Pax Dei is a new sandbox MMORPG for PC, inspired by medieval mythology. You encounter magical creatures and spirits, fight with typical weapons such as sword and bow, and can explore a completely open world. It is being developed by indie studio Mainframe Industries, founded by former developers of EVE Online.
What kind of game is it exactly? In Pax Dei, you create a character and explore the beautiful game world in Unreal Engine 5. It looked really good in a preview, which we from MeinMMO could participate in, about the level of Ashes of Creation.
The focus is on group play, as even the fights against PvE creatures are tough. For special points of interest, you will have to form a group with other players and can rely on a Holy Trinity.
However, the MMORPG does away with fixed classes, allowing you to define your playstyle through the choice of weapons. This – and also the combat system – is reminiscent of New World. You can strike lightly and heavily, dodge, and block. Even the “jump animation” while dodging looks very similar in both games.
Additionally, Pax Dei offers:
- A very interesting building and housing system.
- A zoom function that allows you to focus on decorations, equipment, and elements in the open world. This makes small engravings on worn equipment visible, which is supposed to play a role in the lore.
- A player-driven economy system. No equipment drops from mobs; only materials are available, from which players can then craft armor and weapons.
- There will be PvP, but no details have been provided yet. It is only clear that players will not be forced to participate in PvP if they do not want to.
It is first scheduled to be released on Steam for PC. However, it is planned as a cloud MMORPG later, which should allow it to be played on consoles or smartphones.
When will the MMORPG be released? A release is planned “soon.” A more specific date has not been provided to us.
Here you can watch a first trailer, which, however, does not show any gameplay:
Housing and Detail Richness as Absolute Highlights
What really sets the MMORPG apart? Pax Dei has two special features that stand out from the usual sandbox market. One is the building system:
- You can claim an area in the open world for yourself and build wherever you want. However, this area can never be on a road or at a special point of interest.
- There is the option to build completely alone in your area or to open it and have friends help you. Besides typical decorations, you can also set up crafting stations.
- Anyone who wants can also connect their housing area with other players. This allows for the establishment of small settlements and towns.
- In the preview, several developers teamed up, built several houses, and put a small fence around it. It looked like a cozy medieval settlement. Everyone also designed their house according to a profession. In front of one hut, there were several smelters, while another had alchemy tables in his house.
- You can give up your housing zone, but they cannot be attacked or destroyed by other players.
In the preview, we already saw various floors, walls, and doors, which were made of either stone or wood. There are also fences, crafting stations, and all sorts of decorations for your house.
The other special feature is the zoom function on all sorts of elements in the game. At the beginning, a mushroom was shown to us, which simply grows on the ground and can be collected. With the zoom function, the mushroom suddenly took up almost the entire screen.
It is displayed in great detail and also informs us about some information about itself. It said, “Insects avoid this mushroom; does this mean something?” The game indicates that you should not consume this mushroom.
This may initially sound like a very niche element, but it plays an important role in the world. There are no story quests, but there are journals, inscriptions on walls, or engravings on objects. Even in the short, 20-minute preview, there were dozens of different elements that could be zoomed in on.
Who is behind the game? The game director is Reynir Hardarson. He co-founded the studio CCP Games, known primarily for EVE Online and thus one of the most successful sandbox MMORPGs.
The CEO is Thor Gunnarsson, who previously held the management position at CCP. With Pétur Örn Þórarinsson, there is another member from EVE Online on the team. He was the game design director and takes on the role of lead game designer at Mainframe.
Currently, over 70 developers work for Mainframe, all focused on Pax Dei. There are also supposed to be former developers from Blizzard involved. The studio was founded in April 2019.
A sandbox game that still sounds very vague
What is our impression of the game? Graphically and in terms of housing, Pax Dei makes a really good impression. Especially the communal settlement looked very impressive. However, some questions remained.
For example, there were 8 slots for weapons and tools, which could also be switched during combat. However, what was missing were abilities. In response to my inquiry, it was said that many weapons with different playstyles are planned and that they will also have abilities. However, it didn’t get more concrete.
The content itself also raises some questions. While we were shown some fights against monsters in the open world, from which you can find materials for crafting, many players could get frustrated by the complete freedom without quests, dungeons, and clear explanations. A certain thread is also important for sandbox games.
Lastly, the answers to questions about PvP were unsatisfactory. It is unclear whether this will take place in the open world or in arenas and whether PvP will play an important role.
This would not be a problem at all if they were not talking about a release “soon.” Because it seemed to me more like they were preparing for the first alpha or beta tests. It is also somewhat disappointing that we cannot present gameplay to you.
What do you think of Pax Dei? Does the concept of the game appeal to you, or do you prefer to place your hopes in another MMORPG? Feel free to write it in the comments.
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