At today's Square Enix Party 2005 the company announced that its PlayStation 2 title Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII will feature an online-enabled multiplayer mode. In this mode players will assume the role of members of Shinra Corporation's elite special forces unit Soldier. They can either fight alongside each other to clear various missions or take on each other in a versus mode.

Starting August 1st, Square Enix will begin accepting applications from fans wanting to participate in beta testing phase for the online mode. The beta test itself is planned to go ahead sometime this fall.

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII will be available in Japan sometime this winter.

• Dengeki Online