Black Desert Online coming out next week

After six long years of development, Pearl Abyss’ buy-to-play sandbox MMORPG Black Desert Online will finally be released for Microsoft Windows next week, on March 3rd.

Black Desert Online takes place in a high fantasy setting and according to an interview with Pearl Abyss’ Director of Business Development, Brian Oh, the game’s story revolves around the conflict between two countries over an energy resource:

The world of Black Desert has been divided into two countries, the Republic of Calpheon and the Kingdom of Valencia, who compete for Black Stone, an essential energy resource. These two countries are culturally and religiously different. Whereas Calpheon is more of a materialistic civilization, people in Valencia pursue spiritual values.

“Black Stones” litter the desert area separating the two countries, known to the people of Calpheon as the “Black Desert”. The people of Valencia call this area the “Red Desert” because of the blood that stains its sand. The story takes place during the course of an endless war, from which both countries have been devastated and many people are sick and tired. Here, users must write their own individual story as part of the epic that is the Black Desert.

One of the thing that sets Black Desert Online apart from other MMORPGs is that it uses a self-developed engine which will render its world more seamlessly and be able to handle large-scale castle sieges. The game’s combat is action-based and requires manual aiming.

According to Black Desert Online‘s official site, there will be six basic character classes: Warrior, Ranger, Sorceress, Berserker, Valkyrie, and Wizard/Witch. There will be no healing class, so players will have to rely on potions and their own dodging skills to survive. There will also be six professions: Trading, Taming, Fishing & Gathering, Crafting, Knowledge, and Housing.

The game also includes some other interesting features, such as a parkour system, a worldwide weather system, a complex day/night cycle, and an extremely detailed character customization system. The game certainly looks impressive, and it will be interesting to see how the completed version is received by players.