Sony Online Entertainment announced that players interested in playing the beta of MMO, PlanetSide 2, could gain accesses to the game through a special package called the Alpha Squadron.
The package will cost $40 and includes instant beta access, a six-month 10% experience boost, three weapon unlocks for each faction, an exclusive decal and camouflage pattern, as well as $40 in currency for use when the game launches or in another Sony Online Entertainment game.
PlanetSide 2 is an upcoming massively multiplayer online game published by Sony Online Entertainment. It is the sequel to PlanetSide, which originally released in 2003.
As in the first PlanetSide, PlanetSide 2 chronicles the efforts of three factions as they fight for territorial control of the planet Auraxis. The series is set approximately 300 years after the discovery of Auraxis. The Earth is nearly uninhabitable after years of war. The world's governments join forces and create a consensus government.
After the appearance of a mysterious wormhole, that scientists fail to explain, the totalitarian government sees the wormhole as a sign of existing extraterrestrial life and launches several space expeditions.
Eventually the government's policy of space explorations and imposed curfews leads to a split amongst the people and a new fraction called the New Conglomerate. Battles begin to breakout between the two sides.
The gameplay features a territory control system based in an open-world. There will be large battles featuring up to 2000 players on foot or in vehicles. The territory system is more complex than in the original PlanetSide, and will play a bigger part in shaping the battlefield.
Matthew Higby, the creative director, said in an interview with Game Informer that the game studio is trying to offer players a balanced battle system, something that was an issue in the original title.
"We're definitely going to be rewarding combatants on lower population empires through mechanics such as proportionally increased advancement rates and resources," Higby told Game Informer. "We'll be attempting to balance the overall empire saturation on each server as much as we can without force-restricting folks from being able to play with their friends."
No release date has been announced as of yet, but the Alpha Squad pack can be purchased from the official site here.
Watch the Planetside 2 E3 trailer below....