First Look: DUST 514

The greatly anticipated DUST 514 from CCP has hit closed beta. It’s pitched as a first-person shooter that integrates into the bigger EVE universe: as a DUST mercenary, you take contracts to help decide the planetary disputes that arise in the MMO’s world.

The first thing an EVE player will notice is the familiar “player’s quarters,” where the market, vehicle and player configuration, and skill allocation all sit ready to hand. CCP built it for speed and efficiency, and the market, configuration and skills are lifted straight from EVE, with one notable exception: skill points aren’t allocated over time, but per mission, win or lose.

The battlefield is a chaotic orchestra of drop ships, tanks, futuristic hummers and soldiers. On planet-fall you pick a spawn, rooftops, random ground placement, or a field vehicle, and choose your loadout, default or custom: sniping, assault, logistics or a shock trooper for taking out vehicles. A map and overhead icons mark friend and foe, visible through objects once you’re close enough, so battlefield awareness is solid. Death works as it does in the MMO: jump into a clone body and get back in after a ten-second delay.

DUST troopers can call in their own vehicles, seemingly without limit. Drop ships carry six soldiers and a pilot, two of whom can work heavy cannons against other ships, ground vehicles and troops; tanks run a two-man crew of driver/primary gunner and a secondary gunner. Soldiers field sniper rifles and missile launchers, with kit like shield generators to stay alive. It’s a promising stab at a sci-fi console FPS, though the beta gave no real look at the headline DUST-to-EVE integration, the feature its audience most wants. We’re keen to see future betas bring more of the EVE world into DUST, and vice versa.