Amazon shows off New World footage in Twitter choose your own adventure

Although Netflix’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is far from the first ‘choose your own adventure’ experience, it’s fair to say that the feature-length episode has launched the genre back into prominence. Using an inventive marketing twist on the system, Amazon has chosen to showcase its upcoming MMO ‘New World’ by letting users choose the fate of its character.

On January 3^rd, the New World official Twitter account posted our beloved character sitting on the shores of the mysterious island of Terra Vitae Aeternum.  After creating a campfire, players were offered the option to stick to the safety of the beach in search of supplies, or exploring the wilderness inland.

Do you meet the monster in combat, or do you make a retreat and search for other adventurers to aid you?

— New World (@playnewworld) January 9, 2019

Choosing the former, our nameless hero stumbles upon a native creature with no armour and just a wooden sword in hand. Sadly, the monster was much less friendly than hoped, leaving Twitter users to choose between retreating in favour of aid or “GLORIOUS BATTLE!” Of course, this is the internet, meaning that our character was viciously mauled to death by the feral beast.

Fortunately, the journey seems to be far from over, as the whole purpose of campfires is seemingly to help our characters respawn. The last entry asked whether the character should “seek the aid of other adventurers” or “strike out alone to find armor and a better weapon?” We have yet to discover the outcome of selecting the latter, although it is due any day with the last post being Friday 11^th, January.

You're once more at your campfire. How do you proceed?

Do you seek the aid of other adventurers, or do you strike out alone to find armor and a better weapon? 🧭

— New World (@playnewworld) January 11, 2019

It’s not certain how long New World plans to continue this mini-adventure, but the accompanying short videos offer insight on what to expect from the upcoming game. So far, the only take-away from the videos is that there is a subtle knock-back from melee attacks that seems to prevent our hero from striking back. The enemies also hit incredibly fast.

Remember to vote in accordance with what you would want to see from the game next, rather than your desire to simply torture the character. If you can resist the urge, that is.

KitGuru Says: Let’s just hope that using the format doesn’t attract the attention of Chooseco, which seems to be on a warpath over its “Choose Your Own Adventure” trademark. All in all, though, it’s a pretty clever use of marketing. Are you looking forward to seeing more New World?

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