This year’s Gamescom marked a bit of a historic day for CCP – it heralded the first true connection between their long-standing internet spaceships MMO EVE Online, and their new visionary Online Shooter, DUST 514. It’s not much – cross chat between the two games and the transition onto the official EVE test server are the highlights, but it’s a start, and along with a new and improved Beta build, we hope history remembers this as where it all started going right, as opposed to where it all started going wrong.

For those who haven’t really had a chance to jump into the Beta, or who don’t really know what DUST is about yet, some basics: It’s a free-to-play online shooter exclusive to the PlayStation 3. It’s made by the same people who made EVE Online, and the game is meant to co-exist and mesh with that same game. On a base technical level, as we mentioned above, that means that the players and battlegrounds will exist on the same server, but on a more Meta level. CCP have a vision of EVE corps hiring DUST corps to take a planet for them so they can gain resources in a war against other EVE corps. In the same way, DUST corps fighting for control over a planet from another DUST corporation can ask an EVE corporation to help out, either through resources/money, or more direct intervention by providing orbital strikes. This is just a top-line pitch of the game, and some of it may already be a bit difficult to grasp, but I like to sum it up like this: It’s a free-to-play FPS that, aside from trying to give you everything you’d expect from an FPS, also gives you something far more valuable: a purpose.

I don’t care which game you’re from, that's got to hurt...

The new build of the beta boasts a wider range of improvements from graphical updates, to new maps and game modes, to changes incorporated as a direct result of player feedback. CCP may have been around a while, but they’ve never had to deal with an FPS console audience before, especially in today’s landscape, and there are certain things that other shooters take for granted that DUST might not have. Instant Battle, for example, is a new feature allowing new players to jump right into the action and not have to worry about what all the other stuff does, which CCP hope will come over time anyway. With the help of the veteran FPS players who are helping them out in the Beta, CCP hopes that little changes like this will act as a familiar gateway to the larger game, but also keep things simple for players who just want that: Those who want to really get involved in load-outs, the marketplace, contracts and Merc corps… etc… will have that, but those who just want to jump in and start shooting people in the face, well, you can press this button right here.

"Did you remember to buy some fuel this time?" "Er... Oops?"

Having played the Beta, both before and now, it’s clear that DUST may not be the most technically precise of shooters. I mean all the basics are there, the controls are both familiar and intuitive, but the precision isn’t quite there yet, and this may not sit well with veteran COD or Battlefield players who pride themselves in skill through technical prowess. Also like M.A.G. though, we can’t help but feel that’s not the point. It’s that purpose thing we mentioned earlier – now, more so than in any other game, your battles have meaning. Instead of just playing a round of team-deathmatch, you’ve taken the last district in this sector of a planet, which gives you or whoever hired you control of the planet, which means that you’ve just helped GoonSquad take over the universe. Congratulations, have some ISK. Or you could have just played a round of team-deathmatch… players take away from a game what they will, but the feedback is there for those who want it.

Whilst not labelled as such, CCP are taking a very ‘MMO’ approach to thinking for this game. Like an MMO it’s not going to be perfect at launch, and also like an MMO (specifically EVE), it’s going to get regular updates and maintenance to keep it fresh and to keep making it better – maps, game modes, items or equipment, plus whatever they want to charge people for – it’s going to take time for DUST to truly get off the ground, and we hope the more fast-paced console crowd will give them that time. So long as they can attract and hold players who played M.A.G., or SOCOM, or Armored CORE V, they’ll be time enough to get the rest on-board. Last reports had DUST 514 due out sometime in 2012 on PlayStation 3. It is currently in Closed Beta.

Most Anticipated Feature: Seeing the full extent of the cross-over between EVE and DUST.