Really, though, I should stop referring to the game as an MMO, at least in the traditional sense. The developers went as far as to say they don't even consider their game to be an MMO at all. Tactica online is an Online Turn-Based Strategy game. The big difference in this game and many others is that it is 100% PvP. There is no monster grinding, no loot gathering from monsters - just player vs. player combat.

The game's graphics are nice but are also still being worked on (the game won't be ready for beta until sometime next month). At the moment they have one default stand in character model. Based lo0sely in history, the game will feature only humans, but in the coming weeks we should see more variety among those humans. Besides that, some spell effects were shown and they were rather pretty.

Gameplay is what will set this game apart, though. There will be a very large storyline for players to play through (100 hours if you manage to never lose a combat situation which, according to the developers, is impossible) that will be pushed along by missions. Players will also have a lasting effect on the world when large tournament like events take place - the last few teams will then play in an event which will determine if certain towns are destroyed or kept around or various other scenarios. After you finish the main story, you can also still compete against other players in more generic battles.

There will always be players online for the regular missions, too. Since there are not multiple servers, it should be easy to find someone to play against. You don't even have to wait for someone to attempt the same mission as you - while one player may choose to defend an artifact, another group may be asked to steal it. These elements lead to a fun and unique mission system that will be engaging to many players that use different play styles.

Also of interest is the way you build your army. You won't end up actually having a single character that you play but will instead have multiple characters under your command. Each of these characters can be tailored to your liking - want a character with more axe skills and less ability to do anything else? You're able to. Each skill will up the "point value" of a unit (think along the lines of the Warhammer 40k units) and missions will have a point cap that determines what troops you can bring along. According to the developers, any composition of units can succeed at a mission - success will be dependent on the player properly using the units he has chosen to bring along. Multiple players can also be part of a group, with one controlling certain members of the army and another controlling the rest.

Also, there is no leveling in the traditional sense of a level grind. Sure, you will have skills you earn through missions and abilities, but these aren't earned by bashing tons of bunnies. You're also able to consistently respect your and your army's skills and abilities. Experience is still around, but is not used for levels - it is more of an influence-type rating that will allow you to recruit more troops into your army. You can also share members of your army with your guild mates.

Overall, there are some very nice ideas being implemented by the Tactica Online team. If they can continue to make progress on the game and implement the rest of their ideas as they plan, this game should see a large amount of success worldwide. Tactica Online promises to offer a highly intelligent and fun gameplay dynamic never before seen online.