2013 was a banner year for MMORPGs. The genre is more popular than ever with entries all over the globe from a plethora of developers that range from titans of the industry like Blizzard to smaller, lesser known firms that have yet to make as large a mark on the world of MMORPGs. Let’s have a look at some of the best titles released in 2013. The following list is not in any particular order.
Wildstar
This futuristic themed MMO was released in beta mode in late 2013 by Carbine Studios and manages to hit all of the notes that a good MMO should. The graphic design is fantastic and reminiscent of Pixar studios and the combat and control system is simple yet effective.
Diablo 3
The long awaited latest installment in the classic Blizzard series of magic and sorcery themed MMOs released in 2013 to adoring crowds due to its awesome player models and PVP combat system.
Dust 514
This first person shooter MMO is one of the best free to play options on the Playstation 3. While not as advanced graphically as other options, it has a very fun leveling system and a large, dynamic universe.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
This game is the newest MMO title in the Final Fantasy universe. The sheer number of players along with the well-thought-out mapping and economy features make this one of the best MMOs released in 2013.
Defiance
This new title by Trion World Studios is a good option for those who love third person shooters and MMOs – the future war theme along with beautiful backgrounds and settings and a decent proprietary combat system make Defiance a good choice for third person shooter fans.
Unfortunately not every MMO released can be a winner. Now, we will take a look at some of the biggest MMO flops of 2013.
Wizardry Online
While this much anticipated game had a number of things going for it initially, including a great license and some interesting spell features, the fact that once you died you were gone forever, coupled with very buggy play, made this one of the worst releases of 2013.
The War Z
A zombie/combat themed MMO seems great in theory but The War Z ended up falling far short of expectations.
DK Online
DK Online has one or two things going for it. The siege combat and partial air campaigns were the only bright spots in this otherwise poorly-made generic MMO. The sets are all reminiscent of Everquest and other medieval/magic themed MMOs and DK online makes no attempt at its own style.
Age of Wushu
This martial arts/Ancient China themed offering from Snail USA has very few redeeming qualities. For one thing, the combat system is flawed and incredibly laggy and considering that response times are a large portion of gameplay lag is an unacceptable flaw.
The Aurora World
Yet another example of a fantasy/magic themed MMO offering. Like many of the other Everquest/WC3 clones, The Aurora World seems to be large on (copied) style and short on substance.
There are a number of gaming websites such as MMOBUX.com that cover these reviews but not all of them are totally unbiased. While there were many fantastic offerings this year there were also a lot of duds, failures and just plain terrible games. However, 2013 was not a bad year for MMO games. While there were a few bad titles, stellar games like Diablo 3 and Wildstar more than made up for it. If 2013 is any guide, 2014 should also be a fantastic year for MMOs.
Featured images:
License: Creative Commons image source
License: Creative Commons image source
Alex Chopra has been playing and reviewing video games for the past 10 years for numerous gaming sites. Some of his regular titles include Starcraft 2, Team Fortress 2 and Grand Theft Auto Online. You can find him on Google+.
Photo by gamerscoreblog 
