Mech combat has a broad palette of destruction to offer. At one extreme lies the city-wide carnage of skyscraper-sized robots, coated in sleek armor and bristling in laser cannon. The other holds the more personal combat of power-assisted exoskeletons, combatants glaring as they lunge with arms of steel and titanium. Both Neon Genesis Evangelion and Aliens hold dear places in the annals of explosive combat. But in a stark contrast, Hawken looks to offer a new form of machine-based mayhem.

The first title from indie developer Adhesive Games and publisher Meteor Entertainment, Hawken is placed in a bleak future where humanity’s grasp for the stars resulted in an overreach. Heavy over-industrialization has wrought havoc on a distant colony planet, causing society to crumble inward. Amid the remains of decaying cities and gutted factories, the remaining population is forced to scavenge for what few resources remain. 

Our anticipation for Hawken has steadily grown since first going eyes-on, which makes this first closed beta weekend incredibly welcome. With a launch date of December 12th already announced, this free-to-play first-person shooter is steadily edging closer to the wire. That said, beta is beta and a game can change significantly before launch. While this is our first hands-on preview, we’ll be reporting in regularly as Hawken develops further.

It started with news of storms to the east. Torrential rain hammered the coastline; wind picked up the sand and etched away at your skin. No-one but the foolish and desperate would dare to sail in such treacherous weather, and yet someone did. A shipwrecked vessel, said to be indescribably alien in design, landed off the coast of Freemarch. Who would captain this craft through such a terrible storm, and why? 

So began my foray into the second beta weekend for Rift: Storm Legion, the first expansion for Trion’s fantasy MMO. Since first hearing about it on the E3 Stream and going eyes-on at Gamescom, I was eager to find out if the team would meet its earlier grand vision. Would the developer create a roaring hurricane, or would it be a storm in a teacup? While it’s important to remember that this is still beta, Trion does seem on-course to deliver a strong update to its flagship game.

Even with the second beta event finished and a third one approaching, the live game refuses to stand still. What started as a simple harvest festival has shifted to an autumnal storm, as Crucia’s minions from the plane of air assault cities across Telara. It is under this dark cloud that Queen Miela Aurentis set sail from the eastern Kingdom of Pelladane, to warn both Guardians and Defiant of the impending Storm Legion threat. 

It is a sense of pride, honor and duty that has led to this point. After Yoichi Wada, President and CEO of Square Enix, decided to remake Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV), the team has been instructed to “stop at nothing” in creating a new version. Since that announcement, Producer/Director Naoki Yoshida has shepherded the current version through a number of updates and revisions, while planning for its eventual replacement in A Realm Reborn.

It’s this new game – not an expansion pack or content update – where Square Enix hopes to make good that unspoken contract between the studio and its fans. At Gamescom I had the chance to see it for myself, as I was taken through some of the early areas and shown the revamped interface. First impressions are fantastic: A Realm Reborn has that snappy animation and exaggerated combat that is the hallmark of any Final Fantasy game.

From Yoshida, I also got this strong sense of loyalty to the community. As I interviewed him about the transition from FFXIV to A Realm Reborn, I was surprised by just how much of the original game the team had decided to scrap in order to make the new experience better. The changes aren’t superficial, but run through every aspect from server systems to story presentation.

Calling PlanetSide 2 a PvP MMO feels almost a little misleading. This isn’t a small-scale arena for frantic fragging, but it’s also not a larger battlefield with rules, objectives and time limits. Instead, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has focused on delivering a single goal: all out, large-scale, futuristic war. 

With beta fully underway, it was time to see how well the game lived up to being both a fun first-person-shooter and a great multiplayer experience.  With up to two thousand players spread across three factions on each massive map, there’s plenty of opportunity for strategic, thought out combat. Add into the mix a range of infantry classes, land vehicles and aircraft, and there’s enough flexibility for even the most hardened military commander.

While at Gamescom, I also got the chance meet with Senior Art Director Tramell Ray Isaac. He shared some background on the Forgelight engine powering PlanetSide 2, from origins to future deployment. Isaac also shared his views on why he thinks the unique mass-combat FPS will appeal to a wide range of players.

Guild Wars 2 has come a long way since we first got our hands on it back in February. Since then we’ve admired the world that the team at ArenaNet has built, and dissected the elements that make this an incredibly strong social MMO. From those initial Beta Weekend Events, we’ve gradually seen the world grow, both in the size available to explore and the depth of stories to be found within.

We’ve also examined how ArenaNet hopes to reinvent the traditional MMO, as well as some of the arguments against these plans. Our analysis wouldn’t be complete without also weighing the potential for Guild Wars 2 as an eSport.

As we close the book on the Guild Wars 2 beta, I’m left with a single question: is this MMO ready for launch? My first reaction would be an emphatic yes – everything, from renown questing to dungeon crawling - works. It’s fun to play, with a strong undercurrent of charm and wonder seeping into every aspect of the game. 

But is this enough, or does a radical shift in MMO design require an equally strong change in gamers themselves? Are we ready as a player base, or do we still need convincing? On this, I’d argue the jury’s still out.

In most MMOs, we’re content to go with the easy kills. One time we might be rampaging through a village of defenseless Jawa. Another might see us obliterate waves of cheap murlocs. All that counts is that they swarm like a hive of bees and make a satisfying squish when they die. Sometimes, the destruction of digital cannon fodder is all you need.

Other times, I get a craving to go after the big fish. I see the Big Ass Monster towering over me, taking entire fields in his stride. I watch the other players flee, lest they become squashed underfoot. And I tell myself: one day, we will dance the whirlwind of death. It will be an epic clash of might versus agility, of steel against sorcery. And in the end, when the dust settles, I’ll take you down.

If playing the role of David in a world of Goliaths sounds like a dream come true, then monster-hunting MMO RaiderZ might be just what you need. As part of our grand tour of PC gaming show Rezzed, I spoke to Rüdiger Moersch, Producer for Frogster, about bringing this free-to-play action-MMO to Europe.

Most people would spend a trip to the seaside enjoying the sun, eating ice-cream and taking a causal stroll down the beach, but that’s not how we roll here at ZAM. Instead, I paid a visit to Rezzed, the PC and indie game show hosted by Eurogamer and Rock, Paper, Shotgun. 

Trion Worlds was also there, showing off End of Nations to a horde of avid gamers. After going hands on with the latest alpha build, I barraged Trion's French Community Manager, Franck Vacher, with questions. We discussed team and clan play, the recently announced Founders Pricing deal, and the importance of bacon on the battlefield.

If you've been following our previous coverage on The Secret World, you probably think we've spent most of our time killing zombies, uncovering secrets, escaping Hell and battling long-dead Gods. But while the Secret Societies struggle to keep the world from crumbling beneath us, there's a further threat they also face: each other.

For the fourth and final Beta Weekend Event, Funcom invited all challengers into the fighting arenas of Eldorado, Stonehenge and Fusang Projects. Whether it's to settle old scores against other beta testers, represent your Society in battle, or simply sate a growing bloodlust, this weekend was all about PvP combat. With each of the three factions represented in every location, conflict promised to be fast-paced and brutal. Under the watchful eye of the Council of Venice, victories would be won and glory earned.

We won't have long to find out how The Secret War will unfold. With Early Access starting on Friday June 29th and full launch following on Tuesday July 3rd, thousands of players will be flooding in to unleash chaos on Funcom's Secret World. Although the grand battle is yet to begin, this is what we encountered in the prelude.

Like the petals of an ashen rose, we’ve been carefully pulling back the layers in The Secret World. In a world that’s built like a Russian Matryoshka doll, cracking one mystery open to discover what lies beneath is a delicious reward. Working out the puzzles that unlock them: there’s the challenge.

Since we waved goodbye to Solomon Island, we’ve paid a flying visit to London and headed out to Egypt. We’ve also been on a guided tour of Transylvania and The Darkness War dungeon with Funcom’s Tor Egil Andersen. We also gained some insight behind the dungeon and ability philosophy, and tested the new graphics features.

So buckle up and grab that Agartha beacon, as we whip around the globe in our latest report from The Secret World!

While we’ve been visitors to and veterans of countless virtual worlds, it’s rare that we see one being created almost in front of us. Watching ArenaNet carefully craft the world of Tyria, and unveil it piece by piece, feels incredibly Magrathean. And yet, every so often, they fling the doors wide open, allowing us to scuttle and jape around their factory floor. 

Last weekend was marked with just such an occasion, as the second Beta Weekend Event for Guild Wars 2 saw thousands of players return to their characters and explore the game world further. The weekend also introduced the lush Gendarran Fields, linking the nautical city of Lion’s Arch to the frigid peaks of the Snowden Drifts in the north, and the rolling hills of Kessex to the west.

It’s not just new zones that were bundled in this beta weekend. Almost every aspect of Guild Wars 2, from the user interface to the slot skill system, has been tweaked and refined. Even minor areas, such as the sight and sound of melee combat, have been analyzed and adjusted.  While we’ve been looking at the game for some time now, Guild Wars 2 continues to evolve.