You read that right! Amazon, the online retail giant, has gone all out in the world of gaming, recently releasing its first MMORPG following extensive beta testing earlier in the year. The game is called New World and although it's currently only on PC (sorry Xbox and PlayStation 5 users), it's seen immense popularity.

Player counts reached over 700,000 at launch, and despite not getting anywhere near that peak number now, the game still gets over 150,000 concurrent players consistently. It’s safe to say that New World has been a huge success.

If you’re curious to know what the hype is about, then you’re in the right place, because we’re going to go over all the game’s best features to show you what you’re missing. We’ve even got info on cloud gaming in New World, so if that’s your kind of thing, then be sure to read on.

Now, let’s get started.

The story of New World

New World takes you on an adventure to a massive island called Aeternum, where magical forces are at play all around and the undead roam the lands.

You’ll start off at one of four beach locations, following a storm that devastates your ship, and once you get through the tutorial, you’ll be able to set off and explore the land and all its mysteries. Dangerous wild creatures, faction conflicts, and an evil force known as The Corruption are all things that you’ll become familiar with over time as you progress through the story.

We don’t want to spoil the game too much, but just know that the lore is rich, and quests are plentiful, so if you like games that have a lot going for them then New World is for you. And did we mention that the graphics are phenomenal too?

Character progression & weapons

The character progression system in New World is pretty intricate, and it works by letting you use points to improve certain attributes. Points are earned as you progress through each level, and you level up by earning exp from doing quests, finding collectible documents, and killing enemies out in the world.

The 5 attributes relate to different play styles, and we’ve outlined them all below:

• Strength: Useful for players that enjoy close-quarters combat. Boosts damage for all melee weapons except the rapier and can improve mining efficiency.
• Dexterity: Boosts damage for light melee weapons and ranged weapons, making it useful for players that prefer attacking quickly or from a distance. Also helps with skinning animals efficiently.
• Intelligence: Useful for magic users, boosting damage for most magical weapons. Also boosts rapier and musket damage and improves harvesting efficiency.
• Focus: Useful for life staff and void gauntlet users only. Also boosts fishing efficiency.
• Constitution: Boosts overall health and improves logging efficiency.

If you’re looking to get the most out of your weapon of choice, be sure to put your points into the right attributes so you can get as many bonuses as you can. Individual weapon skill trees are also a thing, so be sure to check those out.

One last thing to mention here is that there's no system for locking onto enemies during combat, so aiming with precision is key. We'd therefore suggest sticking to mouse and keyboard rather than trying to use an Xbox or PlayStation 5 controller to play.

Trade skills

Now, related to the progression system is the trade skill system, which has been made incredibly well in New World. Skills can be divided up into 3 categories, so let’s talk about them.

Gathering

First, you’ve got gathering skills, which are important for collecting raw materials that you can later refine and use to craft things. There are currently 5 skills that fit into this category: Logging, Mining, Fishing, Harvesting, and Tracking & Skinning. As you level up a specific gathering skill, you’ll slowly gain access to more valuable resources, your gathering speed will go up, and you’ll even unlock the ability to track specific resources out in the world.

Refining

Next up, there are the refining skills, which are all about turning the resources you've gathered or purchased into crafting materials. Once again, 5 skills fit into this category: Smelting, Woodworking, Leatherworking, Weaving, and Stonecutting. As you level up specific refining skills, you'll be able to work with more valuable resources and your efficiency will improve.

Crafting

Lastly, you’ve got crafting skills that let you take refined resources and use them to make things. There are currently 7 skills that fit into this category: Weaponsmithing, Armoring, Engineering, Jewelcrafting, Arcana, Cooking, and Furnishing. These skills are all great fun to progress and much like the other trade skills, the higher your level, the better the materials you’ll be able to use.

The faction system

For many New World players, the faction system is their favorite part of the game, because it's the main way to get involved in PvP combat. Each server has 3 factions to choose from, and once you join one, you’ll be able to participate in faction missions and fights against other factions for control of territories in Aeternum.

The three factions are Covenant (Yellow), Marauders (Green), and Syndicate (Purple), with each one having its own unique appearance. There isn't much difference between them, so it's best to not stress and just choose the one you like the look of. Faction conflicts are great fun, so be sure to get involved as soon as you can.

Cloud gaming with New World

We mentioned earlier how the game has fantastic visuals, and if your PC specs are on the lower end of the spectrum, you may be wondering – is cloud gaming an option? And the answer is yes, but not via the service you may think…

If you follow gaming news closely, you’ll know that Amazon released its own cloud gaming service last year called Luna, but as of right now, New World isn’t actually available on it. Instead, you’ll want to take a look at GeForce Now, which has New World and many other fantastic titles available to play right now.

If you’re surprised that Amazon doesn’t have one of its own games on Luna, you wouldn’t be the first, but rest assured that it’ll likely get added at some point down the line.

What’s next for New World?

New World is still a very young game, so in the next few months and years, Amazon will likely add all kinds of content to enhance the player experience. New quests, skills, and regions are sure to arrive at some point, and who knows, maybe we’ll even see the game arrive on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles.

Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed the article, be sure to check out New World on Steam.