"That's a hot topic of debate, whether or not to tone down piloting's difficulty."

They look shiner, but they're a hell of a lot tougher to fly.

It immediately gives players a list of objectives based on where they are on the map, their class, and what their empire needs.

This land may be dusty, but I'll still shoot you if you try to take it from me.

"We decided to make something really valuable, something people want to use."

Kids today, with their iPads and their Instagrams...

Up to 2,000 players at once will be able to do battle in PlanetSide 2 Yes, Sony Online Entertainment's PlanetSide sequel puts the massive in MMOFPS, but it wasn't until I spoke with Creative Director Matt Higby that I recognized just howSOE is trying to make PlanetSide 2. With its deep strategy elements, its free-to-play model, its controls, its endless customization options, all on an all-new game engine built to take advantage of modern PC hardware, PlanetSide 2 looks big in every way. Heck, even its mobile app looks like it could blow its competitors out of the water. Is it any wonder PlanetSide 2 blew our minds at E3 One of the first things I noticed about Higby's San Diego office was his canine buddy chewing on a T-shirt emblazoned with the Vanu Sovereignty logo. The next thing I noticed is the full flight-stick setup on Higby's gaming desk, complete with foot pedals. Imagine my delight when Higby revealed he was using the controller setup to play PlanetSide 2.In the original PlanetSide, flight has a barebones, floating-camera feeling to it. Anyone can hop into a Mosquito or Galaxy and instantly become a successful pilot. In PlanetSide 2, flying has been reworked from the ground up. I had the chance to sample PlanetSide 2's flight at E3, and I'd describe it as a mix of jet and helicopter flight from Battlefield and Arma 2. I crashed. A lot. Like in Battlefield 3, vehicles now give the sensation they have true mass, and if you're not managing the throttle and hover controls, your plane will drop like a stone. Until you learn what you're doing and get a feel for it, it's straight-up"That's a hot topic of debate, whether or not to tone down piloting's difficulty," Higby said. "It's a true skill in PlanetSide 2, and it requires pilots to actively fly the plane, not just float. It's tough, but it feels really good when you actually learn how to fly. We're designing it in a way that, for guys who love piloting, they'll want to make a PlanetSide 2 career out of it."Yes, a career. Because of the variety of gameplay options available through upgrades -- options that will allow pilots to customize their aircraft with speed for scouting, heavy armor for troop transport, bombs for air-to-ground attacks, missiles for dogfighting, and much more -- there's enough depth there to keep most players busy for a long time. Yet flying is just one piece of the PlanetSide 2 experience (and for many players a minor one), but the skill, depth, and variety SOE has planned is a good example of its ambition level. And oh yeah, flight-stick controls are confirmed.In the original PlanetSide, bases and outposts dot the massive continents the three factions fight over, restricting battles for the most part to small, specific hotspots in the game world. The rest of the huge map is merely scenery you trek through to get to the next base. In PlanetSide 2, SOE plans to make use of that vast terrain. Continents are sliced up into state-like territories; each is contestable, and every single one is worth fighting for because of the precious resources they provide -- resources your army needs to buy all those shiny tanks and planes. It's a new territory control system, and it not only expands battle lines, it injects a ton of strategic depth into warfare."Do you whittle down an empire's resources before you attack so they won't have as many tanks? Do you try to take over a region behind an enemy base so you can flank?" Higby asked. "It's a level of complexity that comes with these massive maps and the territory-control system. It's deep strategy, but you can also just be a soldier on the ground, going with the flow and thinking, 'Oh, shit, I'm in a 300-person battle.'"With so many potential objectives, SOE realized it had to make it easier for players to not only drop into a map and be able to quickly decide where to go, but coordinate with other soldiers in their faction so they wouldn't end up storming a base solo. That's what PlanetSide 2's new automated Mission System is for -- it immediately gives players a list of objectives based on where they are on the map, their class, and what their empire needs. Select a particular objective, and, bingo -- you'll instantly be placed in a squad with all other players who are also on the same mission.Higby compared the Mission System to PvE quest systems built into MMORPGs. "There won't be any 'kill X number of X faction and collect their helmets' or guys with exclamation points above their heads doling out quests," he promised. "But there will be a variety of objectives to choose from and plenty of things for players to do rather than just blindly trying to find the nearest battle."One of the ways I plan on selecting objectives and coordinating attacks is through the PlanetSide 2 mobile app. Hey, I heard that scoff. At least take a moment to hear what I have to say about the free app before you write it off. I'll start with this: VOIP. Now that I have your attention…Voice chat tied directly to PlanetSide 2 will be included in the mobile app, giving players a quick, easy way to coordinate with teammates and friends who are currently playing. Along with voice, the app will include all of the detailed stats and info you would expect, as well as a persistent, real-time map of your server's continent. I envision my iPad propped up next to my keyboard, the shifting territories of the map on display, and coordinating with teammates to plan our attack on the fly -- all without exiting the main screen on my monitor. Nice."It started out as a simple library app, but we realized that's not something that's relevant to everyone who plays the game," Higby said. "So we decided to make something really valuable, something people want to use -- not some bullshit companion app that doesn't really do anything. We realized the perfect way to do that would be with a voice chat system."I got to sample the mobile app during my PlanetSide 2 demo at E3, and I can confidently say I will absolutely use it, particularly because it's free. This brings us to the biggest, boldest move SOE is making with PlanetSide 2: making it free to play.A quick anecdote: when the original PlanetSide launched as a subscription MMOFPS in 2003, I got in on the ground floor and marveled at the massive class- and team-based battles. I had a blast. So much so that I gushed to a PC gaming friend. When he finally made it over to my house to check it out a few weeks later, I eagerly dropped onto the continent and headed off in search of battle. I wandered around for about 20 minutes, didn't see another digital soul, and tried to explain. My friend just laughed and thanked me for making his decision whether or not to pay a sub to play PlanetSide easy.That's when I realized what had happened: once the 30 day free trial was up, players vacated en masse. Sure enough, my PlanetSide experience never came close to those early day highs again. A couple months later, I threw in the towel. I told Higby that, while all of the new features and tweaks sounded fantastic, I thought the F2P model would be the PlanetSide 2 difference-maker. He agreed."I love the free-to-play model. I'm a huge fan," he said. "I think it's one of the best things to ever happen in PC gaming. It's a model that comes naturally to PlanetSide and makes perfect sense: there will always be huge populations for fights, and the more players there are, the more stuff there will be for people to do."Higby said that all of the hundreds of weapons, armor, equipment, and upgrades -- aside from purely cosmetic items -- will be unlockable by playing. There will be XP boosts for sale and some weapons will be available for purchase, but Higby is adamant that a purchased item will never give a player strength or advantage, but rather a new play-style choice.Free to play is the most significant change SOE is making to its already massive game, and it's got me thinking PlanetSide 2 will not only attract a legion of new fans, but raise the shooter bar to a lofty new height -- free or otherwise. This thing is going to be: Is there such a thing as a game withplayers? I mean, as long as the map is big enough to fit them all comfortably -- I wouldn't want to cram 2,000 players onto de_dust. PS: PlanetSide 2 beta should be starting up sometime in the next couple of months, so keep an eye out!