14 DAY TRIAL // Codemasters Online and NetDevil are announcing that they plan to allow gamers to get their hands on their upcoming space based MMO, called Jumpgate Evolution, at the New York Comic Con, which takes place from February 6 to February 8. The two companies believe that the venue is perfect for showing off the latest changes implemented in the game.
At the moment, Jumpgate is close to beta stage, with quite a few players looking forward to testing it, and Codemasters is saying that, in a few weeks, the game will also be available as a pre-order. There's no clear release date announced yet but publisher Codemasters says the title will be “one of the hottest games of 2009.”
Jumpgate Evolution is a weird beast in the MMO menagerie. It's space based, which seems to be a risk, given the downfall of Tabula Rasa and the success of fantasy-based MMOs. It also aims to offer a more action-oriented experience, without some of the trappings that have come to define the massive multiplayer experience.
The game will not feature any classes and players will be able to take on any role as long as they buy the right ship for the job. One player can be trader in one, and become a pirate in the next, thus offering a lot of flexibility. At the same time, the game will not be stat-based and the combat will be like in a classic space sim. As long as the fire of the player hits the enemy, there's no random element to the damage calculation. The game will not have an action bar, nor cooldowns for abilities.
Scott Brown, the president of NetDevil, stated that “We are excited to provide gamers with yet another chance to get some pre-BETA hands-on time with Jumpgate Evolution at Comic-Con New York. We look forward to welcoming visitors and are sure they will be blown away by the latest playable code on show.”