New World Aeternum review: An MMO action role-play game that welcomes new players

New World is a good way for new players to enter the daunting genre of the MMO.

Standing for massively multiplayer online gaming, you’ll join a huge amount of fellow gamers online as you grind your way across the dangerous but beautiful island of Aeternum.

MMOs often have a niche, hardcore player base.

Folk who are absolute experts at the game, having put sometimes hundreds of hours into them.

But this is a revamped, and slightly simplified version of a PC hit from 2021 for consoles.

And that makes it much more accessible to newcomers.

Here was have an action role-play game for PS5 and Xbox Series X which allows you to hook up with players on PC too to embark on an epic journey across the island, battling against a champion of corruption known as The Tempest.

You start by creating your own unique hero based on a series of preset characters, like Musketeers, Soldiers and Mystics as you take to the mysterious island to uncover all its hidden secrets.

Shipwrecked on the island, you and your MMO comrades have to rally together to tackle zombie-like red-eyed crimson forces trying to conquer the world.

A small handful of human settlements has been formed around the island and are resisting the evil takeover.

And Amazon Games has created a huge space to explore, with regular Soulslike boss battles and hordes of formerly-human nasties everywhere to hack and slash through on missions.

It’s all about levelling up your heroes’ skills, weapons and gear to take on ever bigger foes and progress through the storyline with a lengthy fighting grind through enemies.

The combat is satisfying, if somewhat gamey after a while, with upgradable special moves alongside your ever more powerful sword swings.

Away from the main storyline, you’ll be able to explore, fish, ride lions and build up settlements as well as raid rivals in online teams.

You can enter the Cursed Mists in Cutlass Keys, a free-for-all open world PvPvE zone where it’s every player for themselves.

There you hunt for rare loot, but beware: if you fall prey to another player in this lawless zone, they’ll walk away with both your pride and your loot.

You can also team up with friends and take on other groups in Arenas, or experience large-scale player vs player action in Outpost Rush and Territory Wars with upwards of 50 gamers all involved.

Gamers are also able to test their mettle in daily end-game challenges that pit players against Aeternum’s most infamous villains in 1:1 battles with premium rewards.

It’s all action-heavy and never forgets that playability comes first, despite all the detail in both environment and character improvement.

The title features all major content from New World on PC, including the full base game and the Rise of the Angry Earth expansion, as well as all seasonal content and updates that have been released since New World launched in 2021.

So there’s tons of content here.

The graphics are colourful but not particularly outstanding for the big consoles.

And the audio is a bit cheesy, particularly with the spoken chatter, but does the job well enough.

But this reworking of a PC hit makes it a highly approachable, massive role-play action title that is as welcoming to new players as it is MMO experts hell-bent on sinking hundreds of hours of gameplay in.

The fighting is fun and the world building is extensive.

Well worth a look.

VERDICT 4/5