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GDC 2009: Huxley: The Dystopia Updated Impressions - Shooting and Special Powers

SAN FRANCISCO--GDC 2009 is in full swing, and plenty of games are on display, like NHN's long-in-development, Unreal-powered, free-to-play, massively multiplayer, online, futuristic, sci-fi, has-guns-and-vehicles action game Huxley: The Dystopia. The game will be a team-based competitive...

SAN FRANCISCO--GDC 2009 is in full swing, and plenty of games are on display, like NHN's long-in-development, Unreal-powered, free-to-play, massively multiplayer, online, futuristic, sci-fi, has-guns-and-vehicles action game Huxley: The Dystopia. The game will be a team-based competitive shooter where you'll play a character who belongs to one of two factions, normal humans and mutant humans who fight for resources on a ruined future Earth that struggles to recover from nuclear fallout and an alien invasion. The long and the short of it is that you'll play as one of three character classes--the Enforcer, the Avenger, and the Phantom (effectively a heavy soldier, a medium soldier, or a light soldier, respectively)--and get into team-based first-person shooter battles that can be either objective-based, faction-based (that is, capturing sectors on behalf of your faction), or freeform deathmatch.


SPOILER ALERT: In Huxley: The Dystopia, you're probably going to end up shooting stuff.

We watched several aspects of the game in motion, including exploring the enormous peaceful city zones (each faction will have a safe home city), which are full of quest-giving characters and shops selling weapons, armor, and other items. Huxley's cities will have public transit systems that will let you get across the city more quickly, though you can still hoof it or, once your character gains some money and status, you can buy a hoverbike for your character to cruise the city streets and finish your shopping faster.

Cities will also be places for players to congregate and prepare for battle. For instance, if you're just looking for a good time, you can run a virtual combat simulator, which is a fancy name for no-strings-attached deathmatch with anyone you want (including players in your same faction, and also across servers). Virtual battles resemble the freeform deathmatches of the Unreal Tournament series, and just like in those games, these take place in levels that come complete with health pick-up items and an occasionally respawning double-damage enhancing item that turns your character a glowing purple, just like Unreal Tournament's damage amplifier item. These matches can be a good way to blow off steam, but they can also help you test out your character's new items and skills.

Each "armor slot" on your character (helmet, gloves, and so on) can be socketed with an item that grants you a special skill your character can use in battle. Different character classes will have different special abilities; for instance, Phantoms have speed boosts, the ability to turn invisible, and even an energy-based healing ability to go with their sniper rifles; Avengers have thermal scanners that can detect far-off or cloaked enemies to help sight targets with their medium assault weapons; Enforcers have armor amplifiers, a damaging bull-rush ability that lets them charge their foes, and a temporary invulnerability skill that lets them get close enough to their foes to use their close-range shotguns.


You'll be able to bring tanks and other assault vehicles into Huxley's battlegrounds.

In addition to free-for-all play, Huxley will offer team-based "battleground" areas where teams of players on opposing factions will do battle on objective-based maps (such as a Battlefield 2-conquest-like mode that requires you to capture and hold a radar station to continuously score points). Battlegrounds will let you earn special rewards for your character, as well as bring in serious hardware to help you out, such as military vehicles like tanks and jeeps to help you snag key points or lay down heavier fire (though in order to access different vehicles, you'll need to spend the skill points you earn after gaining levels on vehicle "licenses"). Winning a map will mark it with your faction's color (blue for human "sapiens," red for mutant "alternatives") on the world battleground map view. Capturing all battlegrounds for your faction will net your faction powerful global bonuses and bragging rights.

Huxley's been in development for quite some time, but the content we saw looked like it was in very good shape. The cities are impressively huge, the character models are extremely detailed, and the battles seem to run at an extremely fast clip reminiscent of Unreal Tournament 3 at its absolute fastest. The majority of the content is apparently already finished, and the primary development work on the US version of the game at this point is localization--translating the game's many lines of text dialogue and recorded voiceover into English from the game's original Korean language. Better still, this promising, fast-paced sci-fi shooter will finally be launching later this year.

48 Comments

  • f1tz

    Posted May 26, 2009 10:49 am GMT

    I've been waiting for this game for at least four years, & at least twice a year we're told it's 'going to be released later this year/the beginning of next year.' I'll believe it when I see it.
    I keep seeing the same question repeated in absolutely every forum attached to any article about this game:
    "Is is a FPS MMO RPG?" According to every press release it is. It's a FPS, has PVP, levelling, quests, & experience, armour & weapon upgrades & even mounts. Some articles in 2006/07 hinted at reputation points too.
    And this ubiquitous question is followed by the same panicked whine:
    "Well, well, well! If it's a MMO I don't want to play it 'cos they'll rip me off 'cos they'll charge me money 'cos I don't want to have to pay 'cos 'cos 'cos!!!!111oneoneone111!!"
    Try & relax, remember to breathe & read the article so you don't have to throw a tantrum & run off in a petulant sulk. UNFORTUNATELY it will be a free, non-subscription game, which means every low-IQ, leet-speaking, spoilt little brat with custard for brains will be able to log in & ruin it for the grown-ups.
    If it isn't subscription based I'm seriously wondering whether it'll be worth playing, purely because of all the social inadequates & imbecilic pre-pubescent dross who'll clutter up the servers.

  • gurkan1139

    Posted May 12, 2009 6:26 am GMT

    manyak bire oyuna benziyor ama nasıl oynayacaz yav

  • supergus7

    Posted Apr 25, 2009 5:31 am GMT

    i think it will be great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • reign_man01

    Posted Apr 12, 2009 4:08 am GMT

    been waiting for an update on this for years! sounds good, i wonder if its still a FPS-MMORPG if thats right? it did say there were quests..

  • invictuslemming

    Posted Apr 8, 2009 4:35 pm GMT

    Isn't this the game that was supposed to launch when the 360 hit the market in '05?

    After all these years I hope they do succeed, its intrigued me over the years since its inception, I'm longing for an MMO-FPS that follows the trend of Planetside, just without the horrible bugs and rehashed environments. (Every building in every planet was indentical, just a different paint job).

  • alkaline_DnB

    Posted Apr 8, 2009 10:12 am GMT

    I thought this game died too...maybe we'll be able to play it by 2012?
    I don't really "get" this game anymore tho. It just sounds like a huge multiplayer shooter...but I thought that it was supposed to be an mmorpg with guns.
    It still says that you're fighting an alien invasion, but shooting an opposing team at the same time?
    so...it's like WoW's battlegrounds and arena without the questing, and it's free and its fps...
    my face hurts.

  • mude

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 2:59 am GMT

    Wow, Huxley is coming out? Last I heard from this game was in 06, I was hyped then. I hope they've put the time to good use, I still wanna try it.

  • luge_dalanza

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 8:22 pm GMT

    I might be wrong now that i looked further into it.

  • luge_dalanza

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 8:10 pm GMT

    But, I have thought this was dead, it said it was canceled on here a few months ago, and even on the site there was no info on it anymore....

  • luge_dalanza

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 8:09 pm GMT

    This isn't going to be completely free.... since its being sold on the 360... they will probably have you buy the game, and play online free, like with most games....

  • dimsey

    Posted Apr 2, 2009 10:03 pm GMT

    From what I've read it's being published by Ijji whose catalogue from what I can see consists of a bunch of crud, cash-shop funded MMOs and whatnot. They're free-to-play, if you don't touch the cash-shop. I'm wagering that Huxley will be free - on the PC at least - and I wouldn't be suprised if some cash-shop shenanigans weasel their way into the game.

    http://bbs.ijji.com/bbsView.nhn?bbsId=pm_notice&page=1&skinId=&id=1898

  • One_mans_floor

    Posted Apr 1, 2009 6:31 pm GMT

    @ Sniper_Wolf25
    Yes (if I recall correctly) they have said there will be solo play against a third non playable race that is unmentioned here (or I missed it due to skimming). @ Death_Masta187
    Apparently 360 release is to happen six months after PC release(second hand information tho) but I haven't been able to find out whether cross-platform will be available. Someone invade the development staff and answer this.

  • krimlin077

    Posted Apr 1, 2009 1:56 am GMT

    AS long as they dont give this game a "G" rating and take all the blood and gore out of it so the 8 year olds can play, then I am game for it .I have watched this game since 2004 ( 2005 was the origanl release date actually ). Here is to hoping that land and buildings can actually be taken control of from the enemy, and none of that "instance" crap from Guildwars...better all be real time battles!

  • AdamBranson

    Posted Mar 31, 2009 3:11 pm GMT

    They are mixing things up here. "Free to play" and "free for all" isn't the same thing...this game won't be for free...you will need to cash up...but you WILL be able to play deathmatch/"free for all" as opposed to TEAM deathmatch... Every man for himself :-p

  • stike22

    Posted Mar 30, 2009 6:02 pm GMT

    LOL! Is this real!? am I seeing things? is this game finally coming out!?

    I remember ages ago when I first heard about this game, it was around the time I first heard about Crackdown thats what 2-3yrs?...its taken them this long to make this? it had best be a very good game! Well it looks decent I am sure some people will be pleased with this game.

  • FalcoLX

    Posted Mar 30, 2009 2:41 pm GMT

    I don't think it's free to play it says "free-for-all play"

  • MChief8

    Posted Mar 30, 2009 2:35 pm GMT

    is this based off of Brave New World by aldous huxley, certainly sounds like it from the title

  • Sniper_Wolf25

    Posted Mar 29, 2009 4:44 pm GMT

    and god i hope they dont do that microtransaction crap, i hate that stuff so much. advertisements i dont have a problem with

  • Sniper_Wolf25

    Posted Mar 29, 2009 4:31 pm GMT

    is this game going to feature any solo content at all? it seems to be exclusively pvp

  • SrTVBR

    Posted Mar 29, 2009 1:38 pm GMT

    I hope that the game is real good, not because is a free-to-play but for graphics and all the structure of the game.

  • theRunninGamer

    Posted Mar 29, 2009 12:25 pm GMT

    Free-to-play? How are they going to make money on this? Microtransactions? Coke billboards?

  • grim22x7

    Posted Mar 28, 2009 12:11 pm GMT

    glad they decided to crawl out of that hole. now that the server side finally caught up to what they needed. I'm also glad it's free to play i wont have to worry about giving up another game for it.

  • gabi098

    Posted Mar 28, 2009 12:08 pm GMT

    free to play rly? hell yeah baby, I'v been looking after this game for a LONG time and i thought it was gonna be P2P but F2P makes this the best mmo out there.

  • VGA_assassin

    Posted Mar 28, 2009 10:32 am GMT

    Wow this game dropped off the face of the earth for like 2 years... I have been tracking it for ever it seems. Glad to see some progress, but perfecting it too long will age the engine, and they will have to enhance it. Looks good though, very promising.

  • raptures330

    Posted Mar 28, 2009 8:48 am GMT

    Hahahaha, sheesh Divine, you sound real bitter with your last line.

    Anywho... this game has been slightly morphed since I first heard of it, let's see if they can deliver. A lot sounds like it's just going to be city=lobby to set up normal type of matches like dm, tdm, ctf etc. Let's hope the leveling up and weapons are real creative and interesting

  • DivineChampion

    Posted Mar 28, 2009 2:27 am GMT

    AWESOME!!!!
    FREE TO PLAY!!!!
    I'm so glad that Huxley didnt turn into Duke Nukem Forever (Moar of leik Duke Nukem "NEVER" amirite gaiz?) or that this game didnt get scrapped or anything. Even though they promise a lot.
    Always remember what over-hyped games make us gamers do: HOPE.
    Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

  • ShadowXStorm

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 9:55 pm GMT

    This games gonna be sick, its gonna add a whole new demension to MMO.

  • Pilch_R_eD

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 8:31 pm GMT

    It all sounds really good. Been following this for ages. But what happend to the massive PVE battlegrounds, against the third unplayable race of those cool mutant alien things ?

  • caspapin

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 6:29 pm GMT

    is this based on the book brave new world? by Aldous Huxley

  • danopix

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 5:31 pm GMT

    Oops... it says it in the first paragraph. I took Not2Nys's word for it that it wasn't in here. Disregard this silly person. Me.

  • danopix

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 5:30 pm GMT

    The link that led us here from our "tracked games" list mentioned free to play.

  • Not2Nys

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 3:59 pm GMT

    where does it say no subscription fee that i see everyone talking about... I cant find it in there :\

  • Targzissian

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 2:44 pm GMT

    Interesting that they changed the business model to free-to-play, but the engine is getting old now, and those Koreans do a lot of free-to-play games. This game has been in the back of my mind for a while. I thought it might go head-to-head with Tabula Rasa. At least that's one potential competitor MMO shooter it won't have to deal with.

  • Ilikeguitaralot

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 2:35 pm GMT

    As long as I've been waiting for this game, I'm glad they're taking their time with it instead of pushing it out without it being perfect.

  • JeTsEt4R-

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 2:19 pm GMT

    It wasn't dead at all. Just gamespot never did any updates on it.
    There was plenty going on though.

  • ShadowXStorm

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 1:27 pm GMT

    This games gonna be sick, its gonna add a whole new demension to MMO.

  • karriston

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 1:24 pm GMT

    Finally!

  • webdoom

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 9:53 am GMT

    awsome, freeonline! been waiting aaages for this

  • cyrus151

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 9:02 am GMT

    been keeping an eye out to see the results...and my inticipation is flawLESS

  • Dilbert3k

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 8:44 am GMT

    F2P means lots of Microtransactions. So I win because I have more money then you do. I am willing to spend $50 a month on this game while you are only willing to spend $10. Woot I am uber and you are a pwnd!!!

    No, thanks I prefer to have a set fee and let skill decide who wins.

  • uberjannie

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 6:55 am GMT

    wth, huxley isnt dead?
    I thought it was dead and gone for a long long time.

  • OkuLaris

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 3:43 am GMT

    Finally! later this year sweet. ^.^

  • Wolf-5

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 2:43 am GMT

    Awesome!!! Free online, very awesome! Now I am even more intrested!

  • lornphoenix

    Posted Mar 27, 2009 12:29 am GMT

    F2P? Really? I surprised.

  • Death_Masta187

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 8:50 pm GMT

    Wow I was sure this game was dead a long time ago... It’s good to get an update on it... Plus Free-to play is always good... does this still have cross platform play (PC plays with Xbox360)

  • aj_marquez

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 8:18 pm GMT

    Free-to-play? really? Cool!

  • Galinoth

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 8:15 pm GMT

    Free to play!?!!!?!! This will be sweet!

  • galerian86

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 7:56 pm GMT

    I feel like I hear about this game for ages!

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