The steampunk title gets a UI update heading into closed beta

There's only about three days left before City of Steam goes into its next phase of closed beta. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, the developers at Mechanist rolled out a big ol' overhaul to the game's UI.

The crux of the change will be likely welcomed by MMO vets with open arms. The number of availability abilities on the primary action bar has been bumped up from five to a more standard ten, without relying on a secondary row and your shift key to access. 

They've also given quick access to the game's emote system directly from the action bar, however removed the "Block" ability. We presume you can still assign it to one of the open slots if you'd prefer.

Not to mention, the new design contains 43% more steam-punkiness in it!

If you're interested in checking it out, you can get guaranteed access into the closed beta, which starts again in just a few days, by purchasing one of the Collaborator Packs, starting at just $10.

City of Steam is definitely on my personal list of games to watch for 2013.