The use of the word ‘continent’ up there was no hyperbole. Once you’ve worked through the rudimentary tutorial, you’re tossed out onto the recently discovered world of Auraxis as a member of one of three warring factions. It’s the distant future and the authoritarian Terran Republic, the cult-flavoured Vanu Sovereignty and the corporation-backed New Conglomerate are at loggerheads.
Honestly though, the stories of these factions and the alien world that they find themselves fighting over is just the frame. The real stories happen across the vast maps. There are four in total (see Welcome to Auraxis) and at any one time you could find yourself entering the fray on a battlefield populated by thousands of fellow gun-happy players. It makes MAG look tiny.
It shouldn’t work. There can be hundreds of players hurtling themselves towards an ongoing conflict for an outlying base camp, each burst of fire representing an individual person within the slug spraying horde. And yet, there’s none of the floaty faffery that comes with such huge numbers. Weapons feel meaty and powerful, the bullets that discharge from them thud into your opponents’ flesh with a palpable punch.
Tech a bow
As the game exists currently, it’s not perfect. Animations often feel canned, especially your own when you snuff it. Taste the pointy end of an Infiltrator’s sniper shot and your avatar will comically topple over to one side. Also, without people to play with, PS2 downgrades into a lonesome trawl. It’s made to be played with pals, a factor which, alongside the sharing possibilities, makes it perfect for PS4.
There are a few elements Of PS2 on PC that we’re waiting to see tackled on PS4. How will the game be priced? Currently it’s a free-to-play affair, one of the most generous going, with an optional Premium Membership fee which cuts down server waiting time and boosts XP earning rates.
Then there’s the social stuff. Being able to form player-run guilds is a biggie, since chatting with larger teams of players is essential. If SOE can nail these elements, then we’ve got a huge, full-fledged, made-to-order MMO shooter inbound with three years of fine-tuning already under its belt.
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