Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

While 2012 may not have had as much activity in the MMO space as we’ve seen in previous years, there were still a number of major releases clamoring for our attention, time, or hard earned dollars. Major releases included TERA, The Secret World, Guild Wars 2, RaiderZ, and PlanetSide 2, among others.

Apparently MMO developers were amongst those smart enough to figure out that the world wasn’t going to automagically implode in late December, as a massive number of games are slated to hit the market in 2013. In fact, this looks to be one of the busiest years for new game launches in the history of the industry.

We’ve put together a comprehensive two-part look at the games expected to drop sometime in 2013, and as an added bonus have also included a brief look at some of the other titles we hope to learn more about this year, even if they don’t land their ships in our backyard and demand to see our leaders over the course of the next twelve months.

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Neverwinter

Developer: Cryptic Studios
Status: Closed Beta
Release: Spring 2013

If the city of Neverwinter is known as the Jewel of the North, then the upcoming game bearing the same name could very well be the jewel in Cryptic Studios' crown. Not only does it feature what is perhaps the best active combat system we've experienced in an MMO to date, but it also manages to capture the essence of what makes Forgotten Realms such a beloved setting.

While most MMOs tend to suffer from the fact that players can consume in-game content faster than the developer can crank out meaningful updates or expansions, that won't be the case with Neverwinter. The game will of course ship with a hefty chunk of content created by Cryptic, but Neverwinter's secret weapon is the Foundry.

The Foundry will allow players to create and share their own custom content, all within the game client. While it isn't necessarily the first of its kind, from what we've seen so far the Foundry is shaping up to be one of the best.

Read more about Neverwinter on Ten Ton Hammer
The Neverwinter official website

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Age of Wushu

Developer: Snail Games
Status: Closed Beta
Release: February 1, 2013

The release date for Age of Wushu is right around the corner, ringing in the decidedly busy MMO release schedule for 2013. The jury is still out on how North American players will take to Wushu's progression and combat systems, though reports from the most recent beta have been pretty positive.

A main selling point for this free-to-play import is the progression system. Rather than select a static class, instead players are able to train in eight different martial arts schools, essentially creating their own combat style as you progress. While not a revolutionary paradigm shift by any means - skill-based leveling systems have picked up a fair amount of steam over the years - it still offers something outside of the typical predetermined destiny that most class-based MMOs devolve into.

Read more about Age of Wushu on Ten Ton Hammer
The Age of Wushu official website

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