[GDC 2011] Hands-on with Spacetime Studios upcoming space MMORPG called Blackstar.

Not too long ago we announced before anyone else that Spacetime Studio's new upcoming game would be called Blackstar. This will be a space-themed MMORPG and will have a massive universe to explore. We got to sit down with our friends over at Spacetime to talk about Blackstar and of course try it out!

While we weren't allowed to film our hands-on gameplay at GDC, we do have some new screenshots and concept art to show you. We also have a better grasp on how the game will play and the controls that will be available should they remain as they are.

The game will function similar to Pocket Legends in how the persistent world functions in Blackstar as well as moving from one area to another using portals. The controls will be all touch screen of course with your abilities on the right side, your virtual joystick on the bottom left and various stats along the bottom right. On the tablets we played them on, this left lots of screen real estate to enjoy the game. The graphics are pretty slick and the concept art was created by the same fellow who helped out with the recent Tron movie.

Screenshots from Blackstar

Animation is also pretty smooth and the controls were very responsive. Also just like Pocket Legends, this will be cross-platform so you'll be able to play against players on iOS, PC and Android all at the same time since it will use the same server setup at Pocket Legends. Combat is different in Blackstar with button mashing your abilities only part of the solution and there will be more strategy and teamwork involved.

Half of you are probably wondering if there will be a flight aspect to Blackstar and the answer is... possibly. For right now, making the ground aspect of the game is first priority to Spacetime Studios but they would like to bring the flight aspect (ships, ground-to-air combat) in at some point. This will definitely be a bit more of a hardcore MMORPG than Pocket Legends.

Blackstar Concept Art

You can expect to jump right into Blackstar sometime in the beginning of this summer and of course, the download will be free with in-game purchasing available. Overall, it is really shaping up to be quite the game. You do not need to have a Tegra 2 device for this game either, you'll be able to play it on most Android devices.

Developer Website: Spacetime Studios