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Black Desert Online

Pearl Abyss
Mar 3, 2016 - PC
Fair

OpenCritic Rating

71

Top Critic Average

44%

Critics Recommend

GameSpot
7 / 10
USgamer
3.5 / 5
GamingTrend
85 / 100
Game Rant
3.5 / 5
Windows Central
3.5 / 5
The Escapist
2.5 / 5
Push Square
6 / 10
COGconnected
60 / 100
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Critic Reviews for Black Desert Online

Much of Black Desert Online is a convoluted mess, but few games let you create a virtual life this absorbing.

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An absolutely beautiful MMO from developer Pearl Abyss. The beauty is backed by a complex sandbox MMO that offers a lot of freedom, but doesn't explain its systems to players all that well. If you're into starting up a second fantasy life and have the time to spend learning the mechanics, Black Desert Online might be the game for you.

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A gorgeous world that feels truly alive, Black Desert Online is a solid entry into the sandbox subgenre of MMOs. Benefiting from having been launched in a major market for a year before coming to the West, it offers an open world to explore, and an especially deep tradeskill and trading system mixed with an action-oriented combat scheme.

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Pearl Abyss' Black Desert Online is an incredibly detailed, visually gorgeous MMORPG that succeeds at nearly everything but having a beating heart and soul.

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Black Desert is an expansive game, but Pearl Abyss needs to fix its technical problems on Xbox One.

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Black Desert Online wants to be distinct from other MMORPGs, but it isn't different enough in the ways which really matter. The game's few innovations aren't enough to make up for its myriad shortcomings, making it come across as just another MMORPG.

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Black Desert is rougher than a badger's behind, and the simple combat won't blow anyone's skirt up, but the game does have upsides. The world is fleshed out and fun to explore, the side activities are more amusing than the campaign, and the character creation is superb. This is the sort of game that will undoubtedly appeal to a small subset of people who are more than happy to accept the uglier technical issues as the admission price to a well realised world full of things to do.

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Ultimately, Black Desert on PS4 is very user-friendly, and looks fantastic when running at a premium performance level. But while Black Desert’s aesthetic prowess and customizable sandbox experience is an achievement in the world of MMOs, it’s not a game that offers enough enticement in the minute-to-minute gameplay — or even in the grander, month-to-month scope of things — to leave me thirsty for more.

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OpenCritic Coverage

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Destiny 2, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and More Now Available in xCloud

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16 new games arrive in the Microsoft xCloud library today, including some heavy hitters such as Destiny 2, Halo, and Civilization 6.

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Black Desert Online's Roadmap for the First Half of 2020 Has Been Released

Black Desert Online's Roadmap for the First Half of 2020 Has Been Released

The 2020 roadmap for the first half of the year has been released for Black Desert Online, showing us what to expect from the MMORPG

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