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Name: Fallen Earth

Fallen Earth is the first MMORPG developed by Icarus Studios. In a world fresh from the release of Fallout 3, what does Fallen Earth bring to our concept of post-apocalyptia?

In 2056, an outbreak of a biological weapon called the SHIVA virus from Asia led to the death of billions throughout the world. Some nuclear warfare helped too, as blame for the release of the virus sent governments into rash action. In the end, only about 1% of the world's population survived, and civilisation was dealt a disabling blow. The technology left behind by the mega corporation, GlobalTech, serves as the only benefits these survivors have, and the LifeNet cloning technology is the most important of all. You awake as a clone in 2156 in the Hoover Dam, under attack by a faction of united tribesmen called the CHOTA, Children of the Apocalypse. You sacrifice yourself trying to save the complex, and awaken four years later as a fresh, but weakened clone, as you lose many of the benefits of the cloning process due to damage to the Dam. Hence, you begin a quest to restore your immortality that leads you across the barren Grand Canyon.

The world of Fallen Earth is greatly fleshed out and realised, brimming with the culture of its people and its hundred year history. Story sections are fully-voiced, and are as competently written as the back-story, even if the voice-acting itself can be startlingly hammy most of the time, with a badly timed, unnatural sounding presentation, even being outrightly monotone at times. Thankfully, most of the time you're simply reading the dialogue bubbles and it's easy to forgive. However, it must be said that it would've made these sequences much better if they included more accomplished voice work.

Just like pretty much every MMO out there, you begin by creating a character. You are given a selection of faces, skin tones, and a wealth of different tattoos. While most MMOs feature multiple races and classes in their entirely fictional fantasy universes, being set in a decimated future Earth, Fallen Earth only has the option of human players. While seemingly a detriment amongst the other choices in MMOs out there, this is compensated well in the game, allowing a breadth of attribute customisation options, as well as different choices in allying with the game's various factions. These factions represent the different ideologies of those that remain, which can differ from the Techs' exploitation of technology, to the Vistas' yearning to return to a more agrarian, simpler life. The game's six factions relate to each other in different way, from being allies, enemies or arch-enemies to each other, like the example above.

Fallen Earth has a thorough, if long-winded tutorial that does a great job in familiarising you with everything that's available. All of the different menus are readily available to access, although you must sacrifice your camera controls to access them, as a click of the middle mouse button transforms your mouse into a cursor to interact with all of your options. You can keep many of these menus open while you actively play, meaning you can have easy access to them in a hurry. Hotkeys can be placed to the number keys, which you can fill with items and Mutations. These are your skills, brought about as a benefit of the cloning process, that allow you to use abilities that can damage or stun your foes, or heal yourself amongst many others. You will also be frequenting your statistics frequently, as you obtain AP, or Advancement Points, separate to your levelling up. These are used to improve your skills, such as Rifle or Pistol proficiency, and must be manually designated in a way of your choosing.