Xenocell is unconventional sci-fi MMORPG which uses the Torque 3D engine and will be available trough monthly subscription, but other free to play options might be available.
Bitgap intends to port this game to GNU/Linux, but it won’t be on lunch day (probably after the Mac client).
The game is set to launch at 2010.
About the game
“The game is an unconventional MMORPG. MMORPG stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. We did our best to design a game that”s incredibly fun to play, introduces a brand new side of MMOs, while giving more to the player than grinding through static quest lines of the same type over and over again. No any two players will experience the same game, the same events and the same tasks that lie ahead.
Xenocell is a sci-fi game that plays in the near future.
After mankind”s first attempt to reach for the stars, upon entering the target system, our flagship, the UNS Eden is forced to crash land on the harsh alien world of Ibelis – because of reasons unknown at the time.
As a survivor, your primary role will be staying alive in the unfriendly environment. The planet”s wildlife, the weather, and even other survivors will risk your life continously. However, by gradually evolving yourself through the help of the DNA of the local wildlife, you will not only be able to survive on the harsh planet, but you will also gain abilities that surpass those of humans – both physically and mentally. They say it”s like crack, you get addicted once you see your own evolution take place before your very eyes. The way it goes is your call, and yours alone – choose between several dozens of special abilities and new senses, like running, jumping, night vision, heat vision, improved hearing, or even psi and telekinesis. We keep the fun ones to tell later.
Not much time will pass before you realize: to stay alive, you will need much more than alien DNA.
You will need to build huge machines of war to fight even your very own kind for the scarce resources, raw materials and relics that are spread throughout the planet.
However, you will probably not be able to do this alone. You will befriend mercenaries thoughout your journeys. Hell, even you might become one to make a living. Gather friends to form squads, or even dreaded clans and families. As you go up the ranks, accept and assign tasks, quests and orders.
Build a huge base of operations, and start making weapons in your factories. Research new blueprints, and with the right knowledge and resources, you and your ones will be creating armored vehicles, automated sentry guns, and a vast arsenal of other weapons to use in the war for survival.
Will you be a pilot, or would you rather surprise the enemy in your oldschool M1 Abrams tank? You also could just go in before the battle begins, and recon the target. Maybe to take care of the defense sentry guns that protect the entrance to that extractor, so your clan can raid it with everything you got soon after. Upon a successful raid, you claim the extractor”s raw materials for your people, making new blueprints become available for research. There”s a really exciting team vs. team aspect in our game, which we find truly unique.
Some survivors believe that raw materials are the only way off the planet. Others think there”s more to this lump of mud than what first meets the eye. Huge, strange buildings can be found in the desert, and recently a quake revealed the entrance to some ancient complex. The alien monorail that survivors started using to travel over the desert was not made by humans, yet the survivors managed to breath life into it, making traveling a unique experience for those who can not yet afford a chopper, a jeep or even a hoverblade.
The war upon the night sky will always remind you, that there are others around. Others, who might be the very reason you are trapped on this planet. You could choose to investigate, but that will take you down a path from where there”s no turning back. What are the chances of a peaceful first encounter with a sentient alien species? You might believe that one man can change the world. You could be right…
I know you have already been told a thousand times before, that a specific game world is “alive”. Game companies like to use that phrase often. Believe me, nothing has been so “alive” as much as we plan Xenocell to become. Your actions in the game affect your connections to all kinds of beings. You can gather friends and enemies, who will fight you, or who will fight by you.
If you do not plan to live by the big book of ethics, make sure you leave no witnesses to your unlawful actions – better not let a rumor start about things that didn”t happen, right?”
Screenshots :
Looks awesome. Torque 3D is surely bringing some nice projects to Linux.