It's no stretch to say that the in-development Star Citizen is among the most ambitious games we've seen for quite some time. One of the game's pillars is its first-person gameplay, and players will soon be able to get a taste thanks to a new preview release called Star Marine. In an in-depth blog post, Star Citizen-in-chief Chris Roberts says this preview will introduce the first-person gameplay that will later underpin parts of the campaign mode, Squadron 42, and the open-world Star Citizen itself.

Highlights of Star Marine include polished character models, fancy character animations, sophisticated lighting, and a zero-g movement system. These features are all tied together in an in-game sport called SATA Ball. Teams of players will have to move through a zero-G arena, using only their in-game bodies and a grappling hook, to capture a ball and return it to a goal. Gunplay is surprisingly minimal here—the only weapon available is a stun gun that incapacitates players for a short time.

After reading through the Star Marine blog post, one could be forgiven for thinking that there's enough material here to make for an entire game in itself, but it bears repeating that the FPS component is but one element of what's shaping up to be a titanic in-game universe. Roberts envisions a seamless world where a player can land their spacecraft, hop out of the cockpit, and immediately engage in a firefight without interruption. That's all very cool, and it's no wonder that the game could weigh in at 100GB when it's released.