Earth and Beyond

Tired of swinging swords and casting spells? Upgrade to a sleek starship and travel the stars in Earth & Beyond.

After endless phases of beta testing and tons of changes (all for the better), Westwood finally launches America?s first online massively multiplayer galaxy. While Earth & Beyond won?t be everyone?s cup of tea, those gamers who will like it will really like it. MMORPGs have always been addictive in nature with carefully spaced risk/reward scenarios and huge worlds to discover. In the case of Earth & Beyond, there?s an entire galaxy to discover, divided into more than 60 sectors with more adventuring zones on the way. You can pick from six race/profession combinations that range from a beefy warrior to a shrewd tradesman to a slick explorer and combinations thereof. Each class has its own set of valuable skills?a Progen Warrior can reverse his shields to do damage to nearby foes, while a Jenquai Defender can teleport that warrior into the middle of a group of foes and use another skill to yank him back out of danger.

E&B features an innovative three-tiered experience system. You can fight enemies to gain combat experience, run trade routes or build marketable items for trading experience, or discover new locations and raw materials for exploration experience. That level 30 Defender you met might be only level 6 or 7 in combat because he concentrated in exploration or trade first. It?s a bit hard to grasp at first (?How come that level 7 creature killed me when I?m level 17??), but it?s a great system for rewarding non-combat activities.

E&B has been in beta for a long time, and it shows. While there were still a few graphical glitches at launch (?Hey, where did my target go??), the nature of MMORPGs allows for future patches to fix that sort of thing. More difficult to fix with patches is the lag that sometimes yanks your ship out of its heading to put it on the course the server thinks you?re taking. In high-traffic areas this can be so bad as to be unbearable. In the reaches of the galaxy, where you?ll do most of your questing, this isn?t nearly as bad.

Of course, the fun of any MMORPG is socializing with friends, and E&B?s great chat and grouping interface makes this easy. You can set and join flight formations, chat on several different channels, and send private messages to other players. The excellent chat system is a must, of course, because you and your friends will spend tons of time traveling in warp-speed from place to place. The galaxy is big, and without friends, it can get lonely, too.

Fans of MMORPGs could do a lot worse than to check out E&B. It?s a well-crafted, brilliantly designed, and lovingly developed space adventure that?s every bit as gripping as EverQuest ever was.

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