The timeline is set 40 years in the future. A mining catastrophe has caused billions of tons of rock to break off of the moon and settle into Earth’s orbit. The huge field of debris that surrounds the planet, called the Arc, has thousands of miners, scientists and Astronauts stranded. Since there is no chance for rescue and supplies are dwindling, a war breaks out between the miners who caused the accident and the scientists who are attempting to bring them to justice. It is a fight for their survival and over the few remaining resources – it is uncertain who will prevail.

The back story doesn’t seem to be very well thought out or explained, but the important part is that the Moon Mining Cooperative and the International Space Agency are at odds to say the least. You have the opportunity to join the conflict in this debut game, Shattered Horizon. It is a PC-exclusive from Futuremark Game Studio.

The three game modes have their own objectives. In Battle mode the two teams must attack each other and defend themselves simultaneously; capture the enemy’s control points while protecting your own. In the Assault game mode, each of the teams are to take turns defending and attacking. In order to win, you must be the team to hold out until the timer expires or capture all the control points from the enemy. The skirmish mode is a death match; simply rack up the most kills in the allotted time.

Shattered Horizon is a multiplayer-only game which is built on the same engines used in the latest Futuremark benchmark game, 3DMark Vantage. You must relearn your FPS strategies as this game is set in zero-gravity space and the third dimension makes for some interesting game-play. Don’t forget which way is up! The price is a under $20 which is about right for a PC strategy of this ilk. Versions of this game are available from just about any gaming retailer or you can visit the Futuremark site directly and purchase the game.