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| Huxley |
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| Massively Multiplayer Online |
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| Webzen |
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5th January 07 |
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Huxley is an interesting game as not only is it a first person shooter massively online multiplayer game but it also aims to bridge the gap between Xbox 360 players and PC gamers. To recap the story of Huxley goes a little something like this; In a post-apocalyptic world where tidal waves, earthquakes and such like have divided the land causing human beings to mutate and divided into three species which are Sapiens, Alternatives and Hybrids. The world isn’t the same anymore and is full of racism and hatred. The Sapiens and Alternatives are both locked in a battle for control of the Earth’s resources especially as a new resource has been created by a scientist known as Huxley. The energy resource is called Lunarites and both sides are set to do what ever it takes to control these resources. Thrust into the centre of the two warring factions are the Hybrids, a mysterious third race, who have to fight for their survival on the raged world.
In the PC version, players take on the role of the Sapiens or Alternatives and on the Xbox 360 version players enter the game as an elite member of the Hybrid Liberation Organization (HLO), fighting toe-to-toe against the Sapien and Alternative armies to unshackle the oppressed Hybrids. Sounds complicated when actually it’s quite simple and should hopefully work out rather well; although I can already hear the cries from console gamers who will no doubt complain that the PC’s keyboard and mouse set up gives PC players a distinct advantage.
Looking at the core basis of Huxley and you are presented with a game that aims to offer players a Persistent World in which gamers will be able to communicate with each other, trade items and weapons, discuss tactics and generally socialize in a world that constantly evolves. There is a greater war going on and regardless of your input is the underlying theme of the game. In Huxley you will be able to form teams and then head on out into the vast world together killing anything that gets in your way. Huxley will offer gamers the chance to form groups and work as a team against smart AI enemies or even enter battles versus human opponents. Expect lots of questing and whilst this may sound like a typical role playing game the beauty is that at heart it’s a First Person Shooter. However we are promised that battles won’t simply be straight up pound the opponents with gunfire affairs and that teams will have to work co-operatively and strategically to conquer many of the missions that lie in wait for would be adventurers. Also in Huxley due to the greater war going on the success of the player and his or her team has an effect on the overall state of the war. Gamers can expect large scale battles as well as a number of multiplayer game types to participate in.
On the character side of things Huxley uses a character “Growth” system which is based on the use of licenses which in turn grants the player the option to use more advanced weaponry, armour and items. How players earn licenses is unclear but perhaps these can be purchased for the right price and fits in with the trading aspect of the game. We can expect some neat character customization options, as who wants to look the same as the next guy and there will probably be some class based system used to determine the starting skills of player characters.
Whilst being an Online Multiplayer adventure game Huxley also will offer a fully extensive single player experience for those of you not connected to Xbox Live which means Huxley should have something for everyone. I’m not sure how the PvP versus games will be set up in terms of pitting higher rated characters against lesser ones but I assume some sort of matchmaking might be in order. There is certainly a lot of scope with Huxley and with the sort of addictive qualities MMORPGs have it will be interesting to see if Huxley has enough depth to accomplish similar heights. Will the first person element be its redeeming factor if not it will certainly make the game stand out in the crowd as I’m sure there aren’t too many MMOFPS games on the horizon but plenty of first person shooters. Huxley is due out at some point in 2007 on PC and Xbox 360.
Preview By: Robert Cram
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