There’s nothing fairly like taking your first steps into a shared universe. Whether it was the early days of World of Warcraft that first drew you in, or the likes of Neverwinter Nights, EverQuest, Ultima Online, or Runescape, the tangible sense of exploration and discovery is what made the greatest MMORPGs really particular. Nowadays, the focus is usually far more on guiding the participant by way of these early hours and ensuring they know precisely what they want and the place to go. Project: Gorgon is a throwback to these magical experiences, stripping out guardrails to immerse you in its fantasy realm. It’s simply hit 1.0, and developer Elder Game is about to launch a fresh-start server with a somewhat distinctive twist.
Project: Gorgon first entered early entry again in March 2018, and it’s been quietly plugging together with a small however devoted group ever since. Eight years on, and the 1.0 launch is right here, with a raft of additions together with all-new character fashions, the arrival of the capital metropolis of Statehelm, coaching to stage 100 “and beyond” for all of its fight abilities and most crafting abilities, and a spread of new methods.
Elder Game says it needs Project: Gorgon “to feel as if you’re immersed in a whole new virtual world.” It does not information you to its secrets and techniques, however contains heaps of natural-feeling mechanics that you could intuit. NPCs every have particular targets and will reward players that help them. Shopkeepers preserve a persistent stock, that means you should purchase any objects that different folks have bought to their retailer. You’re in a position to inscribe objects, write books, and go away notes that different adventurers can learn.
There are not any pre-determined courses in Project: Gorgon. Instead, fight abilities are “entirely free-form” and you are in a position to study as many as you need. Combine commonplace favorites resembling sword or employees fight with the likes of animal dealing with, necromancy, battle chemistry, or unarmed grappling. You may even make use of methods in battle resembling preventing fireplace mages close to a lake so that you could douse their flames by leaping into the water.
Sometimes, your decisions can have long-reaching penalties: change into a druid and you’ll be able to remodel into numerous animals, however it’s essential to vow to shield nature always. Adopt lycanthropy and you are in a position to flip into a robust wolf – but it surely’ll be compelled upon you for 3 days with each full moon. Committing to both of these is everlasting in your character, so make your resolution rigorously.
Speaking of animal transformations, one other enjoyable foible of Project: Gorgon is that you could be shapeshifted into all method of creatures by way of numerous potions, enemy spells, or occasions. These aren’t merely short-term debuffs, however persistent results. Whether you change into a cow, deer, spider, pig, fox, spider, or one thing else, it’s going to final until you undergo a somewhat concerned course of to take away it.
These beast varieties would possibly technically be curses, however they’re additionally viable methods to play, full with their very own potential units. Cows make nice tanks, for instance, succesful of shrugging off enemy assaults and chewing the cud to heal themselves. Pigs can act in a assist function, in a position to heal and buff allies, punt enemies round the battlefield, and even inflict concern on their opponents with a squeal.
All of which brings me to the new ‘fresh-start server’ that is anticipated to open in the coming days. Elder Game introduced this in response to the huge surge of curiosity for Project: Gorgon 1.0, as a approach to account for the divide between newcomers and long-time veterans. “We heard from a lot of players that they won’t be buying until they can start on a fresh, clean server.”
The new server will likely be the similar in each approach, however characters won’t be allowed to transfer between it and the previous realm. The developer is not stopping there, nevertheless. In an try to put a bit of a dampener on any skilled players trying to race forward in the fresh-start world, anybody whose account was made earlier than December 1, 2025 and who has racked up greater than 40 hours of playtime will likely be forcibly reworked into a pig for the first week. Unlike the regular beast type, this impact can’t be eliminated.
“We’re calling this the ‘support pig’ effect,” Elder Game writes, “because the pig is an excellent group-support skill, and we’d love for you to help support newbies this way (but of course your actual actions are up to you). We hope long-term players see this for what it is: just another challenge for you to conquer. Even with this extra wrinkle, we still expect to see level 50/50 players dancing in Serbule by the end of the second day. But they’ll be pigs.”
Project Gorgon 1.0 is offered now on Steam, with a 25% low cost obtainable by way of Wednesday February 4. Expect to pay $18.74 / £15.74 in the event you purchase it now, or $24.99 / £20.99 after the sale ends. You may obtain a free demo that permits you to “explore a large part of the game and learn dozens of skills.” You’ll be capped to stage 15, however your character may be stored in the event you resolve to purchase the full factor.
If you’ve got already been taking part in on the current server, you are free to hold going in your previous character. Elder Game says it determined in opposition to a wipe for 1.0 again in 2021 as a result of “it became clear that too many players were ‘waiting for after the wipe,'” and it made testing too tough. If you’d somewhat maintain on for the fresh-start server, it ought to be made obtainable inside the coming week.
