14 DAY TRIAL // Planetside 2 does not yet have a release date but it has some impressive statistics when it comes to the ground it will cover, with one leading developers saying that the smallest continent will be eight by eight kilometers in area.
Speaking to PC Gamer Matt Higby, who is the creative director working on Planetside 2, has said, “We have enormous, enormous gameplay space. One of our largest development efforts on this project has been hand crafting every single area of those eight-by-eight kilometre continents.”
The world of Auraxis, where the game takes place, will be divided into continents that will each be about the same areas as the main map in Far Cry 2, which was one of the biggest space included in a video game, bigger than what players have seen in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Grand Theft Auto.
Higby added, “You’re going to be fighting in battles sometimes when it’s 200 people fighting against 30 people because there’s only 30 people defending that base and then suddenly 200 people log in from the other group and go do it.”
The development team needs to take this kind of possible situation into account and that means creating a world which allows for determined smaller groups of players to hold off and even defeat larger mobs of players by using the environment and advanced tactics.
Planetside 2 will be set during the same period as the original game from Sony Online Entertainment and will use the same factions.
The developers are saying that they aim to make the game familiar to long term fans while introducing a number of more complex mechanics, most of the linked to how territory is being controlled.
The game is a rare first person shooter based MMO and there are some concerns over the success it will find in the marketplace.