Just because Napoleon Dynamite doesn’t have any skills doesn’t mean you need to sit on a mat in this dojo and be abused. Do you think the developers of Age of Wushu got where they are by dressing like Peter Pan here? Of course not! Do you think anyone wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I’m wearing these bad boys? Forget about it…

Age of Wushu is one of the most popular MMOs in Asia and has recently been gaining popularity here in the West. Unlike the hero of my movie reenactment above, the characters in Age of Wushu have a massive amount of skills and there are three new sets heading your way soon. Carl Douglas would be proud of all the Kung Fu fighting actions these new skills bring to the table.

While we were at E3 we got to take a look at those skill sets as well as get some hands-on time with them. Unlike the standard fighting styles we’re used to seeing on this side of the Pacific, these new style sets involve some very extreme action dynamics with animations to match.

Take for example the first new set we were shown in which the character put on an iron skull cap and proceeded to head butt the holy living hell out of the poor sap being used as a target dummy by our host. Or the next one that revolved around a quarterstaff and was a combination of crowd control and damage output. The fast-paced spinning and striking of the staff was impressive. Lastly, we saw a set involving the use of a single dagger. This was a heavy hitting damage based set.

Combined with the previous skills that already exist in the game, this will bring the total to just over thirty. In case I forgot to mention this for those that aren’t currently playing the game, your character has the potential to learn all the skills in the game – every single last one of them if you took the time and wanted to. Since you’re also able to swap different skill sets out on the fly, depending on levels and the way you decide to train your character, this increases the variations of combat tactics and methods exponentially.

Not content to just sit around and look at these awesome new skills, I took a little time to get my hands dirty (and my opponent bloody) while getting a feel for the rock-paper-scissor style of the combat. It’s definitely going to take some getting used to for folks, but with a little practice, it wasn’t long before I was removing the lifeblood of my fellow press adversary at an alarming rate. He may have simply run out of time, but I’m going to claim my extreme combat prowess broke his spirit. He got up and walked away halfway through the match, but that still didn’t stop me from whipping his character into submission and making him call me, “Big Papa”.

Sadly, our time with the game was up far sooner than I wish it had been because there’s a lot more about it than what I’ve been able to share here. Age of Wushu may not be the most well known title in this part of the world yet, and it certainly won’t appeal to everyone, but I have little doubt that its influence will be felt by many in the days, months, and years to come.