United 1944 is “much more than a shooting game,” to hear developer Novarama tell it. This upcoming immersive World War 2 FPS game promises a more strategic multiplayer experience that focuses on careful preparation and teamwork to succeed on the battlefield. Blending survival, crafting, and building elements with deadly tactical shooting, United 1944 is lined up for its first run of public beta testing in May, with sign-ups available now.
“United 1944 is much more than a shooting game,” game director Daniel Sánchez Crespo explains. “United 1944 is a game about brotherhood. It’s a game about supplies. It’s about selecting what you are going to carry in your backpack for your next mission.” In the large-scale 16-on-16 battles of United 1944, you’ll need to scavenge for supplies and craft or modify your weapons to gain an advantage in battle.
Crespo continues: “It’s about heroes healing a fallen teammate. It’s about setting up an improvised base and defending it with whatever you can find in the city.” Rather than pick a predetermined class, players instead use an “open-ended skill tree” with over 40 different abilities to customise their playstyle over the course of a map. Perhaps you’re best served watching from the rooftops with a sniper you’ve found, or maybe you have the resources to bunker down and make healing supplies for your squad.
“It’s about advancing at night-time and trying to plan an ambush on the enemy. It’s about civilians taking arms to defend their village.” United 1944’s dynamic day/night cycle and densely packed cities mean you’ll have to plan your approach carefully, utilising rooftops and tunnel networks to explore the map and trying to gain the upper hand on your opponents.
Crespo says, “In United we want to tell the stories of ordinary people like you and us who perform extraordinary actions for their country.” From your initial exploration to conquering outposts, consolidating your forces, gathering and honing your supplies and weapons, and delivering a climactic final assault on the enemy base, United 1944 certainly promises to offer a unique, in-depth twist on World War 2.
United 1944 closed beta dates and sign-up
The first United 1944 closed beta on Steam is May 19-21. If you’re interested in taking part, you can request access via the game’s Steam store page, although Novarama notes that doing so does not guarantee that you’ll get access to the beta. While applicants will be chosen at random, more beta tests are planned for the coming months, so you may still have another chance to play if you miss out this time around.
Those of you taken by the allure of grand-scale virtual warfare will want to browse the best war games on PC for more theatres of conflict. If you fancy some less dangerous construction, the best building games include plenty of options that don’t take place in an active warzone.