The idea is simple: make the most instantly exciting MMO possible. Unless you are some sort of number-crunching, button-pushing accountant that likes to collect different kinds of paper from around the world as a hobby, the appeal should be obvious. Fury takes some of the most advanced first-person shooters, throws in a little MMO and adds a dash of RPG. In a nutshell, it’s the most advanced, progressive PvP game coming out on the market. It’s not like a traditional MMORPG; Fury will have none of the level-grinding and mob-killing in order to be eligible for Arenas and Battlegrounds. However, if you like to level-grind and killing countless amounts of boars is your passion, then stop reading here, Fury doesn’t want you.

What Fury brings to the table is the ability to move through many available arena types the minute you download it onto your computer. From the moment you sign on, you’ll be PvPing as quickly as you like. Auran is the design house behind Fury. They have cool people working for them and those cool people showed a few things about Fury.

Australia-based Auran has been developing games since 1995. And, as we’ve learned from the Discovery Channel, everything in Australia is either dangerous or large. Some things are actually large AND dangerous, alligators, kiwis and deadly kualas with big spears (oh, wait, that was a dream). Australia has some sexy in it too. Kylie Minogue for you guys out there and Hugh Jackman for us girls. Hugh = yummy!!!!

Auran has recruited some of the most talented designers in the industry. Some of them have designed such MMO games as Star Wars: Galaxies, Ultima Online and Asheron’s Call I & II. They have come up with some of the most unique in-game features in PvP gaming today, even going so far as to state, ?their intention is for Fury to be a revolutionary form of PvP gaming.?

Fury has a release date set for October 9, 2007, according to Auran’s Michael Hampden, who is Content Designer. He also says that it’s currently in closed beta and will be in open beta on July 27, 2007.

Fury takes on the best elements of a traditional MMORPG and combines those with a fast-paced PvP combat system. It looks and plays like an amazing FPS, having beautiful fluid graphics and an easy-to-learn user interface. It’s also a fast game. It’s so fast that you won’t even see your bloody body fly across the screen. Don’t go AFK — hell, don’t blink — or you’re dead. I’m going to buy some stock in Visine for all the dry eyes that will be playing this game. At the recent EIEIO convention I was able to play the game a bit and came to love the “pick up and play” instant action. It’s fast, it’s furious, and it’s fun.

When I logged on, I was instantly put into an arena. My opponent? A short, blond female played by my cohort here at WanderingGoblin.com, Pig. He tried his best to get me, but I shocked him with something blue and then set him on fire with something red. (Yes, in the excitement I was key-mashing; so sue me). The point is, he died….ten times. Damn I love ganking that guy.

Game features will include the ability to make a guild, an “incarnation system”, a roll system for gear drops, voice-over IP and free content patches. We tried to find out more about Free-Play, but mum’s the word for now, they are looking into it. Also, being a PvP exclusive game, there will be no questing or grinding. Simply put, what this game is all about is cutting, chopping, or otherwise blasting your opponent to smithereens. It supports both casual and hard-core pvp players, with rewards for solo play, groups, guilds and realms.

What makes the game fun and entertaining is that there are over 400 skills to learn and combine. These must be unlocked by completing “trials” through specific trainers. Trials are very basic PvP goals that unlock these new abilities. The challenge lies in the ability to come up with the perfect harmony of skills to make your character invincible.

Character creation is extremely flexible with millions of ability and equipment combinations. This is a big feature; no two characters will be alike. It’s unlikely there will be cookie-cutter builds or specs in Fury.

Character creation is also, in one sense, simple. Human, male or female. There are a good number of appearance variations, but there are no differing races. As I often find myself making outrageous-looking avatars (big orange afros are a favorite of mine), the appearance options were important to me. I don’t know if afros are available in Fury. I tried to ask about being able to have one, but I was brushed off. I won’t give up, not on the orange afro.

Though you don’t get much as far as different races or species, this was a deliberate design decision. Auran’s a small development house, and chose to focus on the animations, the fighting flourishes, the game’s overall polish, and finishing moves. From what we saw, this was a good decision; the game is smooth and plays beautifully. None of the screenshots we’ve seen does this game justice. It’s simply stunning when you see it on screen.

The truth is that role-playing a gnome or a gremlin is not why you’re buying a PvP game in the first place. If you want role-playing choices there are traditional MMOs like WoW and LoTRO, but, you give up the opportunity to open a can of whoop-ass on someones head. No, what Fury gives you is challenging, fast-paced PvP awesomeness. And, while you can only create one character, he/she can be “made over” and change their appearance. In addition, the “incarnation” system mentioned earlier allows players to save different versions of their character. Thus you can save a healing version and a tanking version of your avatar, each with different skills and gear. Further, there are many opportunities to eventually learn all the skills offered in game. This gives your character a huge amount of flexibility and variety.

There are eight basic archetypes which determines what your starting skills are according to individual preferences. Your skills can be changed anytime and modified whenever you like. The way to do this is by gathering “Essences” and using them at specific trainers for skill purchases. There aren’t classes as much as there are schools of magic. The schools of magic include Life, Growth, Death and Decay.

Champion – A champion can withstand massive amounts of damage. They take the brunt of damage onto themselves protecting others from harm. They have a bonus, they can self-resurrect.

Healer - A healer can heal themselves as well as multiple targets at once. They can cure afflictions and resurrect themselves and others. They still have a variety of offensive magic so are still good in solo battles as well as team situations.

Warden – Wardens call upon their magic from nature. Their attacks are infused with power of the wild and nature.

Oracle – Hastened movement abilities, Oracles have great control over the elemental charges within themselves and within others.

Destroyer ? Masters of melee combat, the Destroyer is reckless and powerful. They are masters of dual wielding weapons.

Invoker ? With the use of area of effect or single target fire magic, the Invoker can lay waste to multiple enemies.

Overlord ? A warrior that has mastered the art of melee combat using massive elemental charges and stuns. They are masters at wielding two-handed weapons.

Defiler ? The Defiler can corrupt the minds and bodies of their foes using a powerful disease-based magic.

Each Arena is strewn with different types of ?power-ups? like those used in first-person shooters. There are three types of Arenas to compete in with multiple battlefields to play in.

Vortex ? This is an advanced capture-the-flag arena. It can accommodate 12-16 players or 4 groups. This arena is timed (17 minute) with unlimited re-spawns. The objective is to capture four Vortex Crystals, bring them back to your base and hold them in order to win.

Elimination ? This is a 4v4 timed (5 minute) arena with no re-spawn after death. The objective is to be the first team to eliminate the other in five minutes. The competition is 3 rounds with the winning team having won at least 2 of 3.

Bloodbath ? up to 32 players. This is a timed (10 minute) arena with an unlimited instant re-spawn. The objective is to earn blood points and gather blood tokens from your enemies to win. The team with the most blood points and tokens wins.

You opponents are selected using a dynamic match-making system The system looks at your attributes and finds opponents as close in skill-level as possible. This levels the playing field giving you a fair and balanced battle and a fighting chance.

RANKS AND LOOT

Though there is no level grind in Fury, there is a system of “ranks”. You start out as rank 1 and progress through rank 10; your character gains experience and “ranks up” just like in other MMOs. Obviously, you gain experience from downing opponents and not from slaughtering hundreds of skeletons or kobolds. Auran’s Mike Hampden wanted to make clear that you could push through the ranks in a single, intense weekend if you so desired. Even if you’re a bit more casual about it, you’ll rank up pretty quickly.

Also, in another variant from traditional MMOs, you get gear drops off of your defeated opponents, just like you would expect from a NPC monster. Don’t worry, the loot you drop when you die doesn’t actually come out of your backpack; it’s generated by the computer. The higher rank opponent you defeat, the better gear you get.

Because Fury is a non-traditional MMO, my initial interest when I first heard of the game was limited. Then I played Fury and I had a lot of fun doing it. During the demo I sat next to Pig, who sat next to some abnormally large guy. The irony was that they both were playing female avatars. Since they were deadly, hot female avatars, both dudes were having fun. Isn’t that all that we’re trying to do in the first place? And have fun we did, carving each other into bloody little pixels.

But I digress. Auran, I must say, may be really onto something here. It’s an unusual game. It’s got all the run-and-gun of Unreal Tournament, and the solid RPG elements of, well, any good RPG game. It’s also the deadliest MMO I’ve ever played. After playing Fury, I may never go back to traditional MMORPG battlegrounds again.

The game is beautiful and the graphics are flawless. Character creation is limited, but they had to give something up in order to make the gameplay fun and fluid. The amount of choice in the classes and the skill system certainly makes the game a welcomed challenge.

I truly do enjoy the combat in this game; I feel that I’m always fighting people of my same skill. For once, I can get some PvP action in an MMO and don’t just go in and get obliterated because I don’t have ideal gear. Its nice to always have a level playing field. With the choices in arenas, you’ll never be tired of running the same old battleground. Keeping the arenas timed also makes the game move faster and you get a greater feeling of accomplishment.

Auran is researching a free-play system for the game, though a pay-to-play option will include perks for your character. There will also be free expansions. The truth is, even if we didn’t get that, the game still is worth the purchase. You get a lot of bang for the buck.

In all, Fury looks to be the leader in a class all its own. It will be well worth the purchase in my opinion. Sadly we’ll have to wait until October for the release; guess I’ll just have to go kill some boars or maybe I’ll just wipe up the WoW BG’s with my own bloody body.

See you on the battlefield.