Amazon Games’ revamped MMORPG experience is finally here. Welcome to Eternum! You might be wondering where the coverage of New World: Aeternum was. Unfortunately, the review server was only up for a little over two days before it was shut down with all progress wiped. Yes, you heard right, it’s only two days. It didn’t feel right or even humanly possible to review an MMORPG in such a short amount of time. Especially if you’ve already played the base game, and this reboot is all about end-game content. So I can jump into the server when it goes live and get the full intended experience.
Then again, New World: Aeternum isn’t a new game, it’s a rebrand of the original MMO that just happens to coincide with the game’s first launch on consoles. Playstation and Xbox players rejoice. Sorry, Switch owners. If you’re still playing the base game, consider this a major update or patch. Please note that you must own the Rise of the Angry Earth expansion to access all of Aeternum’s content. However, if you’re buying this on console, you don’t have to worry, as everything is included.
Aeternum has tweaked the story a bit to make it more streamlined and easier for new players to join. The first few hours of the game are certainly smoother than I remember playing the vanilla version on PC three years ago. The powerful character creator system remains, but you can now choose from seven archetypes: Soldier, Occultist, Destroyer, Mystic, Ranger, Swordbearer, and Musketeer. Swimming has finally been added to the game after a long time. This is pretty comical, but hey, I’ll accept it.
If you own the base game and not the DLC, start Aeternum on October 15, 2024 and enjoy all “free” updates including new archetypes, a revamped starting experience, performance upgrades, and more You should be able to. Once you reach level 20 to 25, others will start acquiring mounts and you’ll start to feel a little behind. The real wall is because once you reach level 60, you can’t use anything above a certain gear score. Maximum level crafting and gathering is also not possible. But if you’ve made it this far and still like the game, consider upgrading to the full Aeternum experience.
New World: Aeternum has cross-platform play, but no cross-platform progression. This means if you spent 1000 hours on the original New World and want to get Aeternum on PS5, you’ll have to start from the beginning. Because of this, I don’t recommend repurchasing the game on console if you already own it on PC, unless you’re a die-hard fan or something. You can create up to 3 characters per server region, and there’s a 7-day grace period to delete them at any time in case you regret it. You can choose whether to play in a cross-platform world, but keep in mind that your character will be permanently associated with your choice.
This review won’t cover much of the “beginner player” experience. This is because it was already covered in my previous article on the PS5 Open Beta and my editor Anthony’s review on PC back in 2021. Much of the New World is much more than that. Not quite the same. This is an online multiplayer role-playing game where you create a personalized character and progress through a narrative campaign. There are lumberjacks, fishing, and mining. It has all the MMORPG staples. In his review, Anthony praised the game for its engaging combat and loot drop rates, but slammed the terrible leveling rate, lack of vehicles, and obligatory side quests. Instead, I’d like to focus on what Aeternum truly brings to the table: brand new endgame content. We’ll also break down how New World: Aeternum technically works on PlayStation 5.
I just want to mention that I absolutely love the way this game plays on my console. There aren’t many action-oriented MMORPGs on PlayStation or Xbox. They’re all on your PC! I think Amazon Games’ Throne and Liberty was also just released, and it’s more of a bird’s eye POV to New World, which plays more like an action RPG. The third-person perspective allows for light attacks, heavy attacks, dodges, and even jumps. This method is much more immersive and engaging. The game also plays very well with a controller, but unfortunately the functionality of the DualSense controller is underutilized.
The main addition is Cursed Mists, a new PvP zone in Cutlasd Keys. Players compete for resources and Cursed Doublons in a hectic environment. This is one of the best ways to get endgame gear, as you can use doubloons in the Well of Fortune. However, if you die in this area, you will drop items that can be looted by other players. What’s great is that Amazon Games has implemented a crowd management system that prevents large groups from forming and making battles unfair, so it’s truly free for everyone. While this works well on paper, it’s still not that fair in practice, and you can still see groups turning into mobs. There’s also a PvE element here, and we’ll see new Lost Pirate types introduced to change the scene.
Aeternum also introduces Gorgon’s Lair, the game’s first 10-player raid. The Hive of Gorgon is located in the southern part of Cutlass Keys and can be entered through the raid entrance or using the Group Finder feature. The raid is divided into three distinct chapters, each containing enemy sections, puzzle-action sequences, boss encounters, and three new exclusive perks for your gear. Additionally, you will also receive special crafting materials such as Chromatic Seals, Gorgon Token Nests, and Gorgonite Inductors, which are needed to craft the highest level equipment in the game.
Surprisingly, this raid is very well designed and features a good combination of different mechanics to succeed. For example, the first boss, Echidna, incorporates the game’s mining/gathering mechanics into its fights rather than direct combat. Raids also include challenging puzzles and mazes that force you to work together with your party members to actually solve problems. Each run requires a minimum of six players to attempt, but a full group of ten is always better.
I hope the developers add more raids in the future or add more content like dungeons and bosses so the game doesn’t feel stale. This comes in the form of world bosses and dynamic events, giving you a reason to revisit certain areas in the game. At this point, there is little reason to go back to the old grounds, as they have become irrelevant. But overall, there’s still a lot to do, such as playing instruments around town and furnishing your very own home.
The game also promises to improve the experience for solo players (compared to vanilla New World), and that’s exactly what Soul Trials is. Each trial is designed as a snapshot of a story quest, offering condensed, more challenging versions of familiar encounters. For example, in these trials you will face bosses like Corrupted Leviathan and Isabella. Please note that Soul Trials is tailored specifically for max-level players and is intended to provide quick and engaging endgame content that can be tackled solo. But this is an MMORPG after all, so there are plenty of side quests that require a group of players to even begin.
The new gear score cap is now 725, an increase of 25 over the value in the Rise of the Angry Earth expansion. Similar to other online games, a battle pass system is implemented, and the game is divided into seasons, with each season lasting approximately three months. The Seasonal Reward Track consists of two tiers: a free track that anyone can access, and a premium track that can be purchased for 20,000 Marks of Fortune. Yippee!
For the most part, New World: Aeternum runs pretty well on PS5. It takes up a total of 63.24 GB on your console, so you’ll want to save some space. Since this is an online-only game, loading times are server dependent and nothing to write home about. In fact, the server has been live for quite some time. The game supports both controller and keyboard/mouse on PS5, and also has the ability to bind custom control schemes.
What’s great is that you can set an uncapped frame rate, so if you have a VRR-capable display you’re in luck. It also offers three modes: Performance, Quality, and 4K. In very populated areas like Corinth, you’ll experience stuttering and a slightly higher frame rate. As for accessibility options, it has standard subtitle settings, colorblind filters, and text-to-speech, as well as aim assist. We won’t cover them all, but there are plenty of other settings you can toggle, including language, camera, gameplay, mounts, maps, HUD, notifications, and more.
New World: Aeternum on PlayStation 5 looks great visually, but it’s still not on par with today’s typical triple-A blockbuster games. However, the island is beautifully presented with lush green surroundings and stunning views. The opening cinematic and animation sequences look great, but the lip-syncing and character movements during dialogue could use a little work. The lighting and atmospheric effects seem to be well implemented, and the texture quality and environmental detail seem to be on par with the PC version.
An avid lover of both tabletop and video games, he finds endless joy in exploring different realms of entertainment.
It’s difficult to give a final rating or opinion on MMORPGs because they are constantly changing and evolving and hopefully moving in a better direction. But there’s no question that New World: Aeternum is much better than it was three years ago. An enhanced beginner experience, a fleshed out endgame, tons of content, and availability on three major platforms. I’m very happy that the team at Amazon Games didn’t give up on this project.
Pros Play comfortably on console using a controller Challenging gameplay Tons of content with a more streamlined solo experience Plenty of opportunity for customization and respec Cons Performance still not at its best More fleshed out story, but still A $60 game with less attention and more monetization ($5 per transmog token…)
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