Jumpgate Evolution - Hands On @ Eurogamer

Jim Rossignol blurbs his experiance with JE.

The first few excursions all take place within a small corridor of beautifully-rendered asteroids, with one large, hollowed-out rock as the mission base one end. First I had to shoot down a handful of low-level enemy ships, and then I had to scan some mysterious object by flying up to it and pressing the space bar (how appropriate). Then there was more combat against marginally tougher opponents, followed by the destruction of a large enemy capital ship at the far end of the asteroid belt.

Each mission is punctuated by a return to the base, where you can choose to sell loot, and to repair and rearm your ride. This early area is similar for each of Jumpgate's three factions, who go through a two-tiered starting area before mixing with pilots from other factions in the core game-world. Aside from the fact that I was flying about engaged in real-time hitscan combat - and the fact that I was piloting a fish-like rocketship instead of an elf or a wizard - it could have been the starting area of any MMO of the past five years.