Throne and Liberty Preview - A Good WoW Alternative?

When World of Warcraft was at the height of its popularity, so many companies tried (and failed) to create a WoW killer. Final Fantasy XIV succeeded in carving a huge niche in the market, but Blizzard's MMO still persists to this day. Throne and Liberty, however, might just be another hit in the making and perhaps even steal some ex-WoW players with its familiarity and likeness to the MMO.

I got a chance to play developer NCSOFT and publisher Amazon Games' upcoming MMORPG, Throne and Liberty during Summer Game Fest. Though it was a brief look, my time with Throne and Liberty shows some promise.

 

Making Your Character in Throne and Liberty

My demo begins with character creation, which is about as robust as one would come to expect from an MMORPG. There's a slider for damn near everything, from cheek size to eyebrows. I could have spent my entire hour-or-so demo just customizing, which is a promising sign for those who love expressing themselves as much as I do.

While a few more hairstyles would have been nice, this is a work-in-progress, so hopefully there's more to come. This is my chance to hop on a soapbox and say the customization options in World of Warcraft are ridiculously outdated and pale in comparison to the likes of Throne and Liberty, even if the rest of the game feels somewhat mechanically similar.

Understanding the intricacies of an MMO in one small slice is nearly impossible, but the gameplay portion for of my demo for Throne and Liberty gives me a decent taste, at least. I started with an already-leveled character and a slew of abilities, which is perfect for trying out one of the game's many dungeons.

A Good ol' Dungeon Dive in Throne and Liberty

Along with a group of a few other players and guided by a developer, we seamlessly hop into a dungeon and embark into the unknown. One thing that's important to understand is there are no classes in Throne and Liberty; rather, you carve your role in the group based on the combination of weapons you choose.

In my case, I opted for a pure magical DPS build with the wand and staff. In the main game, you can mix and match a set of two weapons, so that's how you'll ultimately determine your role in a group. Having mained a troll mage in World of Warcraft for over a decade, two magic-based weapons felt like a fit for me.

Many MMOs tend to overwhelm a player with its large selection of abilities, but Throne and Liberty is a bit more restrained and allowed for a manageable selection. I didn't feel overwhelmed by the spells I had, and managed to contribute to the rest of the group.

The Fight to King Chimaerus

The dungeon layout, by the way, is pretty simple and felt like one of your traditional MMORPG dungeons. Mobs scattered out and about, a few mini-bosses along the way, and of course, the final boss of the dungeon. There's something cathartic about running a dungeon with the pals, and I could imagine myself losing plenty of hours in Throne and Liberty.

This dungeon was by no means groundbreaking, though I got a taste of a few other features Throne and Liberty has to offer. Players can morph into animals to glide, run, swim, and the like, which should prove as a useful tool in overworld. At one point, a large room started to flood and we all turned into otters to navigate the waters easier.

You can safely land from high jumps by pressing the jump button while dropping, allowing you to glide -- this was used several times throughout the dungeon. Again, nothing groundbreaking here, but I imagine there are some more creative uses for these abilities as players progress through the vast world and its dungeons.

The boss fight at the end of the dungeon is a giant chimera called King Chimaerus -- this should be familiar to those who have seen footage for Throne and Liberty before. Like World of Warcraft (or plenty of other MMOs), you'll have to learn his patterns and be aware of your surroundings if you want to survive.

There's one ability a tank needs to soak in order to mitigate damage to party members targeted by this attack. Chains holding this hanging object in the middle of the room need to be interacted with at a specific moment to stun the boss, all the while we avoid pools of poison from Chimaerus' viper tail.

In the end, Throne and Liberty is a very familiar-feeling game, especially for those who are used to World of Warcraft like I am. But that has me intrigued, since I know it's a mechanically solid and accessible MMO, which seems like a rare find these days. I'm excited to see how Throne and Liberty sets itself apart when it releases at some point in the future.

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Throne and Liberty was previewed at Summer Game Fest Play Days courtesy of Amazon Games.