Firefall holds first public beta this weekend, new game footage released

Ambitious MMO shooter Firefall is set to open its servers to a new wave of bug hunters.

Ambitious MMO shooter Firefall is set to open its servers to a new wave of bug hunters. That's "bug" in both senses: those in the game's code and the squishy beasts you'll be shooting. From January 25 - 27 the game will be holding its first 48-hour public beta weekend, letting anyone who registers for a Firefall accountrun around its massive open world. In preparation for the test, Red 5 have released a trailer, giving potential participants a taste of what to expect.

Firefall is a many-genred MMO set on a future Earth overrun by giant bugs and humanoid "Chosen". Red 5's vice president of development, James Macauley, describes it like so: "We're a shooter, we're an online shooter, we're a social game, we're an MMO, we're an RPG, we're an RTS. There's a massively persistent open world, deep character progression, deep backstory and lore, competitive PvP and e-sports-focused match types, ladders and leagues. We have all these different aspects of different games, we have the social features of MMOs, we have armies – built-in clan support much like a guild – we have all of this stuff and it's a free-to-play game."

That's a lot of stuff to cram into a single download. Still interested? You can find further details of the beta weekend at the Firefall website, and read Rich's massive preview right here.