Is New World Is Worth Shelling Out $70 For The Base Game And Expansion?

Last week, I discussed whether or not the MMORPG New World is worth playing today. The game's latest expansion “Rise of the Angry Earth” has brought significant changes and improvements (and players!), including the addition of mounts and various quality of life enhancements. Mounts in particular has made New World way more enjoyable by enhancing mobility and reducing the tedium of frequent traversal. That being said, the combat is still clunky and server-related problems like long queues persist.

Despite imperfections though, the game is the best it's ever been…dare I say, objectively — subjectively? — straight up solid. As a casual MMO enjoyer with real-life adulthood obligations, I find New World the greatest choice in the current landscape of the genre. Much of that is due to the lack of a fear of missing out (FOMO) that plagues many other MMOs; meaning it is easy to jump back in or even start fresh.

In fact, I can’t stop playing. Even though Amazon Games Studios has yet to fix the main story quest line, I grinded my way to Level 65 (which is max level). What did I do instead of progressing through the campaign like I was supposed to but couldn’t? Pretty much everything except crafting and gathering. There’s a heck of a lot of things to do.

I rode my loyal wolf across Aeternum, discovering every landmark in sight and activating all the shrines for future fast traveling purposes. I participated in all the expeditions (that’s “dungeons” in New World lingo), experimenting with different weapon combinations until I found the pair I liked the most. I semi-mastered the way of the mage, upgrading my Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet as well as my Light/Medium Armor as much as possible. I joined an Influence Race, checking out PvP for the first time ever. I even hunted Artifacts, eventually picking up a Gray Wizard, Hat but failing to find The Abyss.

Much of what I did was in the base game for New World, which costs $40 when not on sale. A lot of the endgame stuff though requires purchasing the $30 expansion. Mounts also require the purchase of the expansion. That comes out to $70 total without any discount. I’m looking at my Steam profile now, and it says I have played this game for almost 200 hours altogether. While a dozen, maybe more, hours were spent either waiting in queue or doing something frustratingly boring in-game, by far and away most were having fun. I don’t know…it seems like a good value to me!

In comparison, World of Warcraft (Including Classic) and Final Fantasy XIV both cost $15 per month. After three months, you’re spending more than New World. Both those MMOs feature paid DLC/expansions, too. The Elder Scrolls Online and Old School RuneScape have similar costs as well.

On the other hand, Black Desert Online only costs $10 at the ground floor…and there’s free-to-play yet pay-to-win options like Lost Ark and MapleStory. (There’s also Guild Wars 2, I didn’t forget!) All I’m saying is I think New World offers quite the value, especially compared to other titles in the industry, and shouldn’t be immediately dismissed for charging players $30 to access the expansion’s new content.