The Inquisitr Gaming MMO Update For January 2013

The new year has arrived and online gamers are once again faced with the dilemma of which MMOS to play. There are so many great games to choose from and whittling down the list can be a difficult and painful decision. Players must decide if they will focus on just one game or play several of their favorites. No matter which game or games you decide to play, the goal of every gamer should be to have fun. The Inquisitr is here to help you decide which games to play so you can dedicate more of your energy to having a great time playing the games you love.

Today, we will look at some of the games that the writers here at The Inquisitr are actually playing. These games represent our personal choices and it is important to remember there are tons of other great MMOS available. There is a huge selection of free to play games including Atlantica Online, Perfect World, Runes of Magic, Aion and League of Legends that are also worth your consideration. There are so many great online games available that we could spend a week reviewing them and we would hardly scratch the surface. As always, we will do our utmost to review as many of these incredible games as humanly possible in the weeks ahead.

So without further ado, let us begin with today’s selection of online games:

Elder Scrolls Online:

Perhaps no game has ever generated as much anticipation as the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online. Millions of dedicated gamers took a break from playing online games to play Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on a PC, Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3,and the gaming community has been begging for an online version of Elder Scrolls for more than a decade. 2013 will be the year that gamers finally get their wish. After five long years of development, Elder Scrolls Online will be starting beta testing soon and the game is schedule for release later in 2013.

World Of Warcraft:

World Of Warcraft is still the king of online gaming with over 10 million monthly subscribers. While Blizzard’s flagship game may finally face a serious challenge from Elder Scrolls Online, there were many other promising, highly anticipated games that failed to knock WoW off the throne. The most recent expansion, Mists Of Pandaria, was a welcome return to the style of play Warcraft fans prefer and the game is experiencing a rebirth. Servers are full and new content is being added on a regular basis. It will take a truly groundbreaking effort for any MMO to seriously challenge WoW.

Lord Of The Rings Online:

When it comes to the story, questing and detailed content, no game can hold a candle to Lord Of The Rings Online. Based on history’s all time best selling work of fiction, J.R.R.Tolkien’s beloved novel, The Lord Of The Rings, LOTRO successfully translates the world of Middle Earth into an exciting and thoroughly enjoyable MMORPG.

The team at Turbine managed to craft a game that allows players to share the journey of Frodo and the fellowship, while still experiencing an enormous game that permits the player to explore Middle Earth independent of the ring bearer. Players will encounter a vast world full of the most fearsome creatures from Tolkien’s universe, hundreds of exciting quests and challenging dungeons full of epic bosses. Add a unique form of PvP that allows gamers to assume the role of the game’s monsters and the new feature of mounted combat found in the Riders Of Rohan expansion and you have a challenging MMO well worth playing, LOTRO offers a monthly subscription and a free to play model with limited access to some areas of the game.

Firefall:

Another highly anticipated game for 2013, Firefall is a first person shooter and role playing game all in one. Now in beta testing, Firefall is a rare FPSRPG that anyone can enjoy from the moment they begin playing, no matter their skill level at fast twitch gaming. While great reflexes are always helpful, even this 61 year old gaming writer was able have a blast playing this outstanding new game.

Players will discover a post apocalyptic earth that has undergone an environmental catastrophe. The planet’s flora and fauna mutated into aggressive, monstrous creations and making matters even worse, an alien race decided the planet was ripe for conquest. The remains of humanity huddles in the few surviving safe havens scattered around the globe, awaiting the end.

Gamers are equipped with a jet pack powered, heavily armed battle frame that is available in five different classes; Recon, Assault, Biotech, Engineer, and Dreadnaught. Join the fight to push back the aliens, cure the planet of the widespread corruption and save the human race.

If you want exciting fast paced combat with non stop action plus questing and a huge world to explore, grab a battle frame of your own and leap into Firefall when this great game goes live later in the year. Best of all, Firefall is fully free to play.

Planetside 2:

This outstanding free-to-play massively multiplayer online first person shooter (MMOFPS) made it debut on November 20, 2012. Planetside 2 is the game of choice for devotees of fast twitch first person shooters with a serious learning curve that requires gamers to pay attention and patiently develop their skills and their character. The game features squad based combat and massive planet wide battles that can involve over 1000 players at a time. The game takes place on the planet Auraxis, where three factions fight over territory and resources for control of the planet.

“Battles take place not between dozens of troops, but thousands; with air and ground vehicles slugging it out alongside squads of troops. Whether in open fields, tightly packed urban centers or enormous structures, planning, teamwork and communication are essential.”

“PlanetSide 2 features incredible continent maps with dozens of square kilometers of seamless gameplay space; every inch of which is hand-crafted, contestable space. With the territorial control meta-game, landmass has intrinsic value.”

“In PlanetSide 2 battles can last for days or even weeks, and finally taking control of the base means it’s yours until someone can take it back. Working strategically as a team to capture key tactical positions such as power plants and ammo depots have long-lasting effects that can shift the tide of battle. Victory requires strategic teamwork and a quick trigger finger to survive the massive battles.”

The Secret World:

If you love conspiracy theories, ancient legends, mythology, human history, and modern technology, The Secret World is the game for you. Explore a near future world in which ancient mysteries and long dormant evil beings have come back to life. These horrifying entities are anxious to recreate the world in their image; enslaving and obliterating humanity as they slowly and steadily expand their influence over a naive and unprepared world.

Only the three secret societies, The Templar, The Dragon and The Illuminati know the truth and they are mankind’s last line of defense against the coming evil. Join one of these manipulative, powerful secret societies and prepare yourself to meet unimaginable creatures, solve ancient mysteries and conquer dungeons filled with horrors out of our most frightening memories.

TSW is based on a unique system that disposes with levels and allows players to choose from every one of the 535 powers, 3 fields of magic and 9 weapon sets available as you progress through the game. Developer Funcom offers both a subscription model and a free access model, so its time to pick a faction and get ready to use all your skills and the hidden power of your mind to conquer The Secret World.

Star Wars The Old Republic:

SW: TOR experienced a rough beginning. Launched in December of 2011, the game attracted almost two million subscribers who were attracted to a promising, great looking, light saber weilding new game built on the most popular franchise in motion picture history. The leveling experience was amazing, but end game dungeons and open world PvP fell flat and the game began to leak subscribers like a sinking ship; dropping to a low of 700,000 subscribers in a few short months.

After investing over 200 million dollars and seven years of development to launch SW: TOR, BioWare worked hard to revitalize the game by adding new content and a free to play model. It remains to be seen if the game can recover and begin to attract more subscribers, but there are still legions of online gamers who would love to explore the Star Wars universe. If Bioware can get their act together, release new content on a regular basis, add more challenging dungeons and get open world PvP off the ground, there is still hope for this game.

Guild Wars 2:

Guild Wars 2 is another game that offers a world class leveling experience and then starts to stumble as players reach the level cap. Once you hit the cap, Guildwars 2 is all about PvP. If you are a dedicated fan of Player vs. Player combat, than you will love GW2. The leveling experience is smooth as silk and there are several different types of PvP to choose from, including World v. World and Hot Join games. There are daily, weekly, and monthly tournaments, leader boards, and enough combat to satisfy the most hardcore PvP gamers.

“Competitive play in Guild Wars 2 is easy to learn, but offers challenges for new players and hardcore PvPers alike. In Player vs. Player matches, small teams of players battle over maps packed with objectives, while in World vs. World, armies of hundreds of players from competing servers wage war across four sprawling maps.”

PvE lovers will probably feel a bit lost after they hit level 80 as there are only a few end game dungeons and a limited amount of daily quests. Hopefully, ArenaNet will address this problem by adding a good deal more end game content, so by all means give this game a try. After all, it is fully free to play and the Player vs. Player action is the best any MMO has to offer.

Join The Inquisitr For A Regular Look At The Very Best In Video Gaming:

These are just some of the great MMO’s we are playing here at The Inquisitr. Over the coming weeks and months, we will be reviewing all the latest and greatest online games that are coming your way, so be sure to check back regularly and find out all you need to know about the amazing world of video games. Before we leave you, we would like to share the latest video trailer for Elder Scrolls Online, plus videos for LOTRO and WoW. Happy gaming everyone!