Wanna try a MMO? The first hit's free

We know that MMOs can be a little addictive. So do developers and publishers. That's why some of NCsoft's new offerings are at once a stroke of brilliance and absolutely terrifying. Aimed at new MMO players as well as existing ones, the PlayNC portal invites players to try its games by putting them at an irresistible price -- $0.

The money, of course, lies in areas like micropayments -- while a great portion of each game is free, features like new items or character slots will come at a price. Some games may only offer lower-level gameplay for free, meaning that players are enticed into purchasing the game once they have become invested in a character. Two games from the PlayNC portal were playable at E3: Dungeon Runners and Exteel.

Dungeon Runners is a fantasy-themed MMO designed to support quick play -- it's easy to jump into for a few minutes or hours. Outside cities, the instanced adventuring areas are generated dynamically, making for a different adventure every time. Combat has a few tricks up its sleeve, too, with the ability to dodge ranged attacks by simply moving out of the way.

The theme here is 'more fun, less downtime', and instant teleportation to towns, waypoint obelisks (allowing for a swift revisit of an earlier location) and ever-changing dungeons help provide that. There's no death penalty, making it beginner-friendly. However, the game's click-to-move approach means nothing but RSI for dedicated players; getting used to the controls is hard, and constantly clicking is an annoyance when there are perfectly good keys to do the job.

Visually, Dungeon Runners is a very dark game with a familiar fantasy feel. It doesn't live up to the intricate graphics of NCsoft's MMOs Aion and Guild Wars, let alone competitors. As a free game, it's a rich offering and should work well with an audience who craves instant MMO action -- though those looking for a deeper experience may not find it here.

Exteel is a very different game. It's a MMOFPS, or rather third-person shooter, as you can't switch into first-person view at all. Brightly coloured and futuristic, it supports up to sixteen players at a time within an overall MMO framework that includes customisable mechanaughts and special skills. Melee, ranged and AoE combat are all effective, but it lacks the twitch-response you find in dedicated FPS games.

Jumping in and playing Exteel is instantly fun, a bite-size experience that satisfies our inner craving for robot-on-robot fighting action. Without the long-term story arcs and level system of a true MMO, this is more a casual third-person shooter -- evaluating it as a shooter leaves it wanting, though again the price tag helps mask some of the game's flaws.

Other games in the pipeline for PlayNC include Soccer Fury and Smash Star. Urban-themed street soccer is the theme behind Soccer Fury, and the game is graphically promising, with a form of stylised realism that should make the game feel immediate. Players and teams alike level up, gaining better skills in the process, so the MMO mechanic is pervasive beyond the 3v3 soccer action.

Smash Star is another sports game, focusing on tennis, but with a much less realistic feel. Chirpy anime characters fill the screen with bright colour, and the cartoony visuals have that "kids and teens" feel. The game aims to broaden the market somewhat, but a free anime tennis game means just one thing to many gamers -- plenty of upskirts.

The main innovation with PlayNC is the price, and subsequent model. If this is going to succeed, the service needs not only a broad range of free games but enticing paid content too. There's more choice for gamers when multiple free games are on offer, since there's no constant financial drain, but picking out the gems out of a heap of fantasy clones may prove more trouble than it's worth.