In this multiplayer first-person shooter for the PC, teams of players experience realistic zero gravity combat surrounded by the broken remains of orbital infrastructure and the millions of asteroids now encircling the Earth. With simple and intuitive controls, players have complete freedom of movement making full use of the distinctive environment to control the battle. Shattered Horizon rewards players with gameplay and tactics impossible in games constrained by gravity.

Appealing to everyone who has ever dreamed of going into space, Shattered Horizon puts the player in the spacesuit of a survivor from the Moon mining operation or one of the astronauts trapped on the battered International Space Station. With Earth surrounded by debris, there's little chance of rescue or return. Desperate battles are fought and control of limited supplies means the difference between survival and death in the cold of space.

"Making a game set around the Moon, the Apollo missions have been a great inspiration to us," said Antti Summala, Lead Game Designer at Futuremark Games Studio. "However, Apollo 11 happened 40 years ago, before many gamers were even born. With Shattered Horizon we're imagining what we might achieve in the next 40 years, events that could happen in our lifetime."

The beta is open to PC gamers from North America and Europe aged 18 and above. The minimum hardware requirements are Windows Vista, DirectX 10 graphics card, dual core processor, Steam account and a broadband Internet connection. No previous beta testing experience is necessary, just enthusiasm and time to play.

Beta testers wanted, sign up now at the official website.

Man is back on the Moon and the companies that took him there are reaping huge profits. Their greed soon leads to the largest mining accident in history, when overexploitation of a risky new technique called Incite Mining leads to a catastrophe of unprecedented scale. An explosion throws billions of tons of rocky debris into near-Earth space, its aftershocks threatening to tear apart the Moon itself.

Fragments of the Moon settle around the Earth and become known as the Arc, named after the dramatic shape they draw across the night sky. With Earth surrounded by debris there's little chance of rescue or return for the thousands of people stranded in space.

The International Space Agency's astronauts and scientists trapped in the battered International Space Station are given the task of apprehending those responsible for the catastrophe. Weapons are among the last supplies sent to the station before the supply route from Earth is cut.

The Moon Mining Cooperative finds itself facing serious charges after only barely surviving the cataclysm. Cut off from Earth, they see independence and self-sufficiency as their only possible future and the ISA as a threat to their existence.

The two sides are drawn into an armed conflict. Desperate battles are fought over strategic locations and the scant supplies from Earth that make it through the shroud of debris. Control of the Arc now means the difference between survival and death in the cold of space.

Key Features :

• The real space setting of Shattered Horizon offers gameplay, tactics and freedom of movement that cannot be found in any other shooter.
• Simple and intuitive controls let you take full advantage of the distinctive zero gravity environment.
• The game's unique story sets you in a gripping vision of a future scarred by epic, planetary scale events.
• A sci-fi game you can believe in. Shattered Horizon uses real-world technology and physics as the basis for a fun and accessible game.
• Astonishing visuals combined with functional art design immerse you in the cold reality of combat in space.

Shattered Horizon uses Futuremark's in-house engine evolved from the technology that powers 3DMark Vantage. Optimized for PhysX and multi-core PCs.