Gloria Victis Is A Highly Ambitious Low Fantasy MMO

Gloria Victis is an MMO that initially reminded me a bit of The Witcher, and then I read that some of its developers helped make The Witcher. "Ooooooooh," I replied eloquently. The general vibe, especially, gives me flashbacks to Geralt's particular brand of gallivanting (or Geraltivanting for short), with a fantasy setting where everything... well, it just sucks. No knights in shining armor, no one-man-army mega heroes, no mighty spells or gear sets that look like they emerged from the great costume glitter explosion of 1927. That's certainly not a bad thing, though. I mean, there's a reason "realistic" fantasy is all the rage right now. It's a focus that bleeds into the game's skill-based combat as well, with things like weather conditions even coming into play. Sounds like quite the thing, huh? Check out some gameplay footage after the break.

Here's a quick rundown, courtesy of developer Black Eye Games:

"The world of Middle Ages, in which magic is not a common tool but rather serves as elite force – its concept is based on the real world rites and beliefs of those times. Dedicated no-target system featuring virtual replicas of weapons in close combat, projectile and mounted fight."

"You are a pivot in the middle of the conflict between the descendants of the world's first makers. You can take one of the sides, join a guild, family or order and in their name retake sacred grounds that other families are trying to claim. You can join with your friends and follow the trail of missing artifacts surrounded by legends. You can delve into the mysteries of unnerving events, learn the history and take possession of the wisdom and glory it holds."

The combat looks quite a bit like War of the Roses, which is a-okay in my book because moment-to-moment swordicuffs were the only good thing about War of the Roses. I'm also quite fond of what the developers are saying about sandbox-y world, class, and guild development - things most fantasy MMOs heavily tone down in favor of relentless simplicity.

Basically, Gloria Victis looks like some of history's less glamorous realities sprinkled with The Witcher's fantastical flavor. I do have some concerns (it's not entirely sandbox-y, with a quest system that apparently relies on "moral choices"; combat looks like it needs a lot of fine-tuning), and of course this all sounds remarkably ambitious for a relatively small team. Then again, they cite experience on games like The Witcher and Neverwinter Nights, so hopefully they have better sense than to dive headfirst into something that's way over their heads.

The game's currently pre-alpha, but you can apparently join in by simply shooting an email over to Black Eye. Will you? Do you dare?