FireFall Takes Aim at the MMO FPS Market

Ready for some hardcore first person shooter action in a persistent sci-fi world, for free? Jump into the action in FireFall, produced by some of the creators of the popular World of Warcraft MMORPG as it takes aim at the online gaming market.

Just announced at this year's September Penny-Arcade Expo (gaming event hosted in Seattle, Washington by the creators of the popular Penny-Arcade webcomic, Gabe and Tycho), FireFall has been under the radar for quite some time. Developed by the interesting Red 5 Studios, and to be published by Webzen, FireFall will be quite unlike any other MMO game on the market. Even more exciting is the prospect of this game being free-to-play, as announced by Red 5 Studios on their website.

Fans of Planetside, Tabula Rasa, and Tribes will all have to cause to be intrigued by this new online computer game, set to be released in the end of 2011. Why? For starters, take a look at the lustrous graphics, trailers and gameplay videos already released, both on YouTube and on the games website, at http://www.firefallthegame.com/. The gorgeous game world evokes memories of the ill-fated Tabula Rasa MMORPG by Richard Garriott (of Ultima Online fame). It's certainly the first thing I thought, when I saw the sprawling and lush game world, rather jungle and desert-mix, for the first time. The multi-player shooting action of PVP in FireFall could easily be compared to Tribes, a popular FPS sci-fi shooter that heavily relied on jetpacks for movement and tactile advantages. Some of the gameplay videos have shown similar mechanisms in action in FireFall. Finally, Planetside is the once-famous MMO/FPS hybrid that really stood as the standard for online FPS/MMO games, until now. It offered players nonstop action across a diverse game world, with warring factions duking it out in hoverships, mechs, battle tanks and space suits with lasers and rockets. I would be surprised if Planetside didn't inspire the members of Red 5 Studios in their latest game.

Gameplay seems to consist of harvesting resources for your team, while fighting off alien insect armies attracted to the mining activities. Players also fight against a sinister AI army of the Chosen that periodically attacks. Finally, players appear to be able to take the fight against opposing teams and factions, all in a persistent online world. Definitely check out the initial gamesplay clips released, especially the latest one (shown off recently at DigiChina expo), complete with dropships, giant walkers and fierce combats.

FireFall is certainly a game to be watching. Hopefully, it will successfully add more variety to the rather tired online MMO market with its projected release in 2011.