I’ve been playing a lot of  href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/181"> style="font-style: italic;">Sword of the New World
(SotNW) at the behest of a reader. I won’t reinvent the wheel since Ten
Ton Hammer’s Cody “Micajah” Bye  href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/10341">has reviewed
the game already, but I’ll share my thoughts because someone
took the time to write me with a suggestion. First, I like the graphics
of SotNW for both their quality (high) and their style. The game has a
very Victorian feel that I find refreshing in a market cluttered with
fantasy look alikes. The quest system and lore give a sense of a real
world with real politics. The hang up for me is the combat. SotNW lets
players control three characters at a time, but the execution is
lacking. Despite the number of skills and stances my characters learn,
I find that auto attack is the best way to fight. In fact, I’d park my
family near a spot with a few spawns and set their stance so they
attack anything that wanders near. I’d go get something to drink, play
my Nintendo DS, or watch a movie while I leveled up. It’s not the most
engaging combat system I can imagine, so SotNW won’t make my Top Ten.

Building off of the theme of games that play themselves not
being very engaging, I am moving  href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/983"> style="font-style: italic;">Magic World Online
out of the list this week after having it there nine months. The story
is great, the character development of NPCs almost is unmatched, and
the gameplay is fun—except for the bot. This built-in automated AI
program is designed to take the dull grind out of the game, but it
really just succeeds at taking the player out of the game. It’s why
Eric “Dalmarus” Campbell rates an otherwise great game  href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/51200">only one
hammer out of five.

Moving into the list is Perfect
World International (PWI), which has  href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/44036">some great
features despite feeling a bit like a grind. Stay tuned for
more on PWI.

cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
colspan="3" rowspan="1"> style="color: white; font-weight: bold;">Top Ten
Free-to-Play Games

January 6, 2009 style="text-align: center; width: 75px; background-color: rgb(114, 105, 62); font-weight: bold; color: white;">Rank style="text-align: center; width: 105px; background-color: rgb(114, 105, 62); font-weight: bold; color: white;"> style="width: 334px; background-color: rgb(114, 105, 62); font-weight: bold; color: white;">Game

1

Last
week: 2 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/36886"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/36886/preview"> style="width: 334px; vertical-align: top;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Runes of Magic -
( href="http://www.runesofmagic.com/">www.runesofmagic.com style="font-weight: bold;">)

Frogster
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1234">Runes
of Magic Portal Preview

2

Last
week: 1 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/38580"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/38580/preview"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Atlantica Online - ( style="font-weight: bold;"
href="http://atlantica.ndoorsgames.com/" target="_blank">http://atlantica.ndoorsgames.com/)

NDOORS
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1303">Atlantica
Portal Ten
Ton Hammer Review

3

Last
week: 3 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/33602"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/33602/preview"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Dungeon Runners -
( target="_blank">http://www.dungeonrunners.com style="font-weight: bold;">) NCSoft
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/110">Dungeon
Runners Portal Ten
Ton Hammer Review

4

Last
week: 4 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31567"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/31567/preview"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Mabinogi - ( style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://mabinogi.nexon.net/">http://mabinogi.nexon.net)

NEXON
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/856">Mabonogi
Portal Ten
Ton Hammer Review

5

Last
week: N/A href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/34626"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/34626/preview"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Requiem: Bloodymare - ( href="http://www.playrequiem.com" target="_blank"> style="font-weight: bold;">www.playrequiem.com)

Gravity Interactive
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/769">Requiem
Portal Preview style="font-weight: bold;">

style="font-weight: bold;">

6

Last
week: 6 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49892"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/49892/preview"> style="font-weight: bold;">Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine - ( href="http://megaten.aeriagames.com/" target="_blank">http://megaten.aeriagames.com)

Aeria
Games &
Entertainment href="http://tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1751">Megaten
Portal Preview (coming soon!)

style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">

7

Last
week: 7 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/47950/preview"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/47950/preview"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Warrior Epic -
( href="http://warriorepic.com/">http://warriorepic.com style="font-weight: bold;">)
Possibility Space href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/691">Warrior
Epic Portal Preview (coming soon!)

8

Last
week: 8 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/32333"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/32333/preview"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Dream of Mirror Online - ( style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"
href="http://domo.aeriagames.com/">http://domo.aeriagames.com style="font-weight: bold;">)

Aeria Games &
Entertainment
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/997">DOMO
Portal href="http://www.tentonhamster.com/games/dream_mirror_online">Ten
Ton Hamster DOMO Portal

9

Last
week: 9 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/47948"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/47948/preview"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Exteel -
(www.exteel.com)
NCsoft
Exteel
Portal Ten
Ton Hammer Review

10

Last
week: 10 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/44038"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 100px; height: 100px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/44038/preview"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Perfect World International
- ( target="_blank">www.perfectworld.com style="font-weight: bold;">)

Perfect World Entertainment, Inc.
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/771">Perfect
World International Portal Preview

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