Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming MMOFPS PlanetSide 2 is quite an ambitious undertaking. If you haven't been following the free-to-play shooter very closely, this seven minute video from E3 should cover the bases. This is the same presentation shown to attendees of E3--and if you couldn't find a way to sneak into the convention center, this is a great alternative.

Brian Bosch, level designer, goes over the game's various classes and races, from the Terran Republic to the New Conglomerate, and the Vanu Sovereignty. He explains the incredible amount of customization at your disposal, and shows how teams can be formed in an online battle that will feature thousands of simultaneous players. Finally, he shows us how the tie-in mobile app will work, letting you stay connected in the PS2 world from anywhere you go.

There's still no word on when the game will officially launch. However, the team is gearing up for an open beta. "We're currently in Internal Closed Beta which includes daily team playtests, tons of optimizations, lots of bug fixing, polishing game mechanics," a producer's letter explains. "Our next step is a Technical Test Phase that will include testing our servers, concurrent players and further optimizations of both our client and our server. This critical step is necessary to ensure a solid foundation for the first phase of our External Beta."

The PlanetSide 2 official website currently has sign-ups for the beta.