Cryptic Studios has released an action-oriented trailer for its upcoming MMO.
Neverwinter is an upcoming massive multiplayer online game which takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms. Unrelated to the Neverwinter Nights series, Neverwinter strives to represent the rules of the Dungeons & Dragons table-top game in a multi-player open environment.
Players will choose from among five unique D&D classes, and can form parties of up to five players to play through a story-driven campaign. This new cinematic trailer, while it contains no in-game footage, offers a hint of the role each class will play in combat.
As the video shows, the game begins with an attack on the city of Neverwinter by a lich queen, and the opening of the story will see the adventurers investigating the undead army and attempting to discover their objectives.
The release of this great CGI trailer is part of their announcement that the first ‘beta weekend’ for the game is soon upon us. Players accepted into the beta will be helping test the game from February 8 thru 10.
Cryptic Studios, in discussing the nature of the game, has said Neverwinter will not feel much like an MMO, as the actual play areas will be instanced, and there will never be competition with other players for resources. Combat will only include those in your own party, and other players will be interacted with only in towns. Unsurprisingly, this is much like the way Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) works. Personally, I think it’s a good system. Also like DDO, Neverwinter will be free-to-play, with micro-transactions in place for certain cosmetic items and bonuses.
The easiest way to get into the beta test is to buy in, however. Players can purchase a ‘Founder’s Pack’ which comes with early access to the game, along with some in-game currency and other bonuses. This trailer released late last month details those advantages pretty well:
Neverwinter releases sometime in 2013, though an exact launch date has not yet been announced, it will likely be sometime this summer. A Neverwinter boardgame – from Wizards of the Coast – and novel series – from famed Forgotten Realms author R. A. Salvatore – will be hitting store shelves around the same time.
