Comic-Con 07: Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall Hands-on

Cartoon Network's upcoming FusionFall for the PC is a massively multiplayer online game featuring characters from popular shows on the all-cartoon channel, including Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory and Ben Tennyson from Ben 10 among many others. The real stars of the show will be the players themselves, who will be able to customize their own cartoon avatar and guide him or her on adventures throughout the fantastical world of the game. We had a chance to check out an early build of the game on the floor of Comic-Con 2007 to see how this MMO aimed at the younger set is shaping up.

Though the game isn't due for release until 2008, the friendly graphical style is already shining through. The character we played as was a young girl, decked out with a pink sweater and backpack. She was also as armed with a cool-looking blade that looked like it could deal some damage at close range. You'll be able to customize the look of your character, not just through the clothes and accessories you wear, but also with the type of weapon you carry.

Details are a bit sketchy on the game's character-progression system, though producers told us the game will not use a traditional leveling system, nor will there be character classes. Instead, characters will have four attributes that they can customize as they progress through the game. This is an MMO aimed at kids after all, so it's reasonable to expect a character-advancement system that's easy enough for an 8-year-old player to use while still flexible enough for older players to enjoy.

In FusionFall, the world of the players is under threat by a malevolent planet-sized villain who, in true cartoon form, is dripping radioactive goo all over the world. In the level we played, we had to head out of the safe confines of our home base to a goop-infested area which, presumably in later versions, will be filled with monsters emerging from the muck to do battle. However, the game will have more than combat because there was also a series of moving platforms we had to leap across to access a new level of the map. The jump mechanics and camera are still in need of some considerable tweaking because it was tough to move our heroine from one platform to the next. But with more than a year left in development, it seems like there's plenty of time to add some additional levels of polish to the final product.

Of course, FusionFall is going to be aimed at young gamers who will likely identify with the Cartoon Network characters that look to make their way into the game. As an introduction to the MMO genre for the younger set, FusionFall could be on its way to a fun niche of its own, and we'll be keeping our eye on the game throughout its development.