Amazon’s New World has become one of the most anticipated games of the year, blending supernatural forces with pirate-themed MMO trappings.
While on Aeternum, your goal is to explore the island and increase the reputation of your chosen faction by completing expeditions and quests, all while surviving an evil supernatural force known as the “Corrupted.”
Here’s everything you need to know about New World before it launches.
New World: Release date, price
The New World’s Australian release date is set for September 28, 2021. The game was originally targeting an end of August release date, but following the feedback from the cl0sed beta — which is open to those who preorder — Amazon announced they would spend more time on polish, stability and bug fixing.
“We know this isn’t the first time we’ve changed our launch date in pursuit of quality, and that it can be disappointing to wait a bit longer,” Amazon wrote.
A message from the New World team. pic.twitter.com/oAZdK7dxTn
— New World (@playnewworld) August 4, 2021
The game is currently available on Steam, with the standard edition going for $56.95 and the deluxe edition selling for $69.95.
The deluxe edition comes with a Woodsman armour skin, a Woodsman hatchet skin, a Mastiff house pet, a Rock/Paper/Scissors emote set and a digital artbook for the game.
If you preorder either edition of the game, you’ll receive bonus content that includes Isabella’s amulet, a unique “Expedition One” display title, a fist bump emote and three unique guild crests.
New World: Minimum and recommended specs
So what kind of hardware do you need under your gaming rig’s hood to run this new MMO? According to Steam, these are the minimum specs required for New World:
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2400 / AMD CPU with 4 physical cores @ 3Ghz
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 2GB / AMD Radeon R9 280 or better
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 50GB required
Steam also has a list of recommended PC specs for running The New World:
- OS: Windows 10 64-bit
- Processor: Intel Core™ i7-2600K / AMD Ryzen 5 1400
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 390X or better
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 50GB required
New World: Combat
Despite being an MMO, New World‘s combat system breaks from the genre’s traditions.
New World features no auto-locked targeting during combat, meaning that it’s crucial you get your positioning, timing, and aim right to deal the most amount of damage possible. Your timing when it comes to dodging and blocking will also play an important role during combat in New World.
When in combat, you’ll have access to traditional weapons like swords, rapiers, hatchets, spears, great axes, war hammers, bows, and muskets, along with magical weapons like a fire staff, life staff, and ice gauntlets.
Players can only have two weapons equipped at a time, with the second weapon slot locked until you reach level 5.
New World: Classes
In a surprise move, considering its genre, New World doesn’t have a class system. Instead, players are encouraged to build and customise their characters however they want.
To do this, players need to level up to unlocked points that can be used to increase personal attributes – Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Focus, and Constitution.
You’ll also be able to increase your mastery of certain weapons and trade skills, depending on how frequently you use them. As per the genre, you’ll level up your character by completing quests and expeditions, killing mobs, and by gathering and crafting materials.
Players will be required to pick the faction that they wish to join, which includes the military force of the Marauders, the secretive Syndicate, or the religious fanatics of the Covenant. Aligning yourself with one of these factions will determine who you’ll face off against in PvP settings, while also giving you perks when in settlements or territories that are controlled by your faction.
New World: Dungeons
New World doesn’t have dungeons, it has “expeditions” – but a dungeon by any other name is still a dungeon.
These PvE scenarios will pit a group of 3 to 5 players against Corrupted forces, which will reward them with loot and gear unique to that experience.
You’ll also be able to take on missions after joining a faction. Outside of PvE encounters, New World will have PvP-focused battles, like Outpost Rush. Located in a primordial river basin, Outpost Rush will set two factions of 20 players each against one another, with the aim of gaining control of strongholds and strategic resources.
New World: Endgame
So far, there’s hasn’t been a clear picture of what New World‘s endgame fully looks like. However, there have been a few previews of expeditions that are designed for level 60 characters shown over the last few months.
In a production update from February, Amazon Games previewed “Ebonscale Reach”, an endgame zone that is home to an exiled empress and her growing army of corrupted forces.
There’s also the “Garden of Genesis“, where players will face the protectors of an ancient garden and defeat the mysterious Blight that has infected it.
We’ll have a much clearer understanding of New World‘s endgame content when the MMO launches for PC on September 28.
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