Firefall has been announced by developer Red 5 Studios. The game is being headed up by CEO and Chief Creative Officer Mark Kern (who was the lead designer of World of Warcraft) and Scott Youngblood, the former lead designer for Tribes.
Naturally, bringing these two together has wrought a game that seems to mix equal parts MMO like World of Warcraft with equal parts shooter like Tribes. Add in a graphical style similar to that of Borderlands and the ability to boost through the air with your boots (allowing you to float to platforms) and you have one heck of an awesome package.
Described as a team-based shooter with equal parts large-scale cooperation and intense competitive multiplayer that brings hundreds of players together, Firefall looks to easily have the makings of a breakout hit.
“When I founded Red 5, I knew I wanted to do something different than anything I’d done before.” says CEO and Chief Creative Officer Mark Kern. “I wanted to take the best of what I learned making online games and bring that to skill-based shooters.”
Scott Youngblood added, “When Mark brought me on to help design Firefall, it was obvious to me that he was dedicated to building something different. With Firefall, I’m finally able to make the game of my dreams.”
“I wanted to take the best of what I learned making online games and bring that to skill-based shooters.” – Firefall Chief Creative Director Mark Kern, former World of Warcraft Lead Designer.
Firefall paints a beautifully devastating vision of Earth, 200 years in the future. The promise of a new clean energy source, Crystite, leads to the disastrous arrival of the Melding, a hostile energy storm that engulfs most of the home planet. Earth’s surviving humans must band together in the eye of the Melding storm to save their species. Unfortunately, a new danger emerges as a bloodthirsty race known as The Chosen threatens humanity’s survival.
Players will protect the Earth through the use of high-tech battleframes, which can be customized extensively to unlock the power of Firefall’s class-based combat. Battleframes allow players to specialize in their favorite style of play, while giving them the flexibility to swap and trade their way to new configurations on-the-fly. Whether you enjoy supporting your team, aggressively assaulting an enemy position, or sneaking behind enemy lines, there is a battleframe for you.
Firefall will feature a free-to-play model that allows players to experience every detail of the vibrant world without having to pay a penny. Updates to the game, dynamic world events, and other content will also be offered without a price tag, while a marketplace will allow fans to purchase optional enhancements if they so desire.
If you’re intrigued then be sure to join the Firefall beta. The game is planned for release online for PC towards the end of 2011.
Here is an extensive look at how the game plays in action. I’m definitely impressed! Over 10 minutes of footage in this video.