From Iceland, CCP CEO Hilmar Petursson hosted the first big event of EVE Fanfest 2012. Despite the slight delay, the crowd still cheered when out of the darkness came a DUST 514 live model in full armor and weaponry.

First and foremost, it was explained that CCP will not lose sight of the core game experiences of EVE Online. It will also not be a play-to-win title, meaning the cash shop items will not offer any gameplay advantage compared to the items that will be available to purchase with the ISK in-game currency.

DUST will have many of the same features as EVE and players will use the same stations. There will also be  familiar UI systems that will allow someone who is playing the PC MMORPG to be able to easily move to the PS3 game set in the same universe and on the same servers.

This is not to say that DUST  will be the same as EVE. The two titles are different beasts entirely. DUST will have you on the surface of a thousands of different planets, calling in for not only tank drops, but also on EVE players to perform orbital strikes. Those are done in real-time. As soon as the EVE player types in the launch code and hits the button, DUST players will be seeing devastating effects on the ground.

When the feature was demonstrated, the crowd exploded in cheering. Not many games allow PC MMORPG players to mercilessly butcher console FPS gamers from the very relative safety of orbit, after all. I know for a fact that, as a veteran EVE Player, Giuseppe is looking forward to that particular occasion with a sadistic grin painted on his face.

Another handy feature is the real time 3D map, in which players will be able to zoom in and see all the action in a certain area i detail. They will also be allowed to drop their own spawn points in order to replenish their ammo and health, instead of having predetermined places to have to run to.

The demonstration played during the fanfest was a sight to watch. Using the full capacity of the PS3 graphical capabilities, it definitely did not look like your average free-to-play title. Those of you looking for a good FPS on the console might really have something to look forward to.

The ability to change and tweak roles  and sets of armor and weaponry will add depth, in addition to the the skill system that will be a combination of active progression and the familiar passive progression overtime of EVE Online (it would take seven years to fully skill up with the current skillset).

The crowd gave another wave of cheers when they saw how the fully configurable tanks were dropped in. Incidentally, they can land on  your head, so it's always better to move out of any large, looming shadow. That’s good advice for any game.