Earth and Beyond Hands-On

In the entire universe, there is one constant that stands out above all others. Time passes. And, given enough time, everything changes. Mountains crumble, cities rise and fall, stars die and are reborn again in a fiery chorus of mystery. The MMORPG had its beginning in the text-based MUD, where people would dungeon crawl in a Zork-like setting in a never ending quest for money and power. Time passed, and the technology allowed for the MUD to evolve into what we now know as the modern MMORPG. Everquest (the best example of this genre) is, at its core, a graphical MUD. Thousands of adventurers scour the countryside in search of monsters to slay and equipment to sell in a persistent online world. Though not the first of the type, Everquest has shown its superiortiy over its competitors; Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, and Ultima Online to name a few.

Slow down dude! We're gonna ram that planet!

Hey, this is what they wear in Paris nowadays.

The MMORPG is about to evolve once again, this time freeing itself from the confines of swords and sorcery, trading in a few measly continents for the vast expansiveness of the Milky Way Galaxy, in Westwood's upcoming (and very ambitious) MMORPG Earth and Beyond.

Here is the basic premise. 300 years from, mankind has extended to the stars, and splintered into 3 subspecies. First, the Terrans, who remained on Earth, are members of vast mega-corporations, and excel in trade and manufacturing. Next come the militaristic Progen who have descended from the original colonists of Mars. They use their enhanced abilities to ownz the vacuum of space. Lastly, the Jenquai, the original spacefarers who call the moons of Saturn and Jupiter home, are best known for their light, fast ships and stealthy tactics that lend themselves for exploration. These three races of humans have warred amongst themselves for a good long time, and now coexist in an uneasy peace, laying claim to separate parts of the galaxy. Now, a new threat looms from an alien source. Can the three human races hold it together long enough to repel the coming doom?

Not Your Father's MMORPG

The main differences between E&B and the typical sword and sorcery MMORPG is that instead of simply killing monsters for experience, with all other activities secondary, E&B encourages characters to specialize in trade and manufacturing items, as well as exploration of the galaxy. You gain experience for visiting new quadrants and forging through new stargates, as well as by buying and selling commodities from starbase to starbase. It is entirely possible to advance numerous levels without ever needing to fire a shot.

This type of play lends itself heavily to the beginning player. With a typical MMORPG, the newbie player begins with a loincloth and a dagger, and needs to team with several newbies to vanquish the dreaded "Flop-Eared Bunny" in Newbie land. In this game, the beginning player can easily pick up and start adventuring with a very quick and easy learning curve. Since whenever a ship is disabled, you don't lose any points or cargo whatsoever (this may change be the game's release), this allows for a higher comfort level with new players. There is also no PVP in the standard galaxy, so there is no fear of other players coming in and ruining what would be a successful sortie by waiting until the firefight dies down and mopping up the winner with impunity. This kind of player-friendly atmosphere should allow for people who previously did not care for MMORPGs due to the increasingly hostile zones. There are obvious benefits to the veteran character, and most certainly there are places that are simply inaccessible to those of lower level, but the game has plenty to offer everyone - amateur and veteran alike.

Take a long hard look at me, punk!

... I'm the last person you'll ever see!

Pick Your Poison

The first thing that is necessary in any RPG is to pick a character. The player can pick any of the three races, Jenquai, Progen, or Terran. Once that is done, the player is then offered 3 ships (2 at time of this beta - the remaining 3 are coming post-beta) that specify the player's class, Explorer, Tradesman or Combat. Once you pick your race and class, that's it - the only way to change it is to delete the character. The three ships are specialized for that particular class, and do not do well in another. For example, the Terran Tradesman ship is big, and relatively slow, with low basic offensive and defensive weaponry, but has the largest cargo holds so it can do what it does best - running trade routes. The Combat ships can carry impressive weaponry, but are far too slow to make significantly long trips, so this ship is not for exploring the far reaches of the galaxy. Finally, the Explorer ships are light and fast, but can't be encumbered with heavy weapons or large cargo holds, so while they can flit back and forth from various starbases, they are best suited for charting the unknown.

The player is visible to the world in two methods - the player's avatar, and the ship he (or she) will pilot. Both are highly customizable, with an impressive amount of options available for every character. It is highly unlikely that two characters would look exactly alike. So, too, are the ships unique for each player. For every ship, there are 3 hull and wing styles, all of which can be painted to the player's liking, with either flat or glossy finishes, or slick looking metal. Finally, decals can be added to your ride, along with whatever name you choose for your partner in crime. Every step of the process is accompanied by a full 3D model of your avatar or ship that can be fully rotated in order to get every available angle on what will represent you in the world.

Space...The Final Frontier

So you've picked your race and class, made your avatar look all nice and pretty, and made sure your ship looks like greased lightning - now its time to see the vast expanses of space. The game uses the same engine that powered C&C:Renegade, after being heavily modified and retooled for this purpose. Thusfar, I can say with all honesty that this game looks sweet. The models are all relatively high-poly rendered, with nice attention to detail. (An interesting note - all of the space vessels in this game were designed by Doug Chiang, who also provided the designs for the ships in Star Wars: Episode I and the upcoming Episode: II. Nice.) Movement is very simple - point the cursor where you want to go, and hold the right-mouse button. Your ship starts moving about space with two nice little thruster trails moving along behind.