I don’t often write reviews on steam, but there’s such a sea of Negative reviews for Otherland, I figure it’s worth putting in my two cents for people who are deciding whether to pick it up or not.

To begin, yes, there are absolutely issues with Otherland. The game still has a lot of bugs and some issues with combat and it’s unclear whether it’s going to get any further development. This review is of the game as it stands right now (though the game has a massive amount of potential with some more resources and work put into it).

Despite these issues Otherland is a truly unique and captivating MMO and I absolutely feel it’s worth overlooking the problems with it just to experience the incredible atmosphere, environment design and beautifully haunting worlds that the game has to offer. I’ve poured a lot of time into this game over the past month, reached max level and completed the story. I have played a lot of MMO’s over the years and the journey Otherland takes you on through it’s simulated worlds has easily been one of the most interesting and memorable for me. I’ve not read the books (but now plan to) but the source material for a start is so fitting for a MMO and really makes it stand out.

The worlds in Otherland are unique, visually stunning and all have incredible attention to detail (check out my screenshots if you want to see some of the environments explored through with the story)

This is a game where simulated realities exist as part of the lore. You’ve got 8squared, a simulated chess game that spiraled out of control to become a living and breathing medieval world where the white and red armies (based on chess pieces) war endlessly and giant chess pieces float ominously above everything. You’ve got Mars, which is one of the most striking zones I think I’ve ever seen in a game, the red planet, designed with a mixture of middle eastern, steam punk and victorian England influences. There’s many other simulations all with their own unique themes to them and a look closer at any of these reveals hints that they’re not real. In a barbarian campground in a seemingly normal Medieval world, a closer look at the fire reveals binary code rising up with the flames, looking closer at water in 8squared reveals that what looks like ripples in the distance is actually code, skimming across the surface. NPC’s of these worlds appear to be normal but an occasional surface glitch shows their true nature as digital beings of these simulations. The story of Otherland transverses these themes well, dealing with simulations that are collapsing, firewalls, changing your code and many other topics perfect for a sci-fi mmo.

This is a hub based MMO and the hub area, Lambda mall is a very well realised representation of a futuristic Cyberpunk City. The city has just about every shop you’d need, each with their own unique style and music and around the city are bars and clubs for socializing, ranging from a chill, smooth jazz bar to an underground themed warehouse with techno music, an irish pub and everything inbetween! Beneath the city is the Lantern district, a beautiful market area where you can buy crafting schematics and lower than that, the bad sector, the unregulated depths of the city where gangs and hackers maintain control. The soundtrack and ambience throughout the game is immersive, varied and beautiful.

Character customisation in this game is great, there's a huge amount of armor and weapon skins to collect crafting schematics for, a costume system (kind of like a transmog system, but you craft costume pieces to go over your armor) and a dye system. You can choose practically any body type you want and there are a decent amount of hair styles/tattoos/hair colours and other customisation options, both free and for the premium currency.

Quests are very old school MMO feeling, there is more variety later in the game but most typically you’re asked to kill x, gather x, defend from x waves or escort NPC’s. The quest line is mostly linear with a few optional side quests or hidden quests here and there. I don’t feel like either of these is a negative but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. The player base is very small for a MMO, to get the most out of the game I’d recommend joining the official discord or find a clan in-game, as due to the massive size of the game and the small playerbase, it’s rare to run into other players.

To sum this review up, If you’re curious, try it out! It’s free to play, so you’ve got nothing to lose by installing it and giving it a whirl. It’s not clear how much longer this game has online, so give it a try while you still can, the experience is absolutely worth it! :)

I don’t often write reviews on steam, but there’s such a sea of Negative reviews for Otherland, I figure it’s worth putting in my two cents for people who are deciding whether to pick it up or not. To begin, yes, there are absolutely issues with Otherland. The game still has a lot of bugs and some issues with combat and it’s unclear whether it’s going to get any further development. This review is of the game as it stands right now (though the game has a massive amount of potential with some more resources and work put into it). Despite these issues Otherland is a truly unique and captivating MMO and I absolutely feel it’s worth overlooking the problems with it just to experience the incredible atmosphere, environment design and beautifully haunting worlds that the game has to offer. I’ve poured a lot of time into this game over the past month, reached max level and completed the story. I have played a lot of MMO’s over the years and the journey Otherland takes you on through it’s simulated worlds has easily been one of the most interesting and memorable for me. I’ve not read the books (but now plan to) but the source material for a start is so fitting for a MMO and really makes it stand out. The worlds in Otherland are unique, visually stunning and all have incredible attention to detail (check out my screenshots if you want to see some of the environments explored through with the story) This is a game where simulated realities exist as part of the lore. You’ve got 8squared, a simulated chess game that spiraled out of control to become a living and breathing medieval world where the white and red armies (based on chess pieces) war endlessly and giant chess pieces float ominously above everything. You’ve got Mars, which is one of the most striking zones I think I’ve ever seen in a game, the red planet, designed with a mixture of middle eastern, steam punk and victorian England influences. There’s many other simulations all with their own unique themes to them and a look closer at any of these reveals hints that they’re not real. In a barbarian campground in a seemingly normal Medieval world, a closer look at the fire reveals binary code rising up with the flames, looking closer at water in 8squared reveals that what looks like ripples in the distance is actually code, skimming across the surface. NPC’s of these worlds appear to be normal but an occasional surface glitch shows their true nature as digital beings of these simulations. The story of Otherland transverses these themes well, dealing with simulations that are collapsing, firewalls, changing your code and many other topics perfect for a sci-fi mmo. This is a hub based MMO and the hub area, Lambda mall is a very well realised representation of a futuristic Cyberpunk City. The city has just about every shop you’d need, each with their own unique style and music and around the city are bars and clubs for socializing, ranging from a chill, smooth jazz bar to an underground themed warehouse with techno music, an irish pub and everything inbetween! Beneath the city is the Lantern district, a beautiful market area where you can buy crafting schematics and lower than that, the bad sector, the unregulated depths of the city where gangs and hackers maintain control. The soundtrack and ambience throughout the game is immersive, varied and beautiful. Character customisation in this game is great, there's a huge amount of armor and weapon skins to collect crafting schematics for, a costume system (kind of like a transmog system, but you craft costume pieces to go over your armor) and a dye system. You can choose practically any body type you want and there are a decent amount of hair styles/tattoos/hair colours and other customisation options, both free and for the premium currency. Quests are very old school MMO feeling, there is more variety later in the game but most typically you’re asked to kill x, gather x, defend from x waves or escort NPC’s. The quest line is mostly linear with a few optional side quests or hidden quests here and there. I don’t feel like either of these is a negative but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. The player base is very small for a MMO, to get the most out of the game I’d recommend joining the official discord or find a clan in-game, as due to the massive size of the game and the small playerbase, it’s rare to run into other players. To sum this review up, If you’re curious, try it out! It’s free to play, so you’ve got nothing to lose by installing it and giving it a whirl. It’s not clear how much longer this game has online, so give it a try while you still can, the experience is absolutely worth it! :)