Auto Assault locked, loaded, gold

Would-be road warriors can start revving their engines, as NCsoft's Auto Assault has gone gold and should be on shelves April 13 in Europe and North America.

Set across the wastelands of a postapocalyptic Earth, Auto Assault lets players build their own combat-capable rides and use them to blow up each other, rival factions, or unfortunate robotic and alien forces that happen to cross the street without looking both ways.

NCsoft has a pretty good track record publishing massively multiplayer online games, having created domestic successes in City of Heroes, City of Villains, and Guild Wars, as well as the Lineage series, which is expected to represent more than half the company's revenue this fiscal year, despite not being an overwhelming hit in North America. Scott Brown, president of Auto Assault developer NetDevil, said the publisher's reputation was one of the reasons his team agreed to work on the project with the company in the first place.

"They provide the best value to their customers, with free content expansions in addition to other ways to grow their game worlds," Brown said. "Auto Assault customers will be able to enjoy new content for years to come."

As far as enjoying new content right now, Auto Assault will be available in standard-edition and limited-edition packages for $49.99 and $59.99, respectively. The limited-edition package includes a headset for in-game chatting. Both versions include a free first month of play, with a $14.99 monthly subscription fee thereafter. Gamers who pick up a preorder box will get a special in-game weapon, some extra loot, and a four-day head start on the competition, starting April 9 at 9 a.m. EST. Auto Assault is rated T for Teen.