Loadout is a multiplayer arena shooter that hides its Quake and Unreal colours behind a third-person perspective. It’s a rude, rip-roaring good time according to our Loadout review, deepened by a clever weapon-crafting system. And it’s just got properly competitive, thanks to a ranked mode.
Update 3.0’s ranked beta divides players into divisional tiers and brackets on a new playlist.
“Before you get too anxious to play some Ranked, make sure that you have reached the appropriate level to compete!”, warn developers Edge of Reality.
Yes: players need to hit level 10 before they can enter the ranked playlist. But once they do, they can play the familiar Jackhammer and Annihilation modes competitively and be ranked against their peers post-match.
Players will need to play 12 provisional matches before being ranked, to allow the game time to assess their abilities. They’ll maintain a separate rank for each mode – so I guess that’s 24 matches before they’re on the scoreboard.
What’s more, the lobby has been tweaked for ranked mode to engender a “more competitive atmosphere” – players won’t be able to see opponents in there. Whites of their eyes sorta thing. Oo-err.
Loadout is free-to-play, on Steam and very good, so maybe get started on those pre-ranked matches now?