14 DAY TRIAL // Huxley was announced way back in 2005 as one of those MMOs that would completely integrate shooter mechanics, making it so that aiming and actual movement skills were just as important as statistics and combat formula calculations. Since then, at least one MMO, Tabula Rasa, has attempted to do the same thing and enjoyed only limited success.
Huxley is being developed by Webzen and has been in closed beta for the better part of the last six months in South Korea. In February, the rights to publish the game in China were sold for more than 35 million dollars. Now, Webzen is saying that the game also has a North American publisher, as NHN aims to distribute the game through the portal ijji.com.
Huxley tells the story of the struggle between two factions, the Sapiens and the Alternatives, over an energy resource called Lunarites. The classic role playing characters evolution concept is still present, but all the shooting elements of the game will be handled like in a first person shooter. Team play and squad mechanics are also fundamental to gameplay.
Whon Namkoong, Chief Executive Officer of NHN USA Inc, has said that "Huxley is one of the most anticipated online games currently in development, and we are very excited to bring the triple-A title to Western audiences. Huxley provides gamers with a unique and compelling experience that gamers everywhere are sure to enjoy. The revolutionary online shooter is a welcome addition to ijji.com, the site where millions of fans can play it later this year."
The game is also set to come to the Xbox 360 sometime after its PC release. It seems that there's a single player campaign being constructed for the console version of the game, and there even are rumors that the MMO will offer cross platform play after they both launch.