Top 5 Upcoming MMOs You Never Heard of

The second half of 2009 is shaping up to be a very interesting time here in the realms of obscuria.
Here are the five games that will see release before the end of the year that I will be keeping my eye on, and so should you.

#5 Dragon Nest

A 3rd person action dungeon crawler, The overly cute artstyle, and loud obnoxious voices is sure to turn a lot of people off to this game, (or on) however the gameplay looks fast paced, solid, and even fun.
There are only a hand full of classes. but they are all nice, and varied with different gameplay styles. This looks like it will be a great game to pick up and play when you do not have the time to get involved in one of the deeper games out there.


#4 Trinity Online

As an old school arcade Beat'Em Up fan, Trinity Online had to make it on my list.
This game perfectly captures the aesthetics of classes like Double Dragon, and Streets of Rage, while adding the RPG elements of gear and levels for that additively crunchy MMO flavor.
Trinity is actually in open beta in Korea right now so if you can figure out how to navigate the registration page you can try, and give it a whorl.

#3 Continent of the Ninth

Starting it's open beta sometime this August is Continent of the Ninth; a game calming the be the first true action MMORPG, the game has some very nice graphics, the kind you have come to expect from big name Pay to Play games, and I am very interested in trying out the crazy over the top attacks this game will let you do.

#2 Tera Online

Coming in at number 2 is Tera Online, right off the bat the first thing you have to notice is just how gorgeous looking this game is.
The second would be OH MAH GAWD RACCOON MEN!
Striking me as a sort of hybrid between console games Dynasty Warriors, and Monster Hunter,
Tera Online looks like a top tier title, and really should be getting a lot more media coverage then it is getting, which is to say almost zero.
Tera Online will most likely hit beta around the holidays.

#1 Mabinogi:Heroes

Remember Mabinogi? I just reviewed it a few days ago.
Currently in closed beta testing; Mabinogi: Heroes is the long in development "Prequel" to the original Mabinogi, but other then the games title, and obscure story references this game has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the original game.
Gone are the cute and comical anime style graphics.
Gone is the life sim gameplay
Gone is the rock paper scissors combat.
Mabinogi: Heroes is made using Valve's Halflife Source physics engine to render a realistic, dark, and violent world where the environments are fully destructible, and you can literally pick up anything, and beat horrible inhuman things to death with them.
Heroes looks more like a big budget Xbox 360 game then a humble free to play MMO; which may not be too far off as rumor has it, the game eventually will be ported to the Xbox 360.
This is the game that could change everything.