Not content to rest on their laurels (and bundles of cash) from EverQuest, Sony has embarked upon an ambitious new effort to apply the massively multiplayer online formula to the FPS genre. PlanetSide, which is currently in beta, is a futuristic FPS spiced up with a dash of RPG, and topped off with a huge helping of online gameplay. DailyGame recently received the press beta, and let’s just say that if PlanetSide continues on the path set out for it, it will be an amazing addition to online gaming as a whole.

Character development is one of the things that sets PlanetSide apart from the standard FPS title. Instead of playing a generic character as you would in Quake and its ilk, you actually design and develop your character from the ground up. Through a unique certification system, you choose exactly what skill-mix your character has. Each skill opens up new options for you, which make you more useful to your empire. For example, if you pick a vehicle skill, say, "Wraith driving", you will now be able to drive the Wraith light recon ATV. Whenever you need a Wraith, you head on over to the vehicle platform and summon one up. There’s a certification for nearly everything, from the type of armor you can wear right on through to the weapons you can use and even the ability to hack computers. Hacking, by the way, is very important, as it’s the only way you’ll completely take over another faction’s base. Hacking skills allow the player to convert computer systems, equipment terminals and power systems to his side. Without a hacker on your squad, you’re not going to be taking anything over. Sure, can blast away the opposition with a heavy assault unit, but you can’t actually "own" the target base or structure until you control its systems.

Speaking of working in teams, in PlanetSide, teamwork is a requirement. PlanetSide puts the "massive" in "massively multiplayer online FPS", and as such, you’ll be fighting against literally thousands of other players for control of facilities. That means you’ll need help, which comes in the form of other players. You can, through the game’s easy-to-use team interface, form squads. I can’t stress this enough; form a team as soon as you get into the game. This is because all team members will share experience with one another from combat and investigating new technologies. Even if you’re just learning the game, being on a team will help your character level-up quickly, which means he’ll earn more certification points to then apply to new skills. Sony puts the "team" in teamwork when it comes to their online games, and PlanetSide continues that tradition. Team killers, too often prevalent in other online games, will find themselves hating PlanetSide, as they will be punished by a reduction in experience points for every round that they fire upon members of their faction. That’s right, PlanetSide basically forces your to "play right", which in my book makes this game worth the money.

The scale of PlanetSide is truly awe-inspiring. The first time you see an assault group form at your base, you’re guaranteed to be picking your jaw up off the floor. Watching dozens of players load up onto Galaxy class assault airships is something to behold. During my testing of PlanetSide, there were moments where I just had to sit back in amazement, especially when I watched a battle group of no less than a hundred players prepare for combat. Airships, tanks, jeeps and ATV’s all lined up as players called out to one another to get the groups configured and ready to roll. Once you’ve hitched a ride on an assault carrier, expect a true visual feast as you can look around from your seat and watch the various landscapes scroll by. The worlds are fully realized, that is, they have multiple climates and locales. As you fight your way through PlanetSide’s persistent world, you’ll traverse jungles, deserts and other such locales, making you feel as if you’re fighting on a real world. And remember, this world is "persistent", meaning if you capture an enemy fortification, then log out, that fortification could be taken back by the enemy while you’re offline.

PlanetSide is still in beta, and as such, has a few bugs to be ironed out, not the least of which is the network code, which makes for incredibly laggy games when you have more than a few characters on-screen at once. It can be really difficult to enjoy a round of combat as the game’s graphics will run in fits and starts, and get terribly choppy at the worst possible moment. Along with the lag, there’s the problem with being randomly dropped out of the world, and suddenly getting completely dropped from the game. Respawning is also a problem, as it literally takes several minutes to return from death. Random drops, problematic servers and other issues are still prevalent in the game, and I can only hope they are completely ironed out now that the game is in open beta with 30,000 testers beating up on it.

PlanetSide is due out in mid-May, and it’s looking like it might take over as the dominant multiplayer online experience. Personally, I’m already addicted to it thanks to the beta previews, which have me spending huge chunks of time building up my character’s skills and getting into fights I should know better than to get involved in.