War, it's just business.

If I didn't have any kind of self control I'd be foaming at the mouth right now.
I've never been so, mystified by a video game. I've been impressed, bedazzled. Even completely immersed in an almost obsessive happiness over, stories, character, the lore of the universe, the music, game-play. Whatever, but this is different. Games have never been like this before.

Dust 514, recently had itself previewed buy some of the guys at Joystiq and what they had to say blew me away.


Dust 514 makes War, business; and it does it like no game literally has done before. It's reaching for unprecedented video game heights, and it's working right now. The developers, CCP, are in Pre-Alpha and it's already showing the sparkle of the potential "Golden Egg." If this works out like the way it looks like it will. Dust 514 will single handedly rewrite the way we look at games. [OK, enough with the blather! Let me just explain.]

You may remember, a ways back I had a Dust heavy post. Maybe you'll remember that what CCP was going for was cross platforming like no game before it. You'd play EVE Online like you always have, and Dust 514 would run under the lines, on the surface of that pesky planet, owned by that one jerk you and your friends hate.

Dust 514 features an economy that you can only access by downloading the game from the PlayStation Network. [That's right, it's a full fledged title you should be seeing at GameStop, but it's a download exclusive with the PS3] X-box owners I am so sorry that this title skipped over this great console. PS3 got the exclusive and it hurts. So for all that have a PS3, man your in for a wild ride. [BTW, I have a PS3, So... you know. I'm still happy.]

In Dust 514 your a mercenary. You're the guy with a gun and a wallet filled with butterflies. EVE Online is going to fill that void. Real Humans, playing EVE are going to use their in-game currency to put contracts on planets they want to conquer. It's your job to make some green, by kicking all the arse you can.

OK, so get this. Picture a ship. Big, mean, but not to big to be unable to operate in low orbit. Operating this command ship is a team. A literal team of human players piloting this ship from their computers and it's going to be casting a dark cloud over your head. The Real Human, with a remote in his hand and a Rifle on screen. [You getting the picture yet?] This is TRUE cross-platforming.

Their job is to, maneuver across a massive battlefield with hundreds of people fighting it out on the dirt. [Yeah, that's right. several hundred players, on one side or the other, squaring off for ground control against other players on the PS3; while PC EVE players orbit above. In Real Time]

So, let's say you and your buddies have gotten your self into a jam. Your in a fox hole praying this ain't your time to Derezz. When you realize a command ship is in range. *Laughs maniacally* [Yeah, the rain is coming.] So you load up your radio. (i.e. your actual physical Bluetooth headset) and make the call to command. Now, in real time cross-chat. You on your PS3 are talking LIVE to a buddy on that ship, who is using is PC to watch the fight unfold. You drop him the coordinates of the guys hitting your position and with the press of a button. Your PC buddy unleashes hell with an orbital strike from said command ship. With that pesky position reduced to slag, your free to hit your objective. It's time to take a planet.

You can move through this massive theater of war on foot, in unarmed and armored vehicles, even aircraft from fighter jets, to helicopters. While Command is doing it's dance and dishing out the pain to enemy ships. This is all happening over your head while you try to work, and it can come crashing down around you if something goes boom overhead.

I want to do this game justice and describe it right. But the words of the contributers at Joystiq have that mine don't. He was there, watching this preview. So. I'm posting a link to his article. If you're so inclined. Have a look. I've done a lot of big talk just now, over this game. It's safe to say I've got my hopes up this will be as amazing as it sounds. I hope it sounds amazing for you, and that you'll give it a try. It's looking to be one of the coolest games I've ever heard of. You don't wanna miss it.
Dust 514 is one you're gonna wanna keep an eye on.

Joystiq - Dust 514 Preview


Later!
-Fox