If you look at the raw numbers, the MMO world is essentially World Of Warcraft flavoured. It's where the mass of players reside, but other games are queuing up for your MMO dollar. Here's five contenders due to assault the WoW fortress, and why they might be worth your playing-time.
Lego Universe
Developer: NetDevil
Official Web Site: http://universe.lego.com/Who doesn't love Lego? We've got to give NetDevil their due; there's no way that a Lego MMO will be quite like any other MMO currently available. Given the ridiculous number of potential lego combinations available from six humble 2x4 blocks (915,103,765 ways, if you were curious), there's a lot of scope.
Also, LEGO have announced you'll be able to customise your character online, and they'll then make it for you in Denmark and ship it out to you. If we have to explain why that's cool to you, then you officially have no soul.
Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning
Developer: EA Mythic
Official Web Site:http://www.warhammeronline.com/LEGO will be co-operative, which might not suit most tastes. If the pure spectacle of never-ending war suits your mood better (or you just want to find out what happens when you stuff a group of snotlings into a warpstone cannon) then EA's upcoming MMO, based around the long-running and insanely popular/expensive Warhammer universe might be more to your taste.
Jumpgate Evolution
Developer:NetDevil
Official Web Site:http://www.jumpgateevolution.com/Do you remember Elite? Yeah, well, then you're old, like us. While the Space Trading MMO isn't a new category (as players of Eve Online willl attest), it's also one that's not been quite as over-saturated as, say, Fantasy MMOs have been. Evolution represents an update to the existing Jumpgate, promising faster and more frenetic space action, if that's your thing.
Champions Online
Developer: Cryptic Studios
Official Web Site: http://www.champions-online.com/You might think that comic book MMOs have their champion already, what with City Of Heroes/City Of Villains, until you realise that Champions Online is being developed by the same crew as the CoH/CoV team. It's based on an 80s' pen and paper RPG, but Cryptic is promising that it'll have more direct action than CoH, as well as Xbox 360 cross-compatibility from launch.
World Of Warcraft: Wrath Of The Lich King
Developer: Blizzard
Official Web Site: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/Hang on a minute. How can an add-on for WoW be a WoW killer? Well, there is the obvious line that if they stuff it up royally (which seems unlikely, to say the least), it could kill the whole WoW phenomenon. You can read our
Top Ten things to love about Wrath Of The Lich King.
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