15, Aug 2013
Neverwinter shows off lore trailer and prepares for 2013 launch

I promise a chicken in every pot!  Or a chicken skeleton, anyway.  You're undead, you don't really want a live chicken, right?

Neverwinter, the upcoming action-based free-to-play title from Cryptic Studios, will be making an appearance at Gamescom 2012 as well as GenCon Indy 2012 and PAX Prime 2012. It will not be making an appearance as a launched game, however, as the official launch date has been pushed back from late 2012 to early 2013. Attendees to these conventions will be able to play an early build of the game, and press members will also be given a tour of the game’s player-generated content tool, the Foundry.

For those not able to attend the conventions, the team behind the game has put together a new lore trailer for Ebon Downs, one of the game’s many dungeon areas. The short story is that a necromancer is using an artifact to raise an army of undead, but there are more details to be unearthed about the artifact in question and the perils within the barrows. Check out the trailer past the break and new screenshots in our gallery below.

Cryptic, for me, now auto gets a thumbs down based on past titles I have been burned by that they have worked on. I will never pre-order anything they touch. After the game has been out for 6 months, we will see where it stands and if it is doing well in this competitive market, then I may give it a shot, otherwise they can forget it.

Now they have to compete with Guild Wars 2, and that is a real hard act to follow, I just do not have faith that this developer is up to the task of taking on Arenanet. Also, I have to say the race selection looks BORING, humans and human clones (elves, half elves, drow elves, tieflings). That is very boring, I like some unique looking races in my MMOs. It looks uninspired to me so far, but I will hold my judgment until the market has its way with the game first.