Daybreak Games promised they'll be revealing a brand new game on Twitch today and while the reveal did happen, it's arguable whether Planetside Arena is a brand new game or just a battle royale edition of their mass shooter Planetside 2.
Planetside Arena will feature three classes - assault, medic and engineer, each with access to jetpacks and upgradeable skills that characteristic for their respective classes. There are also personal vehicles, so as to facilitate action.
The game takes place on Echoes of Amerish, which is a more compact edition of Planetside 2's third map. No need to worry about size though, as Echoes of Amerish still spans 64 square kilometres.
Apart from being a compact version of its big sister, Echoes of Amerish also comes a bit flattened, which is the team's attempt to ensure players don't find terrain an unnecessary distraction.
Planetside Arena will launch with three modes, first of which is a 250 vs. 250 group fight called Massive Clash. Daybreak stressed, however, that 1,000 player matches are something they're used to, so expect to see clashes way more massive than that pretty soon.
Rounding out the launch modes are solo and team battle royale, but Daybreak have plans to mix the offer up as they go along. They announced modes like capture the flag, team deathmatch, search an destroy, etc. at a later date.
As far as the lore goes, Planetside Arena picks up after the events of Planetside 2, when factions are nothing but a distant memory. This part fits in quite nicely to be honest, since everything that's left of the factions can be only be found and/or equipped as a cosmetic item. Daybreak promised more story arcs as well, which probably means world events.
Seasoned Planetside 2 veterans will find that Daybreak drastically increased time to kill in the battle royale edition. They also tweaked the entire weapons arsenal, so as to make combat longer and weapons more impactful.
Daybreak Games
Daybreak Games are planning to launch Planetside Arena's PC version on 29 January 2019. It will be priced at £20 / $19.99 / €16.79.
Planetside 2, massive multiplayer shooter by Daybreak Games
- Image: 1 / 6
