This past month we got a sneak peak at Black Prophecy which is in Closed Beta over in Europe. The game has some epic space combat, wrapped in an MMO with some great customization for all. Black Prophecy looks to bring some new features to the sci-fi MMO genre which should give players a new place to test their flight skills and blast each other into star dust.

The character creation for Black Prophecy has a vast amount of options. You can give your character tattoos, some gadgets, and even adjust their age. MMOs seem to be offering more and more character customization for players at the beginning of the game. We found the options unique and fun with Black Prophecy and it definitely gives players a canvas to create their awesome pilots.

The other area where customization really comes into play is with your ships. In the beginning of the game there is a nine mission prolog that you have to play through, this will give you your back story as well as get you started for your career in the violent galaxy. If you choose to do all of the missions in the prologue it takes about six to eight hours to play through. You can choose which faction you want to fly for, the Tyi are the cyber race and the Genides are super human. Both factions offer great story lines and background for players to explore.

Players can use skills points on a variety of sets that directly impact their ships. Whether it is weapons, engines, shields etc. you can work on these skills to become a better pilot. There is also a tactics and maneuvers area. Overall the skills system in Black Prophecy fits the game perfectly. It is not too complex, but still offers plenty of options for players. There are fifty levels in the game for maximum.

The way that ships are built is through modules. The modules include the ship systems, cockpit, wings, engine etc. Every module has an impact on the appearance of the ship. Each module also has its own weight and can directly impact the agility of the ship. The ship building sequence we got to see was awesome, it was smooth and easy to create something customizable to fly around in. The different options also allow you to build ships that are agile fighters compared to something heavier like space tanks. This is one of the greatest features of Black Prophecy and gives players a ton of options. Players can also choose from three optional views when flying their ships. They can go third person, first person, or also have a cockpit view of the game. All three looked great and allow players the view they prefer.

Players can run missions in Black Prophecy in a solo, group, or clan format. Clans are similar to guilds. The areas that are open to PvP also have a large PvE presence so players are not only fighting each other they are also fighting NPCs throughout the zone. Not only will the Genides and Tyis be impacted in these combats, but there are other alien groups as well to battle it out with. It also seems like the space MMOs have the most vicious PvP combat. Black Prophecy looks to add to this tradition.

It is clear when flying around in the game that range and aim is critical to you doing well in combat. The combat is very much like a dogfight style and kept us on the edge of our seats while playing. With loads of customization and solid space combat, Black Prophecy was a fun game to take a look at. Right now as beta testing continues in Europe, we can only hope to get the game over to U.S. audiences to try it out.