Earthrise

I really didn't know what to make of this at first, but after reading the official site it beclame a bit clearer:



Think something similar to NEOCRON and PlanetSide, but with much more control over how the world and the lives of other people in it unfolds. World War Three has come and gone, our species all but destroying a handful of its population. The game is set on the only remaining, habitable landmass on Earth; the island of Sal Vitas whose flora and fauna through nuclear contamination have been changed beyond recognition:



The majority of people are no longer born. With the advent of cloning, nanotechnology and your mind stored in a data vault somewhere, humanity has been made virtually incapable of dying. There is law, order and peace at last for the human race. People can read the full history here:



The government of Sal Vitas consider the place they have created a Paradise. This is a lie. The truth is darker than the facade currently in place -- after decades of relative peace and prosperity, a ceasefire that was originally made between the Continoma (the corporation that saved humans from themselves) and shadow-government Noir (a group fighting against Continoma's oppressive use of the cloning technology). However, this ceasefire is failing, with criminal organisations and other corporations who have risen also fighting for control of the only surviving resources undamaged by nuclear fallout.

But another threat has arisen. For centuries, descendants of humans in the contaminated areas have continued to breed, creating mutated generations that are no longer recognised as being human. Now using combined intelligence, both factions indicate these mutants are growing a new lifeform in the sewers beneath an area of the island known as the Old City; where the survivors of the holocaust flocked to after the war. Continoma have quarantined this area and Noir refuse to venture near it, but humans appear to be on the verge of starting another civil war.

 

A beta is either in-progress or will be soon, with them requesting participants:

http://www.play-earthrise.com/beta/betasignup.html

Don't ask me what they are using -- I have no idea, but there is a remote possibility the engine is one I've been looking at recently: Unigine.

The studio who makes the engine haven't announced the game's developer as a a client, but the two technologies are very similar... it also looks similar to the Project Offset engine!

The expected release-date is December 2009.

 

It's confirmed, the application is for a Closed Beta happening right now