TenTonHamster has put together a whopping 13 minutes of Free Realms preview video footage from the Sony Online Entertainment Block Party, at the 2008 Comic-Con. Sony artist Sebastian Strzalkowski brings us on a tour of Free Realms, beginning with character creation and moving on to quests and minigames. Along the way, he notes that Free Realms characters are not locked onto a given server, and can easily move to other servers to meet up with friends.
Strzalkowski also touches upon the system of point accrual and redemption for premium content in the game. Also, true to its name, Free Realms allows for a free-to-play experience, with an optional possibility of earning points through short ad views. He shows viewers a simple user interface, with an OS X-like dock at the bottom of the screen and an animated map.The video presentation focuses mostly on minigames and quests, with bite-sized play times linked to rewards. The idea is that it provides a sense of accomplishment without having to rack up hours of gameplay.
Strzalkowski addresses how combat will play out in Free Realms. As a game whose target demographic is both boys and girls, ages 9 to 14, there's no blood and guts associated with combat, and no one really dies. All acts of violent conflict result in the loser simply being knocked out, cartoon-style. On the topic of providing a 'safe' MMO experience for kids, SOE is implementing a menu-based style of chat for players under the age of 13, so profanity -- or worse -- won't mar the game experience for children. Have a look at the footage at TenTonHamster, which clearly shows how the game is geared towards younger players. Still though, given that it's free, would you -- as a more mature gamer -- be interested in playing a title like Free Realms?
[Via Grimwell]
