Top 10 MMO Online Pc Games 2013

1. Shadowrun Online

After a rather limp showing on console a few years ago, legendary cyberpunk pen and paper RPG Shadowrun is getting another stab at life online. Cliffhanger Productions' Unity-powered MMO will allow players to become mages, hackers, cyborg warriors and more. It's the blend of traditional fantasy and near-future sci-fi that has always made Shadowrun stand out - this is a world where elves wear tanktops and assassinate corporate dragons. Player actions will impact the ongoing storyline of the pen and paper version, which is a nice touch.





2. Neverwinter

Cryptic's latest shares a setting but little else with the BioWare RPG series of a few years ago. It's an action-heavy online RPG set in the Forgotten Realms' most famous city, a hundred years after a terrible disaster. It'll be free to play, and there'll be a proper content creation tool that'll allow players to create their own questlines. Cryptic had success with something similar in City of Heroes - here's hoping they can build on that success.





3. Firefall

Firefall is a hugely amibitious free to play shooter that is attempting to be all things to everyone - co-op MMO blaster, competitive FPS, serious e-sport contender. Jetpacks abound, but despite the presence of Tribes designer Scott Youngbood you're better off thinking more along the lines of Guild Wars 2 and Planetside 2. The developers have been active in responding to the community over the course of the game's long beta, and there's a lot of promise in Firefall's vision of a vibrant, monster-stalked future Earth.




4. Marvel Heroes

Recently shown off to the press in an early form, action RPG Marvel Heroes has been slow to win hearts and minds. You drag classic superheroes on a Diablo-style ganking spree taking place in the Marvel universe. It'll be free to play, but expect to shell out for premim heroes and alternate appearances. Potentially of interest to serious Marvel buffs - is that Rocket Raccoon? - but those less enamoured of the comics giant might want to wait for the reviews before investing their time.




5. Survarium

A post-apocalyptic MMOFPS by the chaps behind the excellent STALKER games is an exciting notion, but little is known about Survarium save that it takes place following a worldwide ecological disaster and that players will battle 'maddened animals and birds' in the ruins of civilization. Hopefully the presence of other players will enhance - rather than undermine - the pervasive sense of threat that made STALKER so special.





6. Age Of Wulin/Wushu

Age of Wulin is a Chinese-developed MMO currently being adapted for a western audience. It's set during the Ming dynasty and focuses on martial artists from various schools. While not wholly realistic, there's a strong attention to historical detail and the tone is more magic realist than outright fantasy. There are a few novel ideas in play, too - when you log out, your character remains in the world, performing your crafting professions as an NPC.





7. WildStar

Wildstar is a cartoonish sci-fi MMO that promises to give players a wide range of options for progression, with combat, crafting and exploration all fully viable games in their own right. The developers recently announced an innovative in-game housing system that'll ensure there's space for every player by ejecting individual chunks of land into the sky with rocket boosters. Hey - it's more imaginative than instancing.

 8. Wizardry Online

The official Wizardry Online website claims that the anime MMO has been in development for thirty years, which seems like a bit of a stretch. It's a 'hardcore' online RPG that features permadeath and looks a little like Dark Souls, were it not for the bobble-headed anime characters.







9. Otherland

An action MMO set inside a series of virtual worlds - some fantasy, others medieval, others science fiction - that themselves comprise a virtual world. If there were ever a time that the Inception horn was justified, now would be it. It's free to play, and based on the novels of the same name by Tad Williams.







10. Infinity

Infinity has been around forever, it seems - a dream of a procedurally generated universe featuring seamless space-to-surface flight. The developer is planning a Kickstarter campaign early in the year to finally get this starship MMO into game-like shape - but whether it'll be enough to compete with Star Citizen and a resurgent Elite remains to be seen.