This week: Rude swears! Writing about more interesting games than the ones you boring people keep buying! And battle advice to people who’ve been dead 1,800 years! It’s some Steam Charts.
Large-scale World War 2 shooter Hell Let Loose has entered Early Access, where it will remain for at least a year.
The focus of its 100-player fights is on teamwork and strategy, and you'll have to keep supplies moving to your frontline while you set up forward spawn points and capture sectors of the map. You can pick one of 14 classes, including medics and tank commanders, and your team is organised beneath a group of officers who will direct your attention on the battlefield.
During Early Access, developer Black Matter Studio will add "several more features, maps, and quality of life changes". Its full roadmap, below (click the full screen icon to see it in more detail), shows that the first addition will be Utah Beach, one of the central locations in the 1944 Normandy landings. One side will battle up the beach from landing craft before capturing areas of the countryside inland.
The team will also add a cosmetic customization system, deployable items such as machine gun nests, and a new attack vs defense game mode during Early Access. In total, the updates will take "a year or more to complete".
I like the minimalist UI shown in the trailer at the top of this article: there are no aiming reticles, so you have to rely on your iron sights. The early user reviews are "Mostly Positive", with 78% of players impressed with what they've seen. It's not a perfect start, but it suggests you should at least keep an eye on Hell Let Loose if you're into large-scale shooters.
It's $30/£25 on Steam, and the price will likely increase as it improves.
Thanks, RPS.
Jumbo-scale World War 2 FPS Hell Let Loose launched into early access yesterday, and after some launch-day troubles seems to be gaining the acceptance of the historical shooter crowd. While developers Black Matter have at least one full year of development still planned, players can jump in now for some gritty squad combat on a massive scale, with huge maps and fifty players a team. Forests are dense, bullets are very deadly, and artillery is a nightmare. From what I’ve seen so far, it seems like a good pick for the tactical squad chatter crowd. See the launch trailer below.