With the aide of the handy dandy pre-order cards provided by select retailers, players will be able to participate in a beta that runs from September 17 to October 7. Depending on where they pre-order from, gamers will receive one of three different colors for their armor--yellow (Best Buy), rust red (GameStop), and silver (Wal-Mart)--in the final game.

Pre-ordering customers are also eligible to purchase a $149.99 lifetime subscription for Hellgate: London before November 30. Though not required for online play, subscription grants players new in-game content, 12 character slots rather than 3, access to a Diablo II-esque Hardcore mode, the freedom to bypass server queues, account-wide storage for 40 items (as opposed to 20 items), the ability to create guilds and attain officer status, distinguishing features and subscriber-only equipment, in-game VIP shuttles, and 24-hour customer support. The monthly subscription fee is set at $9.99 in the US, €9.99 in Europe and £6.99 in the UK.

"We want to continue moving Hellgate: London forward in some really exciting directions, and to support ongoing development we've created a subscription service to give players access to new content as we go along," Flagship CEO Bill Roper explained when the subscription pricing was announced. "In short, what subscribers are getting is new content--not simply 'better' things. Another way of thinking of this would be that we're delivering smaller expansions over time rather than having players wait a year or more before they finally get something new."

For more on Hellgate: London, check out Nick Breckon's impressions of the title and the footage below.

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