WAYFINDER

An MMO from the teams behind Warframe and Darksiders

- Robin Valentine

For nearly a decade, developer Airship Syndicate has felt like it's building up to something. Formed out of the ashes of THQ and Vigil Games-the creators of the Darksiders series-it's been quietly releasing very good games ever since, such as Darksiders Genesis and Ruined King. Its projects have been modest, but full of whip-smart RPG mechanics and progression systems, each feeling like a testing ground for bigger ideas. Wayfinder feels like the culmination of that work.

The game is an MMO action-RPG-it's published by Digital Extremes, and that's appropriate, because really if you think of this as Warframe's structure combined with the style and combat of Darksiders, you won't be far off. Brought to life by Joe Madureira's distinctive chunky, colorful art style, it's an immediately pleasing fantasy world to escape into. Rather than create your own character, you pick from a roster of predefined ones, in the style of a hero shooter-a choice that allows the game to play to the strengths of its appealing character design, with ample customization options still allowing players to make their hero their own.

For my time with the game, I start out with Niss-a demonic-looking assassin with shadowy magic and, it has to be said, amazing abs. Despite the MMO structure, Wayfinder is great at throwing you right into the action-before I know it I'm already slicing and dashing my way through a dungeon with two other greenhorn heroes. It's a mysterious, ruined monastery and, importantly, it's crawling with vicious goblins.