Horizons Review

WorthPlaying has dished up a review of Horizons: Empire of Istaria, giving the MMORPG an overall score of 6/10. Their final paragraph to follow:
On the surface, Horizons isn't a bad game. Unfortunately, the MMOG space has become so overpopulated there isn't enough room for a simply (OK) game a game has to really shine to succeed. And that's Horizons' main problem: it doesn't offer enough of a twist to lure people away from their current game, and there are plenty of established games that are simply better. The staff reductions aren't helping either. Artifact Entertainment has promised this won't hurt customer service, except one of the people laid off was their Internet Community Manager, the person whose primary job was to answer questions on the various community message boards. While there's a core following that still plays and enjoys the game, the server populations range from (light) to (very light), which gives an indication as to how many people are playing the game. Since it's an online multiplayer game, the lack of a strong player base will seriously impact your enjoyment of the game; or worse, waste your $30 if Horizons continues to loose cash, forcing the game to close. Because of that uncertainty, I can't in good conscience recommend this game to anyone for at least 6-8 months while we see how the game weathers the storm. Which is too bad because there are parts of the game that show promise.