We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Tanks for the memories: Obsidian offers up a first look at Armored Warfare’s cooperative PvE

Armored Warfare

Armored Warfare is a dramatic departure for Obsidian. The developer most known for its elaborate, story-driven RPGs, so a multiplayer tank game doesn’t seem like a natural fit. But executive producer Rich Taylor thinks it makes sense. 

“When the opportunity to develop Armored Warfare came up, we really jumped as this chance to apply what we know about progression systems and complex mechanics and bring it to a new genre that we enjoy playing every bit as much as we enjoy working on it.”

Taylor was at PAX on the weekend to show off the first look at Armored Warfare’s pre-alpha PvE content, where armored vehicles cooperate, blasting enemies to smithereens while attempting to complete primary and secondary objectives.

Armored Warfare is split into PvP and PvE modes, with vehicles being split up into five core classes: battle tanks, artillery, light tanks, tank destroyers and armoured fighting vehicles. They all have specific roles, making them a little like analogues for traditional multiplayer classes. There are support vehicles, snipers and tanks that tank.

Vehicles are upgradable, too, and those upgrades have a cosmetic component as well as mechanical ones. Slap some more armour on a tank, and it will be bulkier, with thick plates covering the chassis.

Taylor showed off a couple of PvE matches. In the first one, there’s a secondary objective to take out some SAM sites. The group of tanks need to take out three, so allied plans can safely pass through the area. They fail, and one plane is blasted out of the sky. The match continues, but the team will get less rewards.

On top of the mission objectives, players will have their own personal challenges. One of the tanks was tasked with destroying an enemy by ramming it. These are individual tasks, not shared by the whole group.

Take a gander below at the two matches.