14 DAY TRIAL // If you kept looking at the stars when you were younger and you continued to love everything space-related, Codemasters might have a little gift for you with the "coming soon" stamp on it. It is a space-based MMO that wishes to bring all the space-fans together for some great experience, for something they have never seen before: to see what the "final frontier" really looks and feels like.
Jumpgate, developed by the US-based NetDevil, allows you to choose from one of the three playable nations and engage in an action-packed universe or, if you want to, your ultimate space adventure. And since you will be able to become either a fearless space pirate or a legendary hero, take part in dangerous outer-space raids or trade valuable commodities, you won't have a single second of free time.
"We are very pleased to be working with NetDevil to release this exciting project across North America & Europe. Jumpgate brings something new and fresh to the online persistent space," commented David Solari, Vice President of Codemasters Online. "The all-action approach and thrilling, twitch-based space combat really sets it apart from other MMOs in the market and we are very much looking forward to releasing this space epic in late 2008."
And if you take a look at the screenshot in the upper left corner, you'll see what next-gen graphics really means when it comes to the future of MMOs: a great engine that has it all, from fixed functions to pixel shaders. Also, the AI promises to be an engaging and responsive one, creating the feeling of a living universe where anything could happen, rather than a rigid, predictable one.
One of the features that will definitely be a reason of joy for the space MMO fans is the PvP system, which allows factional peace treaties and war ratings which will affect the entire games' dynamics. All these will be available sometime this year (no release date has been announced), so go clean your space suit, because things are about to get really messy.