Wizardry Online Preview, Coming to NA and Europe Next Year

GameSpot came back from E3 with an interesting albeit short preview of Wizardry Online, and share the info that has been given from the presentation: the game is going to be free-to-play and its release is scheduled for next year in Europe and North America. Aside from that, some talk about perma-death:

Headlock CEO Nobuyuki Okada suggested that Wizardry Online will be a difficult game that “delights in killing the player.” The game will feature the dreaded “perma-death,” which is permanent death for your character if you die too many times; in this case, it was twice. Like in the classic Wizardry games first created by Sir-Tech Canada, in Wizardry Online, your first death will turn your body to ash (and as it turns out, classic locations like the Adventurer’s Inn, Gilgamesh’s Tavern, and Boltac’s Trading Post will return in the game). You’ll then become a ghost with one last shot of recovering your corpse and whatever belongings are left on it. If you fail, your character becomes extinct…dead forever.

Mr. Okada suggested that the game’s permanent death and considerable difficulty, inspired by online games 10 years gone by such as EverQuest and Ultima Online, will make for a strong point of differentiation from the games of today. The executive suggested they are “well designed,” but “monsters serve only to provide you with enough experience to gain your next level.” In many cases, it may be wiser simply to try to run for your life.

As soon as we receive any official word or announcement we’ll let you know.