MMORPGs are alive on the PC… sort of! Project: Gorgon is a call back to old school MMOs, which has it’s pros and cons.

Overview

I was really enjoying Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, but for me any chance to play a multiplayer experience with friends overrides any single player game. I actually bought (and refunded) Project: Gorgon in the past. I originally jumped solo into a big open world that seemed empty, yet overwhelming. I didn’t have the strength to ‘sell’ the game to my friends because I really didn’t understand it at the time. This time around I was invited by someone else to play, and it was on sale on Steam!

Gameplay

Right when I entered the world of Project: Gorgon my first instinct took me back to the days of playing the original Everquest. You make a pretty basic RPG character and get started on a newbie tutorial island. The graphics even suck like they are from 1999 (okay, maybe 2002). If you looked solely at the graphics, you would refund this game immediately. What really gets you drawn in is the interactions and mechanics of it all. There’s no “!” quest markers or arrows telling you what to do. You are forced to explore, uncover and interpret. Sure, there is a fair amount of combat, but the game doesn’t revolve around the combat. Though combat is usually necessary to complete the goal at hand. I usually click through quest dialogue, but in this game you’ll miss obvious and subtle hints about the world. For example, we went into a crypt with 10 or so items on the wall. I generally don’t read lore or any quest dialogue so I just clicked away, spawning bad guy after bad guy. One person in my group recognized the items from something he read earlier on. He was able to click them to unlock a chest full of loot as a reward for paying attention to the details.

Skills & Leveling

Most MMORPGs have a goal to grind through the levels for endgame dungeon content. Project: Gorgon doesn’t have a character level, which turns out to be refreshing for me. I don’t feel the need to mindlessly grind to catch up levels with my friends. There are levels for every skill in the game. Every. Skill. Everything is leveled up by actually doing it, not just adding points to it. You eat to level up eating, unlocking abilities to eat better foods that regen stats faster. You level up forage by foraging. You level up death by dying… yes, that’s a thing. The game looks pretty simple on the surface, but once you get into it the system is pretty complex. There are a number of combat skills like sword, shield, bard, mentalism, archery, knife fighting, necromancy, fire magic, etc. The neat part is that you can make class combos. For example, I can use a sword and shield by equipping both. After defeating a mob I’ll get XP for both sword and shield. Next I can put a lute and horn in each hand, and I’ll be leveling up bard. Replace the lute with a sword and now it is a sword/bard spec. There are even animal combat classes like a cow. Obviously a cow has no hands to equip a bow, so that limits it’s class combination to a magic or something that doesn’t require holding specific equipment. To take it to the next level, my bard has to level Stringed Instruments by playing the lute in order to unlock certain skills. I also have to level Vocabulary by playing a Boggle-like word game in order to unlock other skills. The more I play, the deeper it gets. The thing that keeps you hooked is that your goals are based on an arbitrary level like, “I need to get level 20 tonight”. It’s based on “I need to level vocabulary to get xyz skill”. This is a very simple example, and many quests get several levels deep into “I need to get x, to unlock y, in order to craft z”. When I am about to call it a night by dropping off one last quest at an NPC, it always turns into one more thing, one more thing… and then it’s way past my bed time!

It is not the greatest game ever

I will praise many aspects of Project: Gorgon, but at the end of the day this is really a niche game. Many people won’t want to drop $30-$40 just by looking at the graphics. Many people will get onto the starter island and give up because there is no obvious directions. Many people will make it to the first town and see that it looks physically empty and assume the game doesn’t any depth, or anything to do. I imagine the price point is high because it is not really for hordes of people. Dealing with high population spikes would take away from game development and make them focus more on non-development related issues (like dealing with servers and more compatibility). There are NPCs in the game that are noted as placeholders. They aren’t hiding that the game is unfinished.

Summary

I will confirm though, that there are lots of meaningful and memorable things to do. We’ve killed a couple named dungeon bosses that increase or notoriety. Each of them have been memorable and worth the risk. This game also has some really, really creative aspects. For example, one of the dungeon bosses was a cow. If you attack the cow and lose the fight, you’ll be turned into a cow. Luckily we won the battle, because I heard the quest to un-cow takes some time. There are lots of little quirks in the game as well. One NPC wouldn’t talk to me because I was filthy. Eventually I learned to dunk myself into a fountain or lake before talking to them. Part of the fun is learning. It doesn’t have a pop-up window explaining what to do to get cleaned up, but it makes sense when you think about it. Another neat part about the game being so small is that you really have to discover things on your own. There is a basic wiki page, but there are no walkthroughs or guides. I’ve run into many riddles (some I still haven’t figured out) because I can’t just Google the answer for.

Conclusion

There is so much more to talk about in Project: Gorgon. It doesn’t look like much on the surface but I can assure you that there is a lot of good fun deep-down inside. Despite the game population on SteamCharts usually only showing between 150-200 online, there are always friendly people willing to help or answer questions. Although it is extremely hard to recommend this game at it’s full $40 price, I think the niche player looking for that old school MMO formula won’t mind. For the general public though, I would suggest waiting for more development or a significant price drop.

I haven’t played an Assassin’s Creed game since the original (I lie, I did load up Black Flag to check out the ships). I was on the hunt for a AAA single player title while I wait for some upcoming releases. Looking at you New World! Assassin’s Creed Odyssey turned out to be a great action RPG title that I look forward to playing to the end.

Overview

To be completely honest, I almost refunded this game 5 minutes in. I went in with the mindset of “this better not feel like a console game”. The intro cinematics and gameplay have console written all over them. I was so tempted to refund (I bought it on Steam just in case). After several hours and getting off the initial island, boy am I glad I didn’t. The eye-candy is a great start. I have a decent rig and I always end up playing these 8-bit indie games, so it felt great to really push my system. I did end up running it at 1080p to get 60+ fps, but it is still very nice to look at.

Gameplay & Combat

Going in I heard that there were RPG elements. I braced for the worst considering Assassin’s Creed is generally not known as an RPG, but more of an Action-Adventure type game. To my surprise, I found the equipment and skill trees to have enough depth to keep me interested. Mainly because I can spec in Bow & Arrow or Warrior, instead of going full Stealth mode. Stealth assassinations still have the coolest animations, but I really don’t enjoy sneaking around slowly and waiting to strike. Luckily the Bow & Arrow Hunter spec allows for some high damage surprise attacks, then when they get close I use brute force to take them down. The combat animations are fluid, and there is an optional lock-on system. Combat is relatively simple with parry and dodge, but there is a great variety of attacks and finishers between the different weapons. I hope later in the game the equipment becomes more unique and you get “legendary” type equipment, but I’ve gotten to try lots of different basic weapons already. The enjoyment of combat makes it worthwhile, and it does get difficult when you are ganged up on by multiple enemies, as it should. You can also tell that equipment is going to start looking more and more badass as you level up.

World & Environment

The first island is essentially a tutorial island. It gets you familiar with the basics of running quests, using the blacksmith, etc. There are other cool systems built in once you begin to open up the world. For example, there is a bounty system, where high-level named guys have a bounty to kill you, and you also have a bounty to kill some of them if you are high enough level. You get one of these fights on the tutorial island and he was one of the more difficult ones. I imagine these guys get pretty mean at higher level. The game also allows you to use a traditional quest system with markers, or if you are hardcore you can turn it off and openly explore the world. As in all open-world games, there are lots of optional side quests on the boat and on land. Once you get off the tutorial island the story also opens up. No spoilers, but despite the story being pretty simple, I am pretty amped to see it through (and get revenge!). Lastly, there are lots of quality of life systems with fast travel and horse travel, so it doesn’t feel tedious getting around.

Summary

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey feels like a well-built game. It runs well, it feels good, and there are several systems in place to cater to different types of players. This game would appeal to a broad group of players; open-worlders that have to finish every quest, people that want to blitz the main story line, pirate fanatics, and even history buffs. Despite it having a tinge of console feel, the enjoyment and eye-candy keeps me going on PC. I am even playing with mouse and keyboard instead of controller to stick to my PC roots.

Conclusion

Overall I have high praise for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. I do prefer more character customization personally, but I understand games with a story like this make more sense by having characters (quick side note – you can also choose to play as a female character). My one significant gripe is the real money store attached to this game. It is a $60 title, yet there are lots of customization options available in the real-money store. There is also “time savers” that can boost your XP and in-game currency generation. Not cool. I ended up buying the game for 50% off so I ended up buying the XP boost for an additional $10 to plow through the game. I still feel dirty about it. I feel really bad knowing that people out there could be buying the more deluxe editions for $80+, then also buying cosmetic add-ons for $10 here and $10 there, plus time savers and more. Next thing you know you spent $150 on a game. Aside from the real-money store gripe, there isn’t much else negative to say about this title. I am genuinely having fun, and pleasantly surprised by everything really. The RPG elements are deep enough, and the combat is very satisfying (boat combat was way more fun than I expected as well). I would recommend this game at full-price or discounted if you plan to buy any add-ons. I’ll add some links below to current deals.

You can grab a copy of Assassin’s Creedy Odyssey for PC from:

Steam, Green Man Gaming, or Amazon

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.