We had the opportunity to get PlanetSide 2 information straight from the team. Read on for all the features!

Weapons and vehicles

Players will be able to access more than 20 basic weapons, which can be customized to players’ preference or purpose. The game will have a total of 15 vehicles, with two unique vehicles per empire. Players will be able to customize each vehicle, unlocking new skills and features. “The vehicles are all simultaneous,” Higby said. “We can have a grasslands map where tanks are the way you capture territory. Likewise with air vehicles. We could have mountainous terrain and now the conquest gameplay is about air vehicles.”

Miscellaneous details

• The game will include an extensive mission system. It will give new players initial direction, and veteran players the ability to coordinate assaults.
• According to Smedley, the team wants to “take the good parts of PlanetSide and make them better, and get rid of the bad parts." He mentioned that one of the bad parts about PlanetSide was the inability to spawn wherever you want.
• Smedley said the game will be a sandbox, similar to Star Wars Galaxies and EVE Online. Smedley mentioned player-run towns and a dynamic player economy as examples of sandbox features.
• The PlanetSide 2 story is a "reimagining of PlanetSide," Higby said, noting there is definitely a backstory. The empires will have lore tied to them.
• SOE wants fansites to be able to mine data from PlanetSide 2.
• Players will be able to communicate with their squads both through keyboard and Vivox voice chat.
• Smedley: “Skill is key!”

If you haven't seen it yet, here's the first PlanetSide 2 gameplay trailer that was released last night at the community address:

Darryl Gangloff, editor-in-chief