M.Indie by Joseph Lieberman

M.Indie Preview of Jumpgate Evolution  (April 2, 2009)

Boy it's been a long time since I have written an M.indie! Well, at GDC this year I had the opportunity to take a look at Jumpgate Evolution. Jumpgate, as you may recall, is a Net Devil game. That is really on the cusp of indie or not indie, but since I am a junkie for space combat, I couldn't help but put my pen to the parchment.

Net Devil has had some rough times, in 2001 with the release of Jumpgate they immediately dove into problems with the publisher that ultimately lead to its lackluster performance. They were also a part of Auto Assault (A game I actually worked with indirectly), which also became a bombshell disappointment.

So first, you have to give props to a company that can get knocked down big time, and more than once, but still rises up and tries to learn and grow. That was the impression I got while sitting with the crew in their posh hotel lounge.

What is Jumpgate Evolution? It's freakin massive multiplayer real time combat in space that's what! There are no "to hit roll" and "automatically kill the enemy" buttons. Every ounce of this game is going to end up as a level of skill and strategy. This makes me super excited after the let downs of Conan and Tabula Rasa. That isn't to say it looked like it had no grinding. I am sure the super expensive ships will kill newbie ships like a fat man stepping on a bag of chips, but when it comes to ships of equal class we should see the skilled pilot come out on top every time.

The first thing that grabs you about this game are the visuals. Each sector of the game is modeled after a different idea and theme. One area we were shown depicted space farms and peaceful large space stations. The other featured a lava hot asteroids belt where all structures were built on the dark side of the larger asteroids to avoid the immense heat. A lot of detail is built into each sector we saw and every ounce of it looks phenomenal.

They mentioned ships being broken into classes, ranging from light and heavy fighters to scouts, cargo ships, and bombers. The game is all about fast combat, so capital ships will remain AI controlled at launch. Each ship has it's supposed objective, cargo haulers will be required to build space stations both in the PVE and PVP areas. The universe is a living thing, a weird alien race is making a ruckus and they'll constantly be attacking and building their own bases anywhere they can get a foothold. To me this means a more fluid way of making "respawns."

As you pilot each ship your experience with that class of ship increases. Eventually you unlock access to new ship designers of that class only. This represents one of the three main RPG aspects of the game. Loot drops are also in Jumpgate Evolution. Finding new and better equipment is the name of the game and that is part 2 of the RPG side. Maybe best of all is their crafting system. Each player is allowed only ONE "corporation" to work with, and each corp is only able to build certain things. No longer will you have people who have mastered everything. Inter-reliance will be a key component to crafting and trading for all the best loot.

I am excited about an MMO again! I hope it wont let me down, but the mixture of fast paced action combat, stunning visuals, a lot of RPG wiggle room, and a healthy dose of a persistent and changing world give me a great deal of excitement over Net Devil's new baby. Check it out at Jumpgate Evolution Website

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By: Joseph Lieberman
Posted: Wednesday December 31, 1969