We here at GameDaily don't pretend to know everything, 'specially when it comes to MMOs. But we do know this: when we first heard about Auto Assault way back at E3 2004, we were ecstatic. An MMO that would let us live out or wildest and most destructive Mad Maxian dreams? Bring it on! Then came the first iteration of beta... and for the most part, it wasn't all that good. There was a time when I personally didn't think this game was going to be worth the effort, no matter how cool the setting was. Things looked grim for the MMO that promised us the chance to hop into our own customized death machine (whether it be a car, semi, or motorcycle) and literally destroy everything in sight.

Then something wondrous happened. NetDevil announced that they were going to postpone the release of the game (originally set for late 2005) due to all the "constructive criticism" they were getting from their beta community. But this wasn't a one or two month postponement to tweak a few things under the hood. They were pushing it back to "Spring of '06" in order to do some massive retooling. So here we are... over six months later, and Auto Assault is finally ready to rumble out of the garage. Was it worth the wait? Let's kick the tires and light the fires to find out!

The setting for Auto Assault is unlike anything we've seen in an MMO. It has a very deep, rich history and back-story that you can read all about here. In fact, it's advised that you do so in order to get the full affect of the ravage wasteland you're about to experience. Here's the Cliff Notes version: a meteor shower rains down on Earth, bringing with it something called the Contamination that turns some Humans into green-skinned mutations. This results in global chaos and eventually - near total annihilation of the planet. The humans develop "Biomechanical Raiders" to deal with the Mutants. That doesn't work. Eventually the unaffected Humans retreat underground into vast underground cities called "Arks," but not before leaving a parting gift. They unleash the world's cache of weapons of mass destruction hoping to cleanse the Earth of the Contamination... and the Mutants. The plan didn't exactly work though. Instead of killing off the Mutants, over the next few centuries the radiation and the Contamination combined to evolve them into more powerful beings. Not only that, but it evolves the original "Biomechanical Raiders" into the beings known as the Biomeks.

The thing that makes AA so different from other MMOs is instead of creating and arming a standard two-legged character from one of these three factions, you're actually creating exotic cars bristling with massive arrays of weapons. It's this vehicular man-slaughterer that you're going to be constantly tweaking, refining and adding to over the course of 80 levels - not your embodied avatar. When you first log in you'll be greeted by the character creation system. This is where you customize your vehicle as well as your "driver," which you'll only see sparingly. You have a choice of being one of the three aforementioned factions: Human, Mutant and Biomek.

Each faction has four different classes, which crudely breaks down warrior, support, command and stealth. To maintain balance, each class correlates to a similar one in the other factions, but generalizing each class like that doesn't do them individual justice. Again, class differences in each faction are dramatically diverse, affecting not just your vehicle, but your inherent faction powers as well. With the ability to mix and match all these factions and classes, playing each one is often times like playing a whole new game.

Bounty Hunters, Avengers and Agents are the scout/ranger class. They have fast, stealthy vehicles that are light on weapons and armor, but can deal out damage to slow down opponents long enough to get away. Their main job is to obtain information, and get out as fast as possible. Commandos, Champions and Terminators are the tanks... the front line warriors. Heavily armed and armored, they can take a licking and keep on ticking. The vehicles in this class are usually, quite literally, tank like. Thus they move slow and handle much less nimbly than other classes. Engineers, Shamans and Constructors are the medic/mechanic types. They are even more essential in this type of MMO where vehicles are the main characters because they can heal, shield and repair on the fly as well as buff members of their Convoy (what teams are called in-game). Lieutenants, Archons and Master Minds are the leaders and commanders of the group. They have leadership abilities that can buff their teammates. Since each type of vehicle handles very differently from the others, be sure to play around with all of them in order to find the one that best suites your style of game play.

You can customize both your two-legged avatar as well your fine set of wheels. The avatar customization is pretty limited, allowing you to change Gender, Body Type and Scale, Eye Color, Hair Style, Facial Hair, Helmet, Accessory and Mouthpiece. There are only a few selections in each category, but since you're not on foot much, it's adequate. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing more choices. Initial vehicle options might seem a bit sparse (paint scheme, wheel style, primary and secondary body color), but this is addressed once you get in-game. Since everything you blow up drops loot (which adds a huge component to the game) you will soon amass a myriad of customization pieces that you can use to trick out your ride. Over the course of the game you'll be able to swap out weapons, upgrade your armor and engines, and change the look of your vehicle by adding new paint jobs and even ornaments at the local Body Shop! Oh, and you get to name your vehicle too!