Planetside 2 is set on the planet Auraxis, There are four continents that you must gain control of.
Indar: A desert continent with grassy highlands in the southwest, rocky canyons and dry lake beds in the east, and a vast ancient seabed in its north.
It was also the first continent that was created for Planetside 2, and was featured in the trailer.
Esamir: A polar continent made up of immense dry tundras and cold deserts, rocky hills, and gigantic, violet crystalline formations.
Amerish: A continent featuring lush vegetation and beautiful landscapes. Its rolling green fields and forests are routinely broken up by tall jagged rock outcroppings.
Hossin: A swamp continent coated in dense tropical rainforests with mist shrouded undergrowth and a dark, shaded forest floor inhabited by bioluminescent flora and insect like fauna.
You can make a choice of 3 factions to fight for, they are...
Terran Republic:
An authoritarian colonial government that leverages military might to maintain strict control over the colonial citizens, ostensibly on behalf of the mother Terran Republic back on Earth.
The Terran Republic is obsessed with the preservation of law and order, and see the insurrectionary war against themselves as all the more justification for strong-armed countermeasures.
They are thus seen by their opponents to be an oppressive and dictatorial force, but many also view the TR as the only hope for lasting security and peace on Auraxis.
Their colors are red and black. TR forces are distinguished by their use of rapid fire conventional weaponry, large-capacity magazines, high speed medium tanks and fast flying fighter aircraft.[11]
New Conglomerate:
The New Conglomerate operates as a loosely organized band of self-proclaimed freedom fighters.
Viewed as corporate-backed terrorist guerrillas by their adversaries, they violently oppose the stranglehold that the Terran Republic has on Auraxis.
Led by an unusual quorum of outcasts, frontier industrialists, pirates, and turncoat military leaders, the New Conglomerate is unwavering and prepared to achieve freedom from oppression by any means necessary.
Their colors are blue and gold. NC forces use hard hitting electromagnetic weapons such as gauss and railguns that are devastating at short and medium range, but are bulky and unwieldy with moderate reload speeds.
They utilize durable heavily-armed shock troops with slow, well-armored heavy tanks and heavy fighters loaded with arrays of crushingly powerful ordnance.[12]
Vanu Sovereignty:
The Vanu Sovereignty are a secretive and cult like group who believe that only through the untapped power of ancient alien technology can humanity truly evolve towards the next phase of its existence.
They are a technologically advanced and cunning faction, employing powerful reverse-engineered alien technologies on the battlefield.
Their singular purpose is to uncover the secrets hidden away in ancient artifacts scattered over the surface of Auraxis, and as such they view the war with its shifting territories and militarized zones as a pointless impedance to their infinitely more important work.
They fight only to seize and retain uninterruptible, or exclusive, access to alien artifacts, research and dig sites, and other scientific materials.
Their colors are violet and cyan.
The Vanu use advanced plasma and laser weaponry on the battlefield, characterized by lack of bullet drop, high accuracy, low recoil, and quick-re-loadable energy cells.
They deploy highly maneuverable, levitating battle tanks known as Magriders capable of efficiently traversing almost any terrain or incline, as well as wraith like anti-gravity fighters known as Scythes capable of inertia-defying breakneck aerobatics.
There are six different classes to choose from
Heavy Assault: The Heavy Assault class specializes in front-line combat. They have access to a wide array of weapons, including both the Light Machine Gun and the Rocket Launcher, two weapons that only they can use. Heavy assault also gains access to a special "overshield" ability that grants them a temporary boost to their ability to resist damage. Their raw combat ability comes at the cost of having no support capabilities. According to a report released on Reddit by Daybreak staff members in June of 2015, the Heavy Assault class is the most-played class in the game.
Light Assault: The Light Assault class specializes in flanking and surprise attacks. Their special ability is a jetpack, which allows them to circumvent rough terrain, climb hills, and hop over walls and buildings to drop down behind unsuspecting enemy forces. Combined with their ability to drop C-4 charges, Light Assault are devastating against enemy tanks and other vehicles. Light assault can carry carbines in addition to the standard shotguns and SMGs allowed to most infantry classes.
Engineer: The Engineer class is a support class, having the ability to repair vehicles and MAX units, broken terminals, and disabled base generators. They are the only class to have access to anti-tank mines and can place manned turrets that either specialize against infantry or vehicles, and automated anti-infantry turrets. For equipment, they can use carbines, SMGs, shotguns, and battle rifles.
Infiltrator: Infiltrators are a covert stealth class, that can use their sniper rifles to attack from a distance, or, as their name implies, infiltrate enemy groups for closer engagement of targets. With the ability to move stealthily using a partial cloaking device and plant motion detectors or recon probes, Infiltrators are well suited for reconnaissance. They also excel at disrupting the enemy through sniping enemy soldiers from a distance, remaining cloaked in close proximity to the enemy and stealthily taking out targets, or by hacking and hijacking enemy vehicle terminals and base defenses.
Medic: The Medic class is a support class that has the ability to heal and revive teammates. Their ability to revive teammates is very valuable in battles where spawn points are not nearby. They are the only class that uses assault rifles, but they may also use sub-machine guns, shotguns, and battle rifles. Like other infantry classes (except the Infiltrator), they can also plant C-4 explosives. According to a report released on Reddit by Daybreak staff members in June of 2015, the Medic class is the least-played class in the game.
"MAX": The MAX, which is short for Mechanized Assault eXosuit, is a specialized class that is essentially a blend of vehicle and infantry. MAX units take several of the advantages of infantry, such as small size, the ability to jump, and the ability to enter buildings, and combine it with the durability and firepower of a lightweight vehicle. MAX units are highly specialized, and possess two arm-mounted weapons which can be either anti-aircraft, anti-tank, or anti-infantry. These weapons can be mixed and matched by placing a different one on each arm, which allows for either tight specialization or more generalized diversity. However, MAX units cannot operate vehicles or defensive turrets, throw grenades, or use med kits, and they must be repaired by an engineer rather than a medic. Medics are, however, able to revive a MAX, but their health will be low and still requires an engineer for further repairs.
Planetside 2 is a free download, and also available on steam.
I hope this little intro helps
I will add more about the basic mechanics of the game i.e how to capture bases etc at a later date, also more about the various air and land vehicles.
