The team over at 2 Dawn have had a helping hand in creating some huge shooter titles including Battlefield Desert Combat and Frontlines! Can they make an impact with Ravaged?

Well, I've played the beta and I can safely say that the first impressions are good and to be honest, it all looks quite familiar...

In 1979 George Miller brought Mad Max to our screens. A post apocalyptic romp in which survivors of global war do anything to survive. A world where it's inhabitants crudely modify their weapons, vehicles and their armour. The harsh desert wasteland plays host to Max’s adventure...

Fast forward many many years. 2 Dawn Games start work on Ravaged. An upcoming online FPS that wears its Mad Max influence proudly on its sleeve. Set in a post apocalyptic world, not too dissimilar to that of Mad Max. A series of natural disasters destroy the world we once knew, turning it into the home of two opposing factions - The Resistance and The Scavengers.

The Resistance are made up of ex military and law enforcement and play the role of “the good guys”. They carry the more modern weapons, which they salvaged from military bases. Then you have the Scavengers these guys are criminals and lowlifes. The weapons they use are primitively crafted using scrap metal and junk.

This sort of post apocalyptic setting has been seen many times in games, so why should we pay attention to this title in particular?

Ravaged is a great looking game which has the gameplay to back it up. Those lucky enough to get into this closed beta will be treated to:

• Detailed scoreboards - See where you stack up against the rest of the world..or what’s left of it.
• Multiple game modes - Two modes Capture the Resource/Resource Control and Thrust.
• A handful of maps - Desert and ice themed maps. Comes in small, medium or large.
• Rock, scissor, paper character set-up - 10 classes all in all. 5 per faction, each with their own style and load out.
• Balanced vehicles that promote team-play - Drivers cannot fire weapons, and gunners cannot turn 360 degrees, so the driver and gunner/s must work in unison if they are to survive
• Dedicated server support - Yayyyy

Plus a few more features are to be possibly added further into the beta testing.

This closed beta includes the game modes "Capture the Resource/Resource Control" and "Thrust." In "Resource Control" you must work as a team as you attempt to steal fuel tanks from the enemy and return them to your base before the enemy takes you out. "Thrust" is a pretty straight forward affair - capture and hold the enemy base.

The full game release, will contain the 2 game modes from the beta, over 30 weapons and 8 maps which range from desert, jungle and icy environments. There has been word of a 64 player count, this isn’t 100% as of yet. During an interview I had with Carsten Boserup, 2 Dawn’s Community Manager, I was told that a 64 player count isn’t completely out of the question, they’re still working on it, but 32 players should be a guarantee.

Gameplay is the most important thing for a game. You can have all this content and pretty graphics, but if the gameplay is lacking, you won't get the players! Luckily for 2 Dawn, Ravaged is a solid shooter. Mixing fast paced shooting with vehicular action - both requiring a huge amount of team work. I would also like to add that you can even taunt your opponents, or even an Innocent brick wall - simply tapping 'J' will prompt your character to give your target of choice the finger and a cheeky quote.

I’m not sure if it’s just me (maybe I need to tweak some settings), but the ground vehicle controls seemed a bit off. I found them very hard to control and it takes a lot of skill to become a master pilot of the gyrocopter, especially whilst raining missles down on the enemy. If it is a game issue and not this player’s fault, I’m hoping it’s sorted by release. Being a vehicle-centric shooter, the driving/piloting should be spot on - I will keep you posted.

One of the most reassuring things about this game is the team behind it. 2 Dawn really are listening to the community and you can tell they care a lot about what you guys, the player - the consumer, think about their game. It’s all well and good having your own ideas for a game, but having the feedback and suggestions from the gamers is a big deal for 2 Dawn. At the end of the day, if you’re throwing down your hard earned cash for something, you want to make sure that it’s worth every penny.

It's still early days yet, but my time within this closed beta so far has been time well spent and I will continue to give it my precious time! Solid shooting and vehicle combat combined with great graphics and quirky, dark humour. Ravaged is set for a late August 2012 release. Keep your eyes peeled for more Ravaged info, here on PixelJudge.com