Star Vault unveils ambitious MMO

Freshly formed developer Star Vault has whipped the wrappers off its PC MMO, Mortal Online.

It is fantasy-themed, boasting no character levels and a hardcore, player versus player focus.

Star Vault bills Mortal Online as a realistic "sandbox" experience where you shape the world through you actions.

"The overwhelming majority of MMORPG's today belong to the Theme Park category. A Theme Park is often carefully planned and can deliver some very unique attractions," reads the Mortal Online website.

"Mortal Online is a true sandbox game, and with its focus on a realistic graphic style and the deep skill- and PvP-system, it is far from the typical MMORPG fantasy games seen today. The open and player controlled world is just one of the many features that makes Mortal Online unique."

There will be familiar class types such as wizards, warriors, and thieves, but some of your skills will be linked to your account rather than your character - so you could theoretically start a fresh avatar with skills you have already learned. Star Vault also plans to reward veteran players with special classes.

"Mortal Online won't require you to put hundreds of hours of game play to be able to join your more experienced friends or contribute to the game world," the website continues.

"However, Mortal Online is not a point and click game where the stats of your character decide the outcome of a battle, and that may indeed be regarded as too hardcore for some."

Mortal Online has been in development since 2005 and is due out next summer.

Pop over to our Mortal Online gamepage for the first trailer.