EVE Online at Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMOG Gamers to the Next Level!

The unquestionable high note of the EVE Online Fanfest this year was an exciting video showing how EVE Online will fit together with Incarna and DUST 514. Incarna is the 'walking in stations' portion of the game that is slowly being phased in over several years, starting with designing characters like those we currently have, then adding walking around captains' quarters, and finally full-fledged meandering around stations with other players. DUST 514 is the mysteriously named first-person shooter that will feature teams of quasi-immortal mercenaries fighting over lucrative districts on planets, possibly in cahoots with EVE Online pilots.

If there is one thing CCP does exceptionally well, it is make great-looking trailers of their games. This video depicts a seamless integration of the three arenas of spaceship combat, planet-based mercenary teams, and a player aboard a station coordinating the whole thing.

Though not necessarily representative of the final form that the games may take, it may still prove interesting to take a close look at what the video is showing us.

Above The Planet

Okay, it's a nice fleet, but I'd love to know what they plan to do about those Nyxes off-screen.

First, check out the video: it's here. Cool, right? But there are hints here about what we can expect from CCP in the future.

The movie opens up with a shot of ships gathering above a terrestrial planet, including numerous industry related ships and a fleet of Nyx supercarriers. A large satellite structure looms nearby, seemingly some sort of space elevator.

A Civire Caldari man gazes intently at them for a minute, then checks his futuristic palm pilot. As he turns to go, a red-headed Gallente woman notes his departure.

The two of them are apparently inside of a station of some kind (not aboard a ship). The satellite structure appears to be a space elevator because of the large cable extending from its lower portions. It is likely that the surface-side connections of such structures are what DUST mercenaries will be fighting for control over.

Mercenary Aspirations

The Caldari man returns to his quarters to find a squawking video call from a DUST mercenary. It is some kind of battlefield uplink. The mercenary says that his team has reached the last checkpoint before their target. The Caldari asks whether they can take the ground station, and the mercenary replies that they need air support. The mercenary insists that the Caldari promised air support, and the Caldari affirms that it will be there. "You just send that airstrike and the money, we'll take care of the rest," says the mercenary leader.

The scene fades from a video call to the planet surface, where the mercenary is taking cover behind what is left of a building wall. He is clutching an automatic rifle of some kind, and wearing futuristic combat armor.

The mercenary leader breaks cover, and we see the rest of his team: a swarm of other infantry some vehicles, including a hovering troop carrier of some sort and what appears to be a tank that moves on treads. The battlefield is covered with smoke, explosions, and debris.

Another mercenary is hit by some rifle fire. As he falls to the ground there is a sort of flickering light around his body. Though most likely an effect of the weapon that killed him, it may be some sort of personal shield, or part of the resurrection process that the DUST mercenaries undergo when they die.

As the mercenary leader slides behind another chunk of wall, he comes under fire from a turret. It is some kind of automatic, unmanned security turret. The turret sports the Caldari state logo on one of its legs.

The mercenary leader yells for another mercenary to use his 'jacks', some sort of rocket launcher that fires a twirling set of about five rockets. It takes the turret out in one shot. It is worth noting that the guy using jacks does so from behind what appears to be a land rover with a gun turret that can be used by a second mercenary. Moments later, an enemy tank rolls in and destroys the guy with the jacks and the land rover in a single shot.