The core of the game is still intact, that being an action oriented, car combat game rolled around a real MMO RPG. Collect cars and weapons; put together different load outs and "beat the bad guys" as Brown says. On top of all the fragging though, there's a deep mission structure with a detailed crafting system that allows you to develop your character's attributes and skills. The same three factions still exist (Humans, Mutants and Biomeks), and there are still four classes to choose from within each faction.

Enter one of the first major changes. The development team was reconfigured so that each faction was given to a different team of writers, operating under their own lead designer. The goal of each team was to make their respective factions look as cool as possible, while being wholly unique from the others. This encompassed everything from their appearance to their respective vehicles. It also included adding extensive hand written back-stories and missions, and even how the environment affected different sections of the world.