Hands On Exteel (NCSoft)

What happens when you combine giant mecha, third person shooters, RPG elements, and free online play? NCsoft asked just that very question and came up with Exteel. Already live in Korea, Exteel pits you against up to 15 other players as you battle each other to the death using a variety of mecha, weapons, and special moves. You can build mechs from a variety of legs, torsos, weapons, arms and more with each part and weapon contributing to the way your mech fights. At E3, I had a chance to jump in on a match and try the game out.

Despite having not played before, the controls were rather easy to pick up and play. Each mouse button activated a weapon (left for primary/left hand, right for secondary/right hand). Space made your mech jump and fly for short distances while shift made your mech speed boost along the ground at the expense of maneuverability. Special attacks were activated with the number keys. Other than that, it was jump in and blast away.

This is where the RPG elements come into play. Each pre-built mech we were able to use handled differently. Those with heavier components moved slower and flew for shorter distances while those with lighter parts moved faster and flew further. The heavier components were more durable however so there's a trade off of speed and protection. As each player can outfit their mech however they please in the live game, every player can design their mech to suit their play style.

Likewise, weapons ranged from rocket launchers to swords to pistols (dual of course), with each mech able to carry two different weapon load outs. You can't just spam rockets through; recklessly firing your weapon (as I found out) will cause it to overheat and shut down, leaving you unable to counter attack for a short time.

Every weapon and mech also has their own special moves. These are in fact generated based on the selection of parts you have rather than pre-set moves you learn or buy, from what I gathered. Many of the special moves when used also come with a quick in-game cinematic of the attack whether this is stabbing an opponent in the gut with a sword or spinning in the air, pistols blazing.

The gameplay itself was fast paced and definitely not your standard MMO combat of auto-attack and grab a sandwich. Exteel played more like a more casual friendly version of Counter-Strike than anything else with players flying all over the arena, dodging shots, and pulling off special attacks. Even with only a handful of players in the arena, there was never a dull moment. There were some who preferred roof jumping and sniping people from above. Others preferred the sword or pistol equipped mech and jocking around trying to get those close ranged shots in. Every time you died, you could pick from a different mech if you wished, allowing you to change tactics as needed and since there was no spawn time, you could jump right back into the fray. And each mech also carried two different weapon load outs.

Exteel is slated for launch late 2006. And for the record, I was only 15 points away from first place.