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As you can tell from the screenshots I’ve included with this review, Sword’s character and structural art is fantastic. Instead of merely creating an open-area for characters to explore and interact with NPCs, Hak Kyu Kim and his team created an entire world – one that is almost exclusively discovered through your eyes. Even without the dialogue in the game (which is adequate), Sword of the New World’s story can be seen through your computer screen in the monolithic cathedrals, expansive vistas, and clear-cut forests. While the graphics aren’t as complex or revolutionary as anything with the Unreal Engine 3 might be, it’s still completely tremendous to see a world come alive before your eyes.

Is it truly a New World?

Even with an expansive and visually captivating world, a new character control system, and a host of intricate options to choose from, Sword of the New World still holds true to some of the pitfalls that imported games are notorious for having. Although the character customization had a bevy of new costumes to choose from compared to when I played it during beta, the process still lacked in the sophistication of what can be found in games like City of Heroes or Star Wars Galaxies.

Though the multi-character control system is a terrific evolutionary step in the growth of MMOGs, the combat and questing system in Sword has some significant hurdles for Western players to get over. In general, the combat is very auto-attack oriented in its style; you can choose to do very little actual hotkey work if you choose to. Even with this, the grind in the game is obviously still included, even though K2 has improved it significantly from what it was. Questing is also quite laborious compared to contemporary styles in North American games like World of Warcraft. Quest directions are pretty sparse, and even in some of the earlier quests I found myself completely clueless on what to do next.

Despite these qualms, Sword of the New World certainly makes up for any problems it may have by allowing players to try out the game for free, until level 20. Although there is a retail version of the game, K2 Network allows gamers to download the game for free and play until level 20 before they make them pay a subscription fee. Inidividuals who purchase the retail version of the game get to level as high as they want in the initial thirty days after the purchase the game, and they're given a special UPC that they can unlock with a code that's located inside their boxed copy. Depending upon where you purchased your box (Best Buy, digital download, etc.) determines which of the exclusive UPCs you receive.

Even with a few nagging inconsistencies, Sword of the New World is possibly the best imported MMOG to hit the Western shores in a long, long time. Even when I played through Lineage 2, it didn’t quite captivate me as thoroughly as my romp in Sword has. Sword of the New World provides a thoroughly original experience, and if it weren't for a few nagging doubts about the quest design and the grind, Sword would be a truly award winning game. If you’re a fan of stylistic artwork and are looking for a new type of MMOG experience, Sword of the New World: Granado Espada may be just what you’ve been waiting for.

Excellent artistic style and superb graphics Introduction of the MCC system Incredible depth of customization in stances and UPC systems	Quest design is poorly thought out Character customization still lacking Has familiar "grind" factor found in many Asian MMOGs

Difficulty: Medium-Hard Server Stability: Very High Graphics: Value:

Learning Curve: 4 hours Gameplay: Sound: Tilt:

(4 / 5 Hammers)

Ten Ton Recommendation:

Sword of the New World: Granado Espada brings a new gameplay experience to the MMOG genre by introducing the concept of adventuring with three characters at once. Learning the new MCC system is challenging but is certainly worth every minute!

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