Top 5 Best MMOs of 2012

#3 Dust 514

Though both an MMO and an FPS, Dust 514 won't be an MMOFPS in any traditional sense. If you're in the market for gigantic player counts, you'll have to look elsewhere, as the game caps things off at a fairly tame 32 players per side. That doesn't mean combat will be bland — CCP Games plans to include vehicles and a hefty amount of customization to keep things fresh — but where things get really clever is in the relationship Dust 514 will have with its big brother, massively multiplayer space sim EVE Online.

For the uninitiated, the world of EVE Online is inhabited by hundreds of corporations, all struggling to establish interstellar empires based through some blend of trade, diplomacy, and violence. The transactions may be fictional, but the stakes are high, and that's what makes Dust 514 so compelling. Players in Dust will take on the role of mercenaries, free to sign up with a corporation and fight under their banner. By winning matches, they'll be able to seize planets from rivals, altering the balance of power in the universe. If that isn't crazy enough for you, mercs will also be able to band together and rebel against their overlords, capturing territory from established corporations and forming their own. All that without having to spend a single second in EVE Online.