Earth & Beyond Online

The planet Earth spreads out like a giant marble, blues, whites and browns jumbled together to create breathtaking beauty. The upper right-hand side of the orb glistens with the promise of a fantastic sunrise ­ outer space style.

Nudging the thrusters, you pilot your ship toward the horizon and you are greeted by a blinding stab of light that sends lens flares along the canopy that protects you from the cold vacuum the stars call home.

Earth and Beyond is a PC massively multiplayer online role-playing game currently in development by Westwood Studios, a division of Electronic Arts. The game is in the beta server stress test mode, but GameZone had the opportunity to take a ship into the abyss.

EA is not a stranger to how to create a MMORPG that people want to play. Origin, another branch of the company, is home to Ultima Online. But that takes place in a fantasy world, and does not involve the intricacies that a space game of exploration, combat and trade would encompass. For instance, planets are not just next door. How would Westwood solve the challenge of prolonged space flight?

Simple, you borrow from existing universes and pull it all together in a game that is absolutely amazing to look at. Granted, there are lags and portions of the game that aren’t complete, as well as bugs, but this is a beta, a testing ground for what is in place. And if this is the promise of what is to come, then prepare for one of the most incredible space games to be published.

As for solving the riddle of prolonged space flight, try a warp drive (which creates an effect akin to the Millennium Falcon’s jump into hyperspace), and gates (which can almost be likened to worm holes from Deep Space Nine, or the jump gates from Babylon 5). The gates offer a blinding "hole" of light, which you auto-enter and are transported across the vastness of space to another sector.

There are numerous missions you can accept, each depending on the race and trade you select.

There are three races central to the storyline: The Jenquai are scientist-monks, descendants of humans, who live on the moons of Jupiter; the Progen are genetically altered humans, also transplants, and a warrior race whose homeworld is Mars; and the Terrans, Earth humans, who can fight and live a merchant’s life.

You can pick your race, customize your avatar and ship, then head out to pick up quests and missions.

Not only is this game space-based, but if you dock at a space station, you can exit your ship and wander about the station. Other pilots will be there, each with a name displayed above their heads, and you can carry on typed-chat conversations. You will also be able to pick up missions.

Some skills may require players to team up. There are marauders about, ready to steal cargo, so as a merchant, out to make a profit, it might behoove you to team up with others on a convoy. You will even be able to create your own in-game guilds.

According to the Westwood home page about the game, players will be able to "witness the birth and death of stars watch black holes feed off of suns, unravel the mysteries of a ship graveyard, and be one of the first to set eyes on truly alien worlds as you travel across the galaxy.

"Or perhaps sell your services to the highest bidder and take part in the trials and tribulations of world governments, mining coalitions, and shadow corporations. If battle is more to your liking, load up and engage a host of enemies, factions, and aliens on planets and in space."

The game features keyboard and mouse-based controls, and the player interface has been kept rather simple. Equipping weapons is as easy as dragging and dropping the item into a slot designed for it.

The sound fluctuates between some verbal communication, sounds of the ship and music. This is a game is more visual than audio, but the sound is very solid.

The game’s graphics will take your breath away. This is a stunning visual game. Other beta testers remarked, gleefully, how they just enjoyed sitting and watching other ships engage their warp drives, or watch them head into the gates. The game boards seem almost as vast as space itself.

Ok, this game is still some time from release and some kinks to be worked out, but judged on what is there so far, this is one program that will turn the world of MMORPG on its ear.