Preview of Face of Mankind

Face of Mankind is one of the few games created that goes far beyond the face it was created with almost five years ago. It was built in a time when Massively Multiplayer Games were about to go into a boom like none other before.

It was 2004, and development began for Face of Mankind. Duplex Systems, the coders and developers of the game took an approach very different to other MMOs of the time, where a large majority of the game was completely dependant on a player based Economic, Political, and social society. Ojom, a cell phone game publisher situated for European phones, published the game through Development, closed beta, and release. Anticipation grew leading up to the Quarter 4 of that year with the release of FoM's closed beta, and soon afterward its open beta.

Through closed and open betas of Face of Mankind, the game received much publicity and interest of players, mostly through how it is oriented and friendly to players who sought a unique challenge to the current MMO world. However, as the game received certain milestone updates, the popularity of the game began to demise (a somewhat funny resemblance to the similar NGE of Star Wars Galaxies)

As the game was released into retail, sales were poor and it never really took off into a largely successful MMORPG. Ojom soon lost interest in the game as well, and decided to cease production and development of the game, leading to what seemed to be, the end of the Face of Mankind.

In November of 2007, a little over a year since the retail opening of Face of Mankind, it was forced to close its doors from a cease of development from their publisher, Ojom. The game proceeded to close the servers for what seemed permanently. Duplex Systems attempted to recreate a new game from the ashes of Face of Mankind known as "Rebirth", Rebirth in its own was unsucessful and proceeded to close.

Then came a "Coming Soon" message across of the Face of Mankind Homepage, It was back.

Face of Mankind officially returned on December 1st, in 2008. The homepage came alive with much of the old Face of Mankind content that those remembered, including the old factions, storyline, and content of the original Face of Mankind, scrapping most of the thoughts that came along in a short living "Rebirth"

The new producer of FoM, NeXeoN Tech, is new to the playground, but they are indeed greatly thanked by the Face of Mankind Community for their dedication in helping Duplex Systems bring back the game. Be sure to check out their website for information on them

With the return of the new, new, new Face of Mankind, one can only wonder what to expect in the coming months. Unlike the original Face of Mankind, the game is taking a different approach in several of its past concepts and ways of gaming. First of all, the Game Mastesr, who in the original FOM were in charge of both player support, and planning player Roleplay events and storylines for people to follow, are instead only working on support. It was declared by Duplex Systems that all ingame political and social conflicts will be created and handled between players, rather managed by Game Masters

Along with the Game Master changes, several maps are being overhauled. Rather then have all colonies used, like in the old FoM, only 6 are in use: Pegasi 51, Titan Station, Keplers Dome Ceres Delta, Demorgans Castle, New York City (Only the Manhatten District), and Tokyo (All of it combined into a single area). This makes people more easily able to find each other in game, less strain on the servers, more exciting combat and struggle over territory, and other advancements. It also allows the developers to slowly add more colonies as the population of the game expands.

However, all of the original factions of Face of Mankind's Retail release will be around, giving much competition for these few colonies. Some of these factions, like the Law Enforcement Department, and Federal Defense Corps, are linked together by political storyline as allies, but that doesn't mean that are not permitted to go their separate ways. In Face of Mankind, it seems event he worst can occur.

According to Duplex Systems, the game will be much more balanced than the previous editions. This includes faction balancing, combat balancing, and production balancing with the new implemented systems. This will have to cope with some of the amazing features they also plan to includes, such as a new hacking system, group combat and missions, a new mission system, and more.

When it comes to politics on Face of Mankind, you will see many aspects of it across the game. Every faction is to be player ran, and with that, means player governments, with player designated goals, ideas, and abilities. With player factions fighting against other player factions, the war for small colonies across the map will never end, always leaving room and time for some excitement. It would be a good idea, however, to check out this guide on dealing with Guild Politics.

With a new game, comes new opprotunities, especially in a very different time. Face of Mankind ran in beta back in 2005 through 2006, which seems to be ancient in time compared to now. It's a very different world now for MMORPGS, a world that accepts them globally, instead of being the underground gaming function for those who dare to play. There are TV Ads for World of Warcraft, contests to win MMORPG ingame prizes, and more.

Looking back at the old Face of Mankind, many can say it was one that could be better left to lay dead. Now, however, many of us can say otherwise, and that we are glad to see a familiar face in the world of MMOs. One that does not include grindind and killing PvE for hours, but instead involves close range, fast paced, combat with no levels, no points, and no special abilities. A True MMOFPS would be Face of Mankind, but it's still got the RPG elements.

If you're looking for more information, check out the Face of Mankind homepage ( http://www.fomportal.com )