Not perfect, but pretty damn impressive for F2P.
Neverwinter is sort of a paradox. It's a Dungeons and Dragons MMO for people who don't really care about Dungeons and Dragons. Now don't get me wrong, this has a lot of D&D elements to warrant the name. Familiar areas, monsters, and references will remind even the most casual of D&D players that they are, in fact, playing a D&D game. However, you could have easily called this game "FANTASY ACTION MMO #314" and it would have been just as fitting. None of the usual D&D rules apply. Weapons don't do 2d6 damage, they do 2 - 12 damage. You won't be rolling any saving throws, and criticals happen based on a percent chance, not a roll of 20. There are plenty of other examples of this, but I think you get the idea.
Controls: Nothing too revolutionary here. It's a hybrid of action hack'n'slash and the more traditional MMO that has been done at least a half a dozen times now. Reminiscent of DC Universe or TERA, the combat is primarily aim and click, with the quick bar actions being moved from the traditional 1, 2, 3, 4 keys to E,Q, R and TAB. This does wonders for helping the game feel more like an action game.
Graphics: Unfortunately I am not the most qualified person to grade the graphics. My computer is run by a series of pullies and counter-weights. However this should give you and indication of the games scaling abilities. My specs for reference: 2.4ghz dual core CPU, 3 gigs RAM, Windows XP SP3, Radeon HD 4600 512mb.
Sounds: This is where I take a few points off. The music is repetitive and boring. The combat noise is generic and forgettable. The voice acting is hilariously over the top, but hey at least this MMO actually HAS voice acting, right?
Community: The Neverwinter community is, for the most part, courteous and helpful. As always you'll find your regular plethora of trolls and assholes, but the community as a whole is strong. I have yet to join a guild but this is probably the second MMO where I have actually considered doing such a thing. There are rewards to being involved in a guild, including a much needed guild bank. More on banking in the next section, entitled...
How Free is this F2P game: Free to play is often a misnomer. We pretty much all know this now. "It's free so long as you don't mind grinding five times slower and not having access to 70% of the game." Fortunately this is not the case with Neverwinter. The only items purchasable on the cash shop are either cosmetic or advance your character/account in the name of convenience. Such as more bank space or a cool looking/slightly faster mount. All of these come at, what I consider, a fairly high price point. Some mounts cost 30 dollars. Yeah, 30 dollars for that digital horse. That aside, all of the games actual play content, all the way to level 60, is FREE.
My Recommendation: Looking for the next great MMO? Probably not this game. Looking for a fun diversion that won't cost you anything? You could do a lot worse than Neverwinter.
