Todd Vaughan of Bethesda has compared the game to a mix between Tribes and Mechwarrior 3, and if you add in a little Descent and a touch of Fighter Ace, then you'll begin to get an idea of how the game operates. You jump into one of the various types of aircraft in the game and head out to kick some Velian tail. Since we were playing an alpha, there wasn't as much content in the game as we hoped, but what little gameplay there was was very exciting and has got us looking forward to more complete builds. Echelon features several different types of flyable craft. And by different types, we don't mean there's a fast one and a slow one.
Echelon takes things a step farther by including aircraft of several different types.
If you're into the whole fixed-wing thing, then there are plenty of planes for you to choose from. But there are also a fair number of rotary wing and hovercraft vehicles as well. They've all got a suitably futuristic aura about them though, so you'll definitely get the whole post-ultramodern sensation no matter which craft you choose. Configuration takes just a quick second. Pick one of the many types of cannon in the game, a plasma projector or two and either a few guided rockets or lots of unguided ones and you're all set.