Earth and Beyond

Developer: Westwood Studios; Publisher: Electronic Arts
Preview by gimpsLTD (30 September 2002)

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HAVE YOU EVER TRULY wondered just how big the universe is? Westwood have. They've also decided to try and build what they think is out there, and they're inviting everyone to come join them.

It's always a big step for a company to try and create something new; many companies have been burnt before whilst trying to create a new niche title. It's even harder to create something new when people are expecting you to make a game based on your hit franchises. Westwood however are attempting something truly ambitious, and they call it Earth and Beyond.

First off, let's get the features out of the way:

• An online role-playing galaxy designed from the ground up to support over 2,000 players simultaneously per server.
• Customize your own starship with decorations, decals, weapons, defences, and other exotic devices.
• All player starships designed by Doug Chiang, design director for Star Wars(tm): Episodes I and II.
• Three ways to develop your character: exploring, trading and fighting. Be rewarded with experience points for all three activities.
• Experience an epic science-fiction setting that is unique to massively-multiplayer online role-playing games.
• Choose from six distinct professions that let you play the way you like to play. Be a warrior, tradesman, explorer, enforcer, sentinel or defender.
• Adventure with a group of friends and enjoy group skill effects, experience point bonuses and flying in formation.
• Over 40 unique skills and abilities.
• Thousands of items to discover and collect, both common and rare, including alien devices of great power.
• Manufacture rare, powerful items that you hold the patent on. Selling them for huge profits.
• Random mission generator gives you a variety of quests suited to your needs, whether you want to play for 30 minutes or 12 hours.
• More than 60 sectors of space to explore, as well as planet surfaces and star bases.
• Dozens of powerful non-player characters who influence the galaxy with their wealth, power and force of will. Choose your allies and your enemies carefully.
• For the first time in any online role-playing game, hear major non-player characters (NPCs) speak.
• Dozens of powerful weapons with exotic powers to equip your starship with.
• Complete camera control with a variety of options allows you to get the best view of the action.
• Get out of your starship and interact with other players on starbases where you'll socialize, receive missions and trade.
• Take part in an evolving plot of alien invasion where you'll witness and take part in key events.
• In-game guild support with a guild RPG system that rewards members with a variety of buffs and bonuses.

We were lucky enough to get a spot in the Earth & Beyond (E&B) beta test in mid July and to say that we where stunned by what Westwood had on offer, even at the beta stage (the main storyline doesn't really kick-in until the game goes live), is an understatement. Westwood are making a big game, a very, very big game.

As the screenshots show, planets and stations are very big things. Jupiter is monstrous in it's size, not to mention looking absolutely stunning. Also, the Terran Enforcer headquarters located in the Alpha Centauri sector must have been one of the largest engineering projects ever undertaken. In fact, the universe in E&B is so huge that you can literally get lost for a day or more if you happen to take a wrong turn in the Beta Hydri system. Westwood are hoping however that this won't be the case, and as such they are encouraging players to group together to create (among the many different types) hunting packs, trading groups, and mining and exploration convoys.

Grouping in E&B is where the fun really begins with each class having it's own unique abilities, meaning that while PVP action will be available, it's probably not a wise idea to poke fun at those "goofy looking" Jenquai, especially if you're after a quick wormhole trip somewhere. Teaming up with other like minded players of different classes can quickly turn a long, but bountiful trade run into a 30minute cash fest, something that must surely appeal to everyone, well ok maybe just to a select few.

Grouping benefits become more apparent when you happen to be ambushed by some of the more notorious members of space, the Red Dragon Pirates. The Red Dragons attack in packs, and pack a heck of a punch if they happen to catch you on your lonesome, cruising throughout Red Dragon territory can be perilous at best on your own. Bring along a few friends though and you might just find that those pesky pirates are a bit more manageable.

The three player races in E&B are: Terran, Progen and Jenquai. The Terran Enforcers are renowned in the universe for their ability to piece together parts to make weapons and engines. Terran Tradesmen are known for their shrewd deals and the ability to make a variety of different items. Progen Warriors are feared throughout the universe, their powerful weapons make most opponents cringe. Progen Sentinels are powerful explorers, almost as strong as their warrior counterparts, but with boosted scan ranges and the ability to jumpstart a stranded comrade. Jenquai Explorers might be weak in combat, but they possess the ability to mine valuable resources from asteroids, as well as being able to create wormholes. Finally, Jenquai Defenders employ stealth techniques such as cloaking devices, and prefer to use hit-and-run tactics to defeat their foes.

Once the game goes live the main story behind the Earth and Beyond universe will begin. Battles against a strange new alien foe, power moves by old rivals, new forces arising, all of this is set to be just another "day in the life" for players of E&B.

With E&B, Westwood are set to push the MMORPG genre in a brave new direction. Make sure you're there for the ride.

(NOTE: Earth and Beyond is having a very limited release in New Zealand. You can pre-order your copy now from GPstore. The game should be arriving here by mid-October at the latest.)

Show me the screenshots!

Check out the Official Site.