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Planetside 2 (formerly known as PlanetSide Next) is an upcoming Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter (MMOFPS) game from Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and is the sequel to their earlier game PlanetSide. The game is currently not in beta and does not have a release date. Beta access applications are currently being accepted at the official Planetside 2 website.

Backstory

Empires

Terran Republic

"An authoritarian government that leverages military might to maintain strict control over the colonial citizens. The Terran Republic is obsessed with the preservation of law and order and are thus seen by some to be an oppressive and dictatorial force, but many view the TR as the only hope for lasting security on Auraxis."^[1]

New Conglomerate

"Rebels, freedom fighters or terrorists? The New Conglomerate operates as a loosely organized band of dissidents, vehemently opposed to the stranglehold that the Terran Republic has on Auraxis. Led by an unusual quorum of outcasts, industry titans, pirates and former military leaders, the New Conglomerate is unwavering and prepared to achieve their goals by any means necessary."^[1]

Vanu Sovereignty

"Vanu has taught that only through technology can humanity evolve its next state of existence. The Vanu Sovereignty is extremely advanced, employing powerful alien technology on the battlefield. Their singular purpose is to uncover the secrets hidden away in ancient artifacts scattered over the surface of Auraxis and they will annihilate anyone who interferes."^[1]

Features

This is a summary of key features of PlanetSide 2. It should be noted that this is based on what has been publicly revealed thus far and is subject to change.

Gameplay

"PlanetSide 2 is a Massively Multiplayer First Person Shooter that delivers truly epic, massive combat on a scale never before seen in stunning, breathtaking detail. Battles take place not between dozens of troops, but thousands; with air and ground vehicles slugging it out alongside squads of troops. Whether in open fields, tightly-packed urban centers or enormous structures, winning requires strategic teamwork and a quick trigger finger."^[1]

The pacing for PlanetSide 2 is going to be faster than the original PlanetSide^[2] and will feature potentially thousands of players. It will also feature familiar first person shooter elements such as sprinting and iron sites. An important aspect will be that player skill is the major determiner when it comes to being able to kill other players. Skills are planned to only make between 15-20% difference and any weapon is able to damage another player.

Vehicles

Planetside 2 will be launched with over ten vehicles to be utilized, The NS (Nanite Systems) vehicles which are 'common pool' vehicles that any faction can obtain. The NS vehicles consist of the Quad, Galaxy, Liberator, Sunderer and the Lightning. The remaining vehicles are ES (Empire Specific) meaning only your empire can obtain your faction's airborne or armored vehicles. The Scythe (Vanu Sovereignty), the Reaver (New Conglomerate) and the Mosquito (Terran Republic) are the three Empire Specifc fighter jets. The three Empire Specific Armored tanks are the Magrider (Vanu Sovereignty), the Vanguard (New Conglomerate) and the Prowler (Terran Republic). This makes a total of eleven vehicles thus far and more may be added before launch.

Game Engine and Mechanics

PlanetSide 2 will use SOE's Forge Light engine which in turn uses nVidia's PhysX API for its physics engine^[3]. This enables more realistic vehicle handling compared to the previous PlanetSide, especially when it comes to flying aircraft. Weather and day/night cycles are also possible as well as volumetric fog and clouds which players can hide in. Bullets are also simulated by the physics engine so players will need to compensate while aiming.

Another improvement over PlanetSide is the introduction of locational damage for soldiers and vehicles (a.k.a. hitboxes). This is customisable by the developers so that a sniper rifle shot to the head can have a huge bonus while high rate of fire weapons, such as the Mini Chaingun, and vehicles have no bonus.^[4]

Territorial Control and Resources

To begin with PlanetSide 2 combat will take part on the continents of Auraxis which are broken up into many territories. Territories are then split into sectors which can be captured by the various empires, later SOE may introduce multiple worlds to fight on. Some sectors are captured by soldiers, while others can be captured by vehicles. Influence from captured sectors can also spread to adjacent sectors. Each sector has resources, such as Auraxium, although details of how these can be used have not been released. PlanetSide 2 will also feature a player economy.

Mission System

The mission system in PlanetSide 2 is partly automated and partly controlled by commanders and outfits. It provides focal points for players to attack and defend and to help players get into the fight a lot quicker than the Instant Action button in PlanetSide.

Roles and Skills

As a player participates in PlanetSide 2 they will increase in Battle Rank. This is where the similarity with PlanetSide's system ends. A player trains skills (called CERTS) to improve their character by granting bonuses and allowing access to more equipment and vehicles. CERTS train over time whether the player is online or not (although skill training is quicker when the player is in game). By progressing in Battle Rank a player unlocks the ability to train higher level CERTS. Some CERTS require the player to have prerequisite CERTS, for example to train for a Mechanized Exo-Suit you may first have to train a heavy weapons CERT.^[5]

Roles bring class based gameplay to PlanetSide 2 and centre around well known roles such as medic, engineer, etc. You can switch in and out of roles at will but your effectiveness in that role will depend on your CERTs.^[6] It is therefore down to the player whether they become highly specialised in one role, or branch out to be effective in a variety of roles.

Command Rank does not exist in PlanetSide 2, instead there will be command skills which provide bonuses to team members such as allowing the leader to be a mobile spawn point and unlock orbital strikes. Outfits will also have a skill tree which provide bonuses to their members.