New Phantasy Star Universe news...

Quickies:

40 hour single player campaign.
Same 3 classes, Hunter, Ranger, Force
New race: Human, Newman, Cast, Beast
3 planets
20 dungeons
Vehicles

Sounds cool...

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvid...ames.co(que)id=123722

PHANTASY STAR UNIVERSE

18 Aug 05

Since the Phantasy Star series went online in 2000, fans have clamoured
for a proper offline game to go along with it. Five years later and
their wishes have been granted. While Phantasy Star Universe is
primarily designed for online play, there is a surprisingly strong
single-player game included too. Over 40 hours' worth, in fact.

The story begins with the 100th anniversary celebrations of a peace
treaty between the three planets that make up the Grarl solar system.
Your character, Ethan Waber, a 17-year-old Guardian cadet, is watching
with his sister when the party is rudely interrupted by the evil Seed
race. A Seed-produced meteor shower destroys the surrounding area and
in the confusion his sister disappears. Cue the start of Ethan's
sister-searching quest.

The online storyline will actually be different in so far as you see
the same timeline of events from a different perspective, plus every
player's experiences will be unique depending on which class they
choose (Hunter, Ranger, Force User), which race they pick (Human,
Newman, Cast or the new Beast race) and who they team up with. As with
all online multiplayer games you're creating your own adventure as you
go. It's not confirmed how many players can be in one party, but our
investigations tell us it's at least three.

You'll be able to explore all three planets in Grarl, as well as over
20 massive dungeons. Some areas are so big that you need to take
control of vehicles to go off and explore them. As for combat, you can
link a standard attack and a stronger attack to perform combos specific
to your character type, or enter a first-person perspective and blast
enemies that way.

With the game still around nine months away, this is all we could prise
from Sega's tight lips at the moment. There are rumours of offline
multiplayer modes and talk of a monthly fee if you want to play online
(as before), but for hardcore Phantasy Star fans this will be a small
price to pay.