E3 Preview: Battlestar Galactica: Online - Preview
by Alex St-Amour , posted on 21 June 2010 / 5,515 Views
Browser games have a pretty bad reputation among gamers. With a flood of titles like Farmville and other Facebook applications-turned-games crowding our browsers, you can understand my skepticism when I got to see Battlestar Galactica: Online at E3. Well colored me impressed, this is not your mother's web browser game.
For starters, Battlestar Galactica: Online is an M.M.O.R.P.G. that features ship to ship combat ala EVE: Online, and features both PvP and PvE gameplay. The game's story is not related to the shows but instead builds upon the mythos of the series to tell its own tale. You can select between either the humans or Cylons and head off to battle. So far no information about classes has been released but look for more details to be announced as the game approaches its release date in late 2010.
One doubt that still lingers in my mind about Battlestar Galactica Online is the lack of details the developer was willing to share with us. Many elements of the game seem to still be in heavy development and most of the details still have not been fleshed out. They did promise however to constantly update the game with new features on a weekly basis and to listen to the large (and vocal) Battlestar fan base for suggestions and improvements.
But the thing that left me the most impressed is that entire game is playing directly off your browser and still looks fantastic. The team at Bigpoint are definitely pushing the Unity engine to its limits, with large scale space battles, huge capital ships duking it out against tiny fighters and a seemingly endless expanse. However, there is an underside, as the game can look rather empty at times. That shouldn't be an issue as more players begin inhabiting the game world though.
Battlestar Galactica: Online impressed me. No doubt about that. It's just up to the developers to deliver on these now heavy expectations, complete the best game they can make and deliver on their promises, because as it stands now Bigpoint has crafted something very special, not only for fans of the series but also for gamers looking for something unique and fun on their browsers.
