TERA going free-to-play in Europe and North America

It's tempting to see a new year as a fresh start. New trends, new possibilities, new problems. But no, while the number at the end of our arbitrary calendar may have increased one, cars still don't hover, evil robots still aren't waging war against humanity, and struggling subscription MMOs still seek a fresh start by re-launching as free-to-play. That's exactly what's happening with Tera, last year's combat-heavy fantasy MMO.

Honestly? I'm almost surprised the announcement took this long. As I noted back when I reviewed the game, Tera has one of the better MMO combat systems, but the mission churn of endless kill X mob quests soured the early-mid game.

Still, just looking at the free-to-play comparison chart , this seems to be a generous amount of content available to non-payers, without the silly restrictions that plague some MMOs. Yes, I'm talking about SW:TOR, which appears to treat its free userbase with a genuine disdain.

Basically, it's worth a look just to play about with the fluid combat system, even if you don't stick around to kill every goddamn monster in the game hundreds of times over. Just be warned that it does feature anthropomorphic animal-children running around in miniskirts. They're exactly as disturbing as they sound.

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Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.