Early Saturday morning my schedule had me jumping from Champions Online to Warhammer Online, followed by Jumpgate Evolution; needless to say I was beginning to grow tired of MMORPGs by the end of the trek. Luckily, although being my last stop, the developers at NetDevil didn’t need to try and sell me on their game; it was love at first sight. After being burnt by Star Wars Galaxies glitchy space gameplay and confused by EVE Online’s steep learning curve I was ready to give another chance to the starry beyond and it looks like Jumpgate Evolution is ready to deliver.

The first thing that sets it apart from its competition in the outer-space MMOscene is the graphics, which appear to be mostly finished. Shiny metal on the surface of large, rocky meteorites glow and space dust radiates the nearest sun’s rays. Despite being set in space, there were bright and vibrant areas to explore, and the game’s impressive graphics engine can be held up against most next-generation titles’.

The game is to feature an entirely player-driven economy, which is like hearing an angel’s voice in the MMORPG community. Players will be able to hunt down different materials for ship upgrades and sell them in the auction houses, which should cut down on unnecessary grinding and 22-hour long raid bosses. Jumpgate’s gameplay is real time, with WASD controlling movement and the mouse assigned to combat, much like a first-person-shooter. Unlike Dead Space, which features disorienting zero-gravity sections in order to build realism, Jumpgate Evolution’s controls feel precise, even when dealing with an entirely 3D space.

My only issue with the game was with the lack of ship collision due to the developer’s attempts to prevent greifing. This means that during the intense and large PvP sections promised the threat of running into an enemy, or an ally, is nonexistent. Ships also don’t leave much debris, so running through it and taking some damage isn’t an issue. I think that with tweaking NetDevil could find a nice middle ground, because it is those threats that make space combat all the more interesting and unique over ground-based warfare.

NetDevil gave me the typical “when it’s done” release date, saying that they would love to release it in 2009 but don’t want to rush it. Without wanting to sound naive, the game felt essentially done when I played it. I’m sure there is some back-end management that still needs fixing, but the controls and graphics looked as good as most games hitting the shelves, especially for an MMORPG. If Jumpgate Evolution doesn’t hit its prospective Spring 2009 release date I will be surprised, but I’m optimistic about this MMORPG over most others in the coming months. 

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