I've had the opportunity to beta test BattleForge, a upcoming MMORTS by EA, over the last week and have to say I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.  Although, I'm not sure that you can really call this game a MMORTS, but we'll get into that a bit later.

For those of you not familiar with BattleForge it is a RTS game that incorporates cards much like the TCG Magic The Gathering.  Instead of having to construct buildings and gather resources, in  BattleForge a player enters a battle with a deck of 20 cards which they can then use to summon units, cast spells or construct towers.  Much like any online RTS, you start off in a lobby and have the option to either start a game that is part of the storyline or challenge other players, up to 12, in a PvP battle.

Once you enter a battle, you start off with a certain amount of Power Points (mana) which you can use to cast some units.  Once you have a small army, you can take over other areas and capture Power Pools which will build up your mana over time so you can cast additional cards and more quickly.  There are 4 different powers you can use to create your deck, Frost, Fire, Nature and Shadow. However each power requires a certain amount of Power Orbs before you can cast something.  For instance, if you want to cast a Fire spell you first need to capture a monument and set it to fire.  Since there are only a certain amount of these on each map it's best to build your deck only using only 2 or 3 powers so you can cast some of the more high level creatures later on in the battle.

BattleForge is a near perfect blend of TCG and RTS.  Being a TCG player back in the day, my favorite part was creating my deck and coming up with new strategies.  BattleForge takes RTS games to another level by allowing players to create armies using 1000's of different card combinations, adding a completely new level of strategy that normal RTS with their fixed units cannot provide.

Once you have created a deck and enter a battle it plays out like any other RTS game you've played except you're not building anything, instead it concentrates on fighting so you don't need to worry about micro managing as much as other RTS games.

BattleForge will be a F2P game, however EA will be making their money buy selling booster card packs for real money.  While you'll still be able to play the game without spending a dime, players that do shell out the cash for more cards will definitely have an advantage.  Gamers that don't want to spend the money will still be able to trade cards and win new cards by completing the storyline or beating other players in PvP.

I mentioned earlier that I don't really consider BattleForge a MMORTS, mainly because I fail to see where the MMO comes in, specifically "massive".  Since no game can have more than 12 players, I just don't see how you can claim to be a MMO.  Yes, you are competing against 1000's of players in a ladder, however you can say that for many online games, including Starcraft, so if you're going by that definition then you can say Starcraft is actually a MMORTS, which it is not.

Aside from nitpicking about the MMO aspect, this is a great RTS game and I recommend any RTS fan to pick it up and give it a go.  The game is set to release in March 09, however if you can't wait you can try signing up for the beta.