Over the last few years the free-to-play market has become increasingly more popular. PC for the most part dominates this market with a near infinite amount of F2P content available, but the tides are beginning to turn and Sony is setting the PlayStation brand up to be on the front lines in the war for control of the F2P market. This will no doubt be a very long fought war with the scales tipped in the PC’s favor but Sony is no stranger to being in that position, and with this in mind it is our pleasure to introduce you to Free-2-Play Friday—a brand new weekly series on PSU where we talk about F2P games that are either on PlayStation already or coming to PlayStation in the not too distant future.
On this week’s Free-to-Play Friday we will take you on a journey to Auraxis—the war-torn home world of Planetside 2.
Sony Online Entertainment launched Planetside 2 on November 20, 2012 on PC after a lengthy beta period and took the MMO FPS genre to new heights. SOE improved on the Planetside formula in about every way possible with better physics, graphics, social features, and scale. Planetside 2 has already proven itself as a strong FP2 title on the PC but it might be even better on PlayStation 4 and potentially even more popular.
Planetside 2 has pretty demanding system requirements so many gamers can’t play it on PC so the PS4 will open the game up to a new audience. According to the former Planetside 2 executive producer Clint Worley, we PlayStation gamers won’t feel like we are being given an inferior product either because the PS4 version looks like its PC counterpart on max settings.
You ever have one of those moments while playing a game where you do something epic or witness something epic and you find yourself wishing someone was there to see it? Planetside 2 is the type of game that was built with these epic moments in mind, and with the PS4 you will never have to worry about not being able to show your friends or family again. This is due to the PS4 constantly recording the last 15 minutes of your gameplay so that you can share it on the PSN or other forms of social media. This isn’t an impossible feat on PC but the process that you have to go through to share your gameplay is not as simple and convenient as it will be on the PS4.
The great war that takes center stage in Planetside 2 is a three way conflict between the Terran Republic, Vanu Sovereignty, and the New Conglomerate. Each group is vying for control of Auraxis and at the start of your journey you must choose what side you want to fight for. All three of the groups have their motives for war which might help you make your decision on who you want to fight for. If the backstory isn’t enough to convince you then the next thing to look at is the weapons, gear, and vehicles they have to work with. New weapons, gear, and vehicles are added to the game regularly with free updates. Each team suites a different style of gameplay and your decision on who you join should be well thought out.
Currently Planetside 2 has three massive maps that you can wage war on. Each map is a different continent on Auraxis and each continent has very distinct characteristics that make them all very different gameplay experiences. A new map was shown off recently called Nexus Battle Island and unlike the other maps it has a focus on small scale infantry combat. Three more continents are in development and the terrain between those three ranges from impact crater covered wastelands to hot volcanic landscapes. The continents currently in the game are as follows:
Amerish – This continent is a lush landscape filled with forests and green fields. This environment provides a lot of cover for infantry to dig in.
Esamir – This is a harsh environment that is primarily flat and covered in snow and ice. Due to the flat open terrain this is where the great tank battles will take place.
Indar – A desert region full of canyons and massive rock formations. The terrain on this continent is a hot spot for vehicle ambushes, so pilots and tankers beware!
A release date for the PS4 version of Planetside 2 has yet to be announced, but rumors suggest it might be available at launch or soon after. How do you feel about Planetside 2 on PS4? Do you think PlayStation will be able to pull in a large amount of F2P gamers? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Every Friday we will share updates and gameplay details on a different free-to-play game on PlayStation, so stay tuned and be sure to come back for next week’s Free-2-Play Friday.