Planetside 2 officially revealed

MMOFPS Planetside 2 has been officially confirmed by Sony online Entertainment at the SOE Fan Faire, the follow-up to the original 2003 game, which has apparently already been in development for a couple of years. And it might be coming to the Playstation 3 as well as the PC.

Apparently the sequel was originally planned as a graphical update and a switch to becoming free-to-play, but what started life as ‘Planetside Next’ as excited the team so much it began with a new graphics engine , with Planetside 2 and Everquest Next both using the new Forge Light engine.

The actual plot and gameplay are a very definite continuation from the original game with The Terran Republic, New Conglomerate and The Vanu Sovereignty still fighting for control of the Auraxis planet. In addition to taking some inspiration from Eve Online, the FPS side has also learnt from the Battlefield series, with players able to deploy to the front much faster and also able to spawn directly on squad mates.

Classes will also be more distinct with Medics, Engineers and Heavy Assault some of the specialisations on offer, along with massive amounts of customisation for vehicles, weapons and outfit (guild) level.

Given the changes that have occurred in both gaming and technology since the 2003 original, this could be a much more mainstream success than the first game was able to manage 8 years ago. And given that we’ve voiced concerns over Dust 514, the news of Planetside 2 couldn’t have come at a better time.