeternum is an ARPG now, it’s still very much an MMO. During an Early Access preview of this weekend’s New World: Aeternum Open Beta, I had the chance to finally go hands-on with the revamp, testing on both PC and Xbox Series X, and came away cautiously optimistic about the title's future - at least on console.
ARPG? No, this is still an MMO
First off, I really wanted to try to understand why Amazon seems insistent on wiping out the MMO label with this release, instead marketing New World: Aeternum as an ARPG. Much of the reason for this shift, according to the studio, is down to the presentation, navigation, camera, and changes to combat to make it feel more like an action RPG.
Here’s the deal, though: action combat MMOs aren’t anything new, and the combat in New World: Aeternum doesn’t feel demonstrably different to justify a shift in messaging here. While the new targeting system allows for combat - especially close-quarters melee - to feel more like what you might find in a single-player RPG, it doesn’t really change the moment-to-moment combat. Sword swings are still meaty, while it’s satisfying as ever to pull off a Riposte while using the Rapier.
Indeed, if anything, targeting never felt precise enough for me to use it all that much, especially switching targets in combat. A simple flick of the Right Stick on a controller is meant to quickly swap targets, yet more often than not, I found myself struggling to get the system to recognize the input, resorting instead to just taking off the target lock and using my Sword and Shield AOE attacks to deal damage indiscriminately.
The camera is pulled in more, and I like the presentation here, at least on the console. However, on PC, I would find myself zooming out as much as I could, giving my super ultrawide monitor a workout and covering as much of my field of view as possible.
If combat and the overall combat presentation are why the developers are no longer pushing New World: Aeternum as an MMO, after playing it myself, I simply fail to understand the reasoning here. Sure, the story is told in a much more cinematic fashion, with cutscenes and full voice-acted quests, giving a much more polished presentation to the entire questing structure, but the core systems of Aeternum still seem to center on what made it an MMO in the first place.
The market is still defined by player-created goods, while entire chunks of the experience, from Expeditions to its PvP modes, are still driven by player interactions. Running to Corinth, the first major settlement in the Windsward region, I would see players from all platforms converging on the town center, and I even joined in a jig with a few Xbox testers while on my PC. This is still very much a game where social interactions and player-driven mechanics are core to the full experience.
This isn’t to say that you cannot play this solo - you definitely can. One clear example is creating solo trials instead of forcing Expeditions on players in the main storyline. But nothing about New World: Aeternum screams that this is no longer an MMO but rather an ARPG to me. And while many might roll their eyes that I’ve now spent seven paragraphs on this, it’s a big deal to fans of the genre who have watched it decrease in perceived relevance over the years.
Console Performance Is Fantastic
One area I was really worried about was how well New World: Aeternum would handle on console. As someone who thinks that in the year of our Lord 2024, 60 frames per second should be the minimum standard for any game, I don’t think I was expecting New World to run at a pretty solid 60fps while I played on my Xbox.
Thankfully, like many games this generation, there are different rendering modes, allowing for players to prioritize graphics or framerate. While I appreciate that there is a graphics mode that runs at 30 for those who want all the detail possible, in an action MMO like New World, especially with PvP encounters where a dropped frame or input delay could mean the difference between winning a siege or Outpost Rush match, I can’t imagine playing with that mode. Though, I guess if you plan on never interacting with those systems, instead content to explore the world of Aeternum at your own leisure, it’s an option.
The performance on my Xbox was pretty rock solid, though. I don’t remember a moment where there was any chug because my framerate was buckling - though it should be noted that the server was only populated by other testers, so things could change when I play on the full, fate Open Beta experience.
Combat felt impactful, and I really dig the new controller support. While I know it’s been on PC now for a bit this year, I’ve realized I much prefer it over mouse and keyboard - except when using a bow or musket. Even then, though, this is the most useful target lock has been, as I can effectively lock on and never miss…except when something happens to be in the path of the arrow, and I didn’t notice at first.
One downside to wanting that 60fps refresh is image quality. While I don’t know the exact resolution target each mode is trying to hit (I’m sure we’ll see a Digital Foundry analysis at some point this year), the overall image on Xbox Series X looked a bit soft. It looked as though the Xbox version was using some sort of dynamic resolution scaling (probably FSR given it’s AMD silicon) to maintain that framerate, and the draw distance wasn’t nearly as far as its PC counterpart. That said, it still looks plenty good, and I can only hope that image quality and performance holds up when I’m surrounded by countless other players in Corinth or running around the dunes of the Brimstone Sands area.
Archetypes Are A Solid Choice To Help New Players
New World: Aeternum is, by default, a classless MMO. This means that any player can pick up any weapon, respec into any role, wear any armor and not be restricted by class or role requirements.
However, early on in New World, the sheer dearth of weapon choice would oftentimes see players (like myself) forced into a weapon type they didn’t necessarily want, and then not be willing to switch after sinking time into it later on.
I remember when I first reviewed New World in 2021. I wanted to go with a Rapier/Hatchet build, but after the first tutorial area in Everfall and questing in the region, I was saddled with a Spear and Sword and Shield. By the time I found my first Rapier that was better than the gear I currently had, I was a few levels in to the other weapons and didn’t want to swap out for fear of feeling like that time had been wasted.
The time-sunk fallacy was real.
Eventually I settled on a Rapier/Musket build for my main character (after attempting the Rapier/Life Staff meta that took over at one point early on), but I always wondered how many people just didn’t switch, or worse, quit, because they weren’t able to start the way they wanted.
Archetypes remove that friction from the get-go. While not exactly classes, they do provide an avenue into the weapon combinations that many player settle on in the late game, and ensure that players are kitted with exactly what they want from the jump. There’s nothing stopping you from swapping weapons later on, and Aeternum does mention this in a tool tip, but it is a great first impression for what can be a daunting choice for many unfamiliar with the design.
One aspect I’m not a fan of is the boost you get to specific crafting professions, especially if you do swap weapons later on. If you start as a Ranger (Spear/Bow), you get a boost to woodworking, which makes sense since you’ll be able to more easily make your Spear and Bows throughout your leveling experience. But what if you shed the Spear for a Sword and Shield? Or a Void Gauntlet? That specific boost feels wasted at that point.
In a way, Archetypes feel both freeing and restrictive thanks to this twist. I found myself gravitating towards my Rapier/Musket build after starting as a Ranger, only to swap back because it would be easier to make the weapons I was using if I did. I swapped the bow for a musket for a bit, only to again, switch back because it felt more natural to the build I chose.
Armor weight also plays a factor here - It’s harder to ditch the medium armor for heavy if I decide to make the change later on, especially with loot biasing doing a great job of ensuring I’m getting more meaningful drops from monsters and chests.
I kind of wish there was an option to forgo the archetype and start with nothing but a simple sword and shield until you find a different weapon, much like the original release had. Or better yet, pull an Elder Scrolls Online, which has a room in its tutorial sequence where every weapon is laid out for you to choose from. But for those who just want a way to jump in and play, Archetypes are a great addition to allow for just that.
Cautious Optimism and PC Speculation
I spent much of the weekend leveling two characters, one on each platform, and I came away cautiously optimistic at what Amazon is doing here. The learnings from the last three years are on full display - and it’s easy to forget that at one point in this MMO’s life, the main story felt like a mere footnote versus now where it’s front and center, and vastly improved. The questing revamp done to the MMO over the last few years helped here for sure, but it’s tied together by the pretty decent voice acting, new cinematic presentation, and just better overall storytelling altogether.
I’ve always been higher on New World than some of my colleagues, and I really enjoyed last year’s Rise of the Angry Earth expansion, saying it felt like the version of New World the devs always wanted to launch with. Aeternum, at least with its initial impression, feels like a continuation of that.
When Amazon delayed the initial release to add questing and a full story structure, it felt half-baked when it finally did launch, the result of having to create an entire story and quest structure in under a year. Yet now it feels full wrought and polished.
Swimming is a nice addition, and it’s weird how something so simple can transform how I travel a region - now I just swim across rivers or small bodies of water instead of having to pick my way around them.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that for established PC fans, this doesn’t feel like a whole lot up front. If you don’t like PvP, the new open PvP zone won’t mean much to you, and a lot of the story and questing improvements won’t matter, at least initially, if you’re already at max level and completed the various storylines. It’s hard to gauge, though, as I never really got to the end game in the Early Access period here - and there was no way to play my max-level character on PC in this test, nor did we get the chance to create a max-level character from the start (at least as far as I could tell)
There needs to be something compelling rather quickly for the PC players who justifiably feel left in the lurch here. After the teased big June announcement fell flat for many in the community, many are looking at Aeternum with apathy, not really feeling like there's something for the established fans who have helped bring New World to this inflection point, with many left asking questions about the longevity of the MMO even months later.
That said, I’m interested to see how well the MMO does when it finally releases, and the reception to this weekend’s Open Beta will be a good benchmark towards that. Either way, I’m cautiously optimistic about Amazon’s chances of giving New World its Aeternum rebirth and finding a sizeable audience there, especially on console, this October.
