March 15, 2007 - With the MMO market continually picking up steam, game companies have been scurrying to bring out the Next Big Thing. And while aesthetic-conscious Asian MMORPG's have gotten a bad rap for churning out grind fests, K2 Network hopes to change those perceptions with Sword of the New World. Developed by Ragnarok Online creator Hakkyu Kim, the MMO takes place in a colonial world inspired by the 15th - 17th century European exploration of Americas. Could this game prove to be a break-out hit for the developer?

Immediately noticeable with Swords is its lavishly stylized art--but the distinctions go beyond graphics. Replacing clunky plate armor for intricately adorned uniforms and decorative cuirasses, Sword of the New World strives to elegantly differentiate itself from the archetypal humans-versus-orcs mold. Most significantly, the game allows players to control up to three characters at once.

In spite of the new simultaneous control scheme, the interface and mechanics should be familiar to MMO players. Character creation offers the usual options: choose the character's first name (each character will share a last name, as all characters are part of a single family), costume, appearance, gender and class. Classes widely vary, taking on both traditional fantasy (Wizards) as well as real-world (Musketeer) personas. In total, there are five classes: Elementalist, Fighter, Musketeer, Scout, and Wizard.

If you leave the starting barracks with more than one character, you can choose to control the team members either individually or as a group. When controlling the party as a group, one character is designated as the leader, with the others trailing behind and assisting the leader's actions. This doesn't strip your control of your teammates, however; players will still be able to issue commands such as nuking, healing or AOE.

Individual control is similar to the hot-key-based commands of popular MMO's, such as World of Warcraft. But unlike other games in the genre, the hot keys apply to all members of the player's team. The first character, for example, is assigned keys Q through U across the keyboard; the second assigned A through J; and the third assigned Z through M. It's a simple interface scheme that allows players to micromanage each character's actions while retaining control over the team as a whole. The "clickers" can still use their mouse to hit the icons on the screen, although it's likely to be slower this way. Each character also gets their own hotkeys for potions and items. In total, you'll have 18 skills at your disposal for the whole team.