Massively Multiplayer Shooting Returns in the Finally Announced PlanetSide 2

You may not have played PlanetSide, but the idea of a massively multiplayer online shooter wherein various factions determine the world's fate continues to sound really god damn awesome. PlanetSide epitomized the cliche "ahead of its time," and Sony Online Entertainment has continued to tease the idea of PlanetSide 2 ever since.

Surprisingly enough, no one else has really beat them to the punch.

For a long time, SOE was referring to this project as PlanetSide Next, but that's been thrown out.

Details on PlanetSide 2 are quickly coming, with SOE revealing the three factions--Terran Republic, New Conglomerate, Vanu Sovereignty--and confirming both land and air battles for players.

Curiously, SOE was not willing to discuss the business model for PlanetSide 2, suggesting SOE may be trying something outside the traditional subscription service for this one. Free-to-play would make sense.

"We will have more information on this in the months ahead," reads the game's FAQ.

"We will have more information on this in the months ahead," reads the game's FAQ.

There's also no sense of when the game will be released, but a beta is promised, with anyone still playing (or at once did play) the original PlanetSide getting understandable priority.

Right now, PlanetSide 2 is only being referred to as a PC release, but SOE is not afraid of PlayStation 3 development, having released both Free Realms and DC Universe Online for the machine.

Though PlanetSide didn't light the world on fire, rumors suggest the game's premise may be similar to Bungie Studios' unannounced but rumored online MMO shooter (that's also possibly named Destiny).

Sweet

Please do not be free-to-play. I want a true support for this game where the games updates are not based on whether or not they were able to sell enough during the quarter. SOE, people WILL pay for this, just let them.

Not to mention, the idea of the possibility of purchasable make me cringe. Unless they are pure cosmetic, I cant stand behind that concept.

I would expect to see a PS3 version as well. After MAG, and with DC Universe being PC and PS3, it would make sense for them to release the game on both platforms.

You know what else is an MMO shooter?

That's right.

@csoup: I agree, F2P games have awful support/updates, and always require stupid purchases to access them. WoW model works fine when you make a good game.

I'll still play the game, but I'm really unimpressed with the trailer. Can't place my finger on why that is exactly....I think it's the animations or something. Granted, the game isn't even close to release (or is it?? hmmmm)

The trailer looks pretty bad, hope this game is still a ways off.

If it is however, It will probably get caught in a perfect storm of Blizzard's Titan and Bungie's unannounced game, and I can't see it being anywhere near as well funded as those two...

A proper MMOFPS.

Looks super generic.

Everything so far sounds great, just hope it's not free2play.

Heres hoping it turns out better than MAG

@coakroach said:

Heres hoping it turns out better than MAG

M.A.G is fantastic with friends, or at least after the update (don't know if you haven't played since the big update)

And if this game is anything like the first planetside it's going to be absolute rubbish.

Fan of the first PlanetSide, this looks somewhat decent.

I'm more interested in the mechanics though. Leveling was pretty shit in PS1. Hope it turns out better in PS2.

Please do not be free-to-play. I want a true support for this game where the games updates are not based on whether or not they were able to sell enough during the quarter. SOE, people WILL pay for this, just let them.

Not to mention, the idea of the possibility of purchasable make me cringe. Unless they are pure cosmetic, I cant stand behind that concept.

Looks super generic.

@pornstorestiffi said:

Looks super generic.

He has a point, MMOFPSs are a dime a dozen.

Looks boring as hell.

@pornstorestiffi said:

@Pinworm45 said:

@pornstorestiffi said:

Looks super generic.

He has a point, MMOFPSs are a dime a dozen.

The look / art design looks pretty weak. Nothing sets it apart from generic shooter #2

Actually, it looks a lot aesthetically like Planetside 1, which I believe is what they should be going for to grab the faithful of that game. I was on board once I seen the thumbnail!

@pornstorestiffi said:

Looks super generic.

He has a point, MMOFPSs are a dime a dozen.

Please please please don't ruin this by making it free 2 play. If they do this right this could be magical.

I played a bit of the Planetside, can't say I remember much though. I got it with some PC magazine which should tell you how long ago it was. Other MMO's I got with that magazine was Everquest and the Guild Wars beta.

I hope it isn't F2P and that the graphics and art style get a hearty revamp before release. Other than that, I am reasonably excited. I'd love to play an MMO that doesn't end with RPG.

This at least looks amazing, I'll definitely be looking for news or beta access if it comes up.

Planetside was the perfect example of a game you have to approach on its own terms. People went into it expecting it to be:

@RiotBananas said:

Halo: CE with lots of people?

And except for some aesthetic choices, it wasn't. Not even close. Those people were disappointed severely, which would explain why there are so many people who played the beta and skipped out on the final release.

But if you understood game they actually made, you had the time of your life.

It wasn't perfect, but there was nothing else like it before and has been nothing else like it since. They ultimately ruined it with a series of god-awful design decisions. I imagine I could have played the game for years longer if the live team wasn't so determined to commit seppuku.

I'm excited. Have a lot of friends who loved the first one, i missed the boat on that one though (think i was in my mmorpg phase at the time). Really hope this one turns out to be a worthy successor.

The original PS tried a free to play model where you could advance to a certain Battle Rank, however, it was pulled because PS is an old game that is easy to hack. There are still some hackers now and then, but they are quickly dealt with by the admin team.

With some modern security standards in place (LOL SONY) they may be able to do that again.

If it helps fill the servers up, that's what keeps the paying customers paying.

@aceofspudz said:

Planetside was the perfect example of a game you have to approach on its own terms. People went into it expecting it to be:

@RiotBananas said:

Halo: CE with lots of people?

And except for some aesthetic choices, it wasn't. Not even close. Those people were disappointed severely, which would explain why there are so many people who played the beta and skipped out on the final release.

But if you understood game they actually made, you had the time of your life.

It wasn't perfect, but there was nothing else like it before and has been nothing else like it since. They ultimately ruined it with a series of god-awful design decisions. I imagine I could have played the game for years longer if the live team wasn't so determined to commit seppuku.

BFRs have been nerfed to hell and there's a lot of pretty cool stuff they added. I just picked it back up and have again been having a fantastic time.

A lot of the crazy "old game" stuff will frustrate you sometimes, like the odd warping/rubber-banding and screwy hit detection.

I'm stoked. Despite its flaws, Planetside was great when you were grouped with friends.

Meh

Awesome! I used to play Planetside when I was like 15 (now 22) heh...Lol good times. Planetside is the only true MMO shooter and the only one to do it right IMO. Very happy to see a sequel...so much nostalgia and I can't wait to get my old friends together for it! lol aah excitement. :3

Cool. Never got to play Planetside, but I had heard a lot of great things about it. I'm interested.

Eventually MMO shooters will take the place that Battlefield has held for so long. But will this be the one?

@MrKloroxsaid:

Eventually MMO shooters will take the place that Battlefield has held for so long. But will this be the one?

I'm as much a fan of planetside as they come, and I'd bet money that PS2 will be a mediocre shooter with a niche audience just like the first one. I'll play the hell out of it, but it isn't going to luring people away from BF and MW.

Something truly revelatory in the MMOFPS space is going to have to come from a developer that has boucoup experience developing shooters. SOE is a far cry from DICE or Bungie. In the early aughts it was possible to believe a good shooter could come from anywhere, but I think nowadays standards have risen enough that you need a pedigree.

And SOE doesn't have it.

Terran Republic?

Ahem, I think they mean "Dominion".

Planetside wasn't that great. Played it at launch for about a week and got bored. Every base looked the same and your impact on the actual war is insignificant.

@Ali_D:

MAG works on an even smaller scale then the original Planetside and considering the common framerate drops and concessions made visually and gameplay wise to get that game to work on the PS3...I really don't see it happening.

Planetside had some BIG battles, with far more going on then MAG. I could see a cut down console version being a more likely scenario then a cross platform situation. The Controller is far to slow, especially in these FPS situations.

This game has me so excited that I'm going to explode.

Could they have picked MORE generic models. Geez. If you didn't know what it was you would think it was a Korean Free to Play.

@carlthenimrod: Planetside was epic on release... I was in an guerilla outift, taking down bases and doing gen holds in the back to deny enemy links base links and vehicles. That game was the most fun I've ever had, working with a coordinated outfit to down multiple bases at once, and then the team bombing runs, base assaults... Most of my fondest gaming memories come from the first years of planetside. There was so much to do, so many ways to go about battle... Working outside the friendly "zerg" was greatly rewarding. True enough if you were part of the zerg, your focus on the battle was small, but the teams working outside the zerg had huge parts in turning the tide. I personally can't wait for this game, I tried to go back to the original planetside, but a tiny population, with too many hackers turned me off to it. I have amazing hopes for this game and will more then likely buy on release.

Oh the pizzazz of this trailer is just too much to handle.

It looks like a MASSIVE amount of space marines shooting at each other. Whoopie...

@csoup said:

Please do not be free-to-play. I want a true support for this game where the games updates are not based on whether or not they were able to sell enough during the quarter. SOE, people WILL pay for this, just let them.

Not to mention, the idea of the possibility of purchasable make me cringe. Unless they are pure cosmetic, I cant stand behind that concept.

"Please do not be free-to-play." is the only thing I will say about Planetside 2. Everything else could be crap, but I'll probably play it as long as it's not F2P.

Has anyone else noticed the slight similarity that the Planetside 2 logo and the Lost Planet 2 logo?

It really doesn't thrill me.  I have a hard time seeing the point to many of these MMOFPS games.  If you're fighting over the same bases over and over then what makes it different than a regular online shooter?  Is it worth the additional monthly expense?  I guess a F2P model would make more sense but then you get into all the short-change drawbacks that F2P games usually tack on to get you to buy stuff.  I tend to tire of the game quicker because of the limitations and move on to something else.  Also, I'm spoiled by single-player FPS games and their shiny graphics.  These don't motivate me at all and they look too derivative of other "space marine" games.  Even the terrain looks like a familiar map.  But, this is only the first look so maybe more will be revealed that makes sense to me later on.  I'm still open to the concept.

If it is Free-to-play I am of course all over this.

I CANNOT WAIT!

First one was awesome and i hope the second is just as awesome.