You might remember back in September we talked about Acony’s upcoming free-to-play first person shooter, Parabellum.  Powered by the Unreal Engine 3, this highly anticipated title stole the hearts and minds of gamers at the Austin Game Developers Convention.

According to the official description from Acony, Parabellum will be a hybrid of the best elements of a First Person Shooter and a Massive Multiplayer Online game.  Parabellum will also introduce the first interactive non-linear multiplayer campaigns in addition to an advanced character and weapon development system.

Set in the future, 2018 to be exact, players take part in privatized global military force actions (not unlike what’s been unfolding on Fox’s 24 this season), where ex-soldiers, mercenaries, and adventurers can make untold fortunes.  Players will choose an alliance, either the CTN; those committed to keeping anarchy at bay, or the Syndicate, rebels hell bent on destruction and chaos.  Overseeing, or perhaps rather encouraging both organizations, the C.I.N. provides contracts to both groups depending on the pending job.  An interesting feature of Parabellum will include consequence decisions, meaning that outcomes from one mission will affect the outcome and procedure from the next mission.  Players will not fight level after level of unrelated content, but rather fight their way through entire cities.  Given the nature of the game and these missions, players are free to choose their own routes through these cities, as well as construct routes that will lead the opposing force into traps.

Taking cues from the MMO world, Parabellum characters gain experience and evolve throughout the experience.  As more and more missions are complete, player’s characters will unlock new weapons, weapon mods and attachments, body armor, accessories and appearance.  Acony is touting over 10,000 different possible combinations, a feat yet unheard of in any MMO-FPS.

Distributed in the US by K2, a quick reminder of some additional game customizations:

• Player uploaded battle music
• Turning off in game advertising
• Clan logos
• And a whole lot more ‘undisclosed’ content

On a final note, while Parabellum will be free to play, there’s a host of available items made possible via microtransactions.  However, the good folks at Acony take what they’re building here very seriously, and realize that pwnage should not depend on the size of a player’s wallet.  That’s why they’ve specifically designed the game to measure victory based on skill and wit.  None of the weapons or equipment in the game require players to pay for with real money.

So get the gettin’s while the gettins hot.  Acony is now accepting applications for their closed beta at http://parabellum.xg1.net/.  Note: you will have to create an account before applying for the beta.  Fair’s fair.