HD link


Basically, this is a fairly solid-looking MMOFPS. The graphics are definitely on-par with next-gen titles, even though they've got nothing on titles like Killzone or Battlefield, and while SPASE MAREENZ isn't a super-fresh setting it's certainly fresher than MODERN SOLJURZ. It's running on Unreal 3, so the mechanics are certainly fine.

Now you're probably wondering at this point, "Well, gee, Rag, it looks fine, but it doesn't seem like anything special. Certainly nothing I'd spend money on." Well, that's alright, because Dust 514 is entirely free to play- the one catch being that it's exclusive to the PS3.

So now you're likely thinking, "Well alright, it does look pretty nice for a F2P, but shooters are shooters- there's nothin' special about this one, is there?" Not quite. You see, Dust 514 is not the kind of shooter where there's only instanced matches with no long-term effects. Indeed, Dust 514 takes place in real time in a very large, dynamic universe. Specifically, the universe of Eve Online. How closely tied in are the two? If you're unfamiliar with Eve, the term "batshit insane" comes to mind to explain it. It is an extremely in-depth MMO filled with huge corporations, political powers, and alliances made up entirely of human players. Let's say these human players want to take over a planet because they need raw materials and resources, or they just want to expand their empire. To doe so, they can enlist the help of Dust 514 players as mercenaries. But the relation doesn't stop there- they don't just pay these mercs to run off and then wait an hour to see the result of the battle, no siree. Say a battle is going badly for political faction X: their forces just aren't a match for the defenses of faction Y. So faction X sends in their warship, the USS ♥♥♥♥ You, to unleash an orbital bombardment at the forces of faction Y, slaughtering the planet-bound peons and turning the tide of the battle. I think it's this relation mechanic that really makes Dust 514 unique- I've certainly never seen something like this before, so I'm pretty excited about this title.

tl;dr > F2P PS3-only real-time dynamic MMOFPS in the EVE Online universe with players from both games able to interact with each other