February 10, 2005 - Magic Hat Software's Irth Online is a fantasy virtual world said to emphasize role-playing and allowing players to determine their own game experience. Officially announced late last month, although it has been on our radar for some time, it's currently in closed beta and targeted to launch in the second quarter of this year. The setting is one in which a fragile peace exists among three civilizations, the northern Arcadians, swamp-dwelling Morbus and tropical Mezoteks.

Commendations
The game reportedly has some key features likely to interest players partial to open-ended online world. A couple of examples are a free-form storyline and a skill system in which any character can learn any ability without facing racial or class-based restrictions. The advancement system has an unexplained skill over time feature designed to allow characters to play together regardless of their respective experience levels. The technology in use is designed to allow visibility of up to 10 miles, and to take advantage of the latest DirectX9 capabilities like vertex and pixel shaders, per-pixel lighting, and bump and specular maps.

Reservations
Irth Online has seemingly been developed with little or no effort by Magic Hat to seek exposure. Coupled with this, the amount of information available is substantially less than we'd expect from a title only months from launch. For instance, there are only a few details on how PvP will work or on the types of activities available to non-combatant characters. Not surprisingly, awareness is low, even among serious online gamers, and the fan community, although enthusiastic, appears small. It's also difficult to get much feel for what the game will be like to play.

Considerations
While we don't know many details, Irth Online has some interesting features and elements. We look forward to learning more about them so we can better assess the game's appeal.

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[First Views are intended to provide initial impressions. Unlike our full previews, they do not require trying different characters, strategies et al. They may be based on limited playing time, presentations, demos, previously revealed information et al. - Ed.]