MMO FPS Planetside 2 Now Available
Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) announced the launch of PlanetSide 2 on Thursday, the studio's follow-up to the popular massively multiplayer online first-person shooter (MMOFPS) released for Windows PC way back in 2003 (time flies like bullets).
Now available in North America and Europe, the new installment combines all the "groundbreaking" traits of the original with new features that current fans of FPS and MMO games have come to expect. Players are now invited to enlist in one of three Empires – Terran Republic, New Conglomerate or Vanu Sovereignty – to fight in an epic war for control of the planet Auraxis.
According to SOE, players can opt to serve as one of six classes and fight for control of key territories and valuable resources on three playable continents – Indar, Esamir and Amerish. As they gain experience on the field, their certifications will also increase, allowing them to take on new roles and perform extensive customization options. Players will also unlock a variety of weapons and vehicles.
"With an extensive skill tree and free-form class-based system, players will be able to customize their soldier, weapons and vehicles to match their play-style, as well as the needs of their squad, outfit or empire," SOE said. "Battles can last for days or weeks, so players will need to build alliances and specialized combat outfits to take on long-term strategic and tactical initiatives. With aircraft and ground vehicles, as well as infantry combat, the battles will be larger and more intense than ever before."
With PlanetSide 2, SOE has added a free-to-play tier for PC gamers who don't want to commit to a monthly subscription. The premium membership costs $14.99 USD per month (pricing includes 3, 6 and 12-month payments), but grants 25 to 50-percent increased resource gain, 25 to 50-percent increased XP gain, priority login, early access and more. Members receive even more passive experience points the longer they remain a member.
"We set out to create a massive, unprecedented game, and we succeeded. PlanetSide 2 will break records for its size and combat," said Matt Higby, Creative Director of PlanetSide 2 at Sony Online Entertainment. "Now, it's the players' turn to make history. The war stories of brutal combat, acts of valor, casualties and victories from beta testing have been epic. But, the slate is clean, and the game has launched. It's time to create legends."
For more information about the new PlanetSide sequel or to login and play, head here. The client can also obtained via Steam here, and SOE has even uploaded a set of Basic Training game tutorial videos here to get old and new fans up to speed with the sequel.

No you still need to make a Sony Station ID and log in thru there. It will pop up a launcher. It's the same as Star Trek Online.
It just depends. Some games support using your steam account for everything while others require you set up an account with them.
unless they changed it allot, the user interface was VERY confusing, and there is some lage issues which can kill gameplay, but over all a VERY good game.
still have next to no idea how to do anything.
There's a slight learning curve. . . but hang in there. It's not that bad and the overall game is epic.
"$14.99 a month? I would much rather a one time payment, especially if its a FPS."
What do you mean?
This price is only for Premium account bonus increased resource gain and increased XP gain.
Other than that, the game is free to play.
No thank you. I rather pay $60 and have an even playing field. The whole "pay money to get an unfair advantage in a game" crap is ridiculous.
Its not unfair. You are paying for it.
If you don't want to pay $15.00 a month you don't have too.
And it sounds like it only benefits leveling. So once you reach max level, what advantage is there to it?
I plan on paying it. I pay $10 dollars to go see a movie........ $14.95 (probably less with 3 month purchase) is not a big deal. $14.95 was real money back in 1999 when SOE was charging that. But today its more like seven 1999 dollars.
Same here. I'm done playing games that have uneven playing fields. I don't have the free time to spend grinding XP to unlock weapons, abilities, or character improvement items. I'd much rather pay a one-time fee and be done with it like games used to be. I miss the days when stats were optional. I'm not paying to unlock weapons, to get XP boosts, or to win. Developers have taken things too far.
-The Premium account gets you 500 station cash/mo (5 dollars worth), and an increase in xp/resource gains. The biggest benefit is the increase to offline leveling
-Most of the purchased items are cosmetic/xp boost, and all of the guns that are obtainable with real money, can be purchased with a type of resource you earn by playing.
-You receive certifications (a la Eve) while offline, lessening the grind for weekend warriors
-There is no other source for multifaceted, massive Air/Armor/Infantry Sci-fi battles.
-To be clear, every item that can be obtained with money, can be earned in game, you are paying to save some grind time, which isnt necessary as the game is fun.
you forgot fps
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and after playing it a bit longer, i don't feel at all that i'm being screwed over by people who buy their upgrades... sure i could pay for the best gun right now, or i could play it for a week or two and get it myself.
this is alike if battlefield let you pay 10$ and unlock some better guns and upgrades instead of grinding the crap out... i see no difference between the two... so far, not seeing anything thats unfair.
granted i dont like how vehicle combat rules them all in these games, where if you are good in a vehicle, the soldiers dont matter at all all that counts is the vehicles.