Swordsman Closed Beta Now Live, Runs Through June 27

It’s time to get your kung fu on.

At least some people will get to do that in Perfect World’s free-to-play martial arts MMO Swordsman, which went live with its closed beta today. Players will be able to step into a rich world inspired by the wuxia novels of author Louis Cha and begin taking the ten different classes for a test drive through June 27. Closed beta participants will also unlock exclusive items during this 12-day period.

I got a chance to get some hands-on time with Swordsman at the Perfect World booth at E3 and came away impressed by the game’s atmosphere and flexibility. The character creation system is deep, the classes are interesting and hold a lot of potential for tweaking to match different play styles, and the overall feel is enhanced by the decision to present the voice-acted dialogue with English subtitles. Movement is dynamic and fluid, which you’d expect for a game trying to do justice to its particular source material. Most of all, it really feels like you are stepping into an epic martial arts saga, and it could be that something different that the MMO space could use.

Check out the latest Swordsman trailer below, and head over to www.PlaySwordsman.com to register for your chance to play in the closed beta.