The combat is hectic - all abilities have a one second cooldown, with no “mana” cost. Hilliam says, “If you’re not hitting a key every second, then you’re not maximizing your output.” You base tactical decisions on immediate gain versus delayed power. Some abilities are weaker, yet produce charges needed to execute “finishing” abilities. Also, accumulating a certain type of charge makes abilities of different schools less powerful. For example, if you build up offensive charges, then your healing abilities won’t be as strong. Using healing will also reduce your offensive charges, delaying the use of your ultra-offensive abilities.

Hilliam intends for Fury to induce a sense of camaraderie in each server, known as a Realm. Realms are integrated into the storyline as parallel universes of each other. Within each Realm is a sanctuary, a combat-free zone that acts as a hub connecting the battle areas, and as a place to meet up with allies and make purchases. Although you can challenge people on your own Realm to “friendly” combat, all ranked matches occur between Realms. Players within a Realm can work together by donating Essence to obelisks that provide Realm-wide bonuses.

So Realms that do well will be more powerful than others, and according to Hilliam, “The lowest players, the total newbs, are earning as much Essence as the most experienced players, so their input to the game makes a difference to their top-ranked guys.” The well-organized Realms will be telling everyone what obelisks to donate to, so they can focus their essence into the desired bonuses.

Fury is shaping up to be a potential breath of fresh air in the quest-grinding dominated MMO market. The build we saw still had framerate issues, but if Auran can iron those out, Fury may be what gamers wanting more pick-up-and-play action in their MMOs are looking for.