Gamersinfo Auto Assault preview

There is a site named Gamersinfo, which is regularly sending me a newsletter with links to their latest articles. The only problem is that I never subscribed to that newsletter, and there is no unsubscribe function in either the letter or on the site. The technically the newsletter is spam, I'm on a distribution list together with several other gaming sites. Well, nowadays one has to count oneself lucky if one gets spam which is about something that interests you, so I'm not making a fuzz about it. And, as obviously is their intention, I'll link to them if they have something good.

This weeks goody is a preview of the upcoming MMORPG Auto Assault, from NCSoft. That is a game I will certainly want to try out, because it is so different from everything else. Although you do have a human or humanoid avatar, your *real* avatar in the game is an armed car. You solve missions by driving and shooting, and the equipment you find is armor and weapons for your car. I remember an old board game named Car Wars from Steve Jackson Games, so the concept isn't totally new, but this is the first MMORPG incarnation of it.

I just hope I can get into a beta or public stress test before buying the game, although I have already pre-ordered it. There is a significant chance that I will be unable to really play it, and it would be nice to find that out early. I suck at both racing and shooter games, with only a few exceptions (GTA Vice City I managed and liked), so there is a very real risk that Auto Assault is too twitchy for me. On the other hand, MMORPG tend to be not too twitchy, because you can't punish somebody for reacting a split second late if he has a couple of hundred milliseconds of lag. I will have to wait and see.

Auto Assault's official website doesn't have any information on the release date, but rumors are pointing towards Spring 2006. You can already pre-order the game, but the retailer websites on offer list different release dates from end of January to end of April.
- posted by Tobold @ 12:23 PM Permanent Link