Lawbreakers Release Date And Open Beta Announced

The release date and news of one last beta testing for the arena shooter Lawbreakers have been announced today at E3, and it looks like the game will be released a bit sooner than expected.

A competitive FPS from Cliff Bleszinksi, the creator of Gears of War, those who have seen some footage of the game's gameplay or have played in the betas themselves will likely notice some class-based teamwork that certainly feels like the successful strategy that Overwatch has become so known for. However, the game veers off sharply from Overwatch in terms of the combat and the graphic violence, though that should be no surprise given the history that Bleszinki has with Gears of War, game's that featured some executions and kills that were both rewarding and barbaric.

Currently revealed for the game, we're looking at eight different playable classes that include specialized characters such as the Titan, Enforcer, Battle Medic, and the newest revealed class, the Wraith, each class with their own strengths and weaknesses. The Wraith class, for example, can bounce off of walls and manipulate gravitational energy to alter the rules of the battlegrounds.

Speaking of gravity, a lot of those rules of physics players might be used to don't really apply in this game. A cataclysmic event known as "The Shattering" changed landscapes and even the rules of gravity. Across the six maps that are currently available, you can expect to come at your enemies and rain down some death from all kinds of creative angles as you glide through the air, less limited by that pesky gravity.

One thing that also looks promising about the game is that it appears to be taking strong measures to make sure the final product looks good by allowing players to test the gameplay during multiple beta stages. After an initial beta closed, a second one ran in May, and with the announcement during today's conference, it was revealed that there would be another closed beta for the game on June 28. If you couldn't get into that beta, an open beta will take place on June 30 for everyone to join in.

Lawbreakers is set to be released on PlayStation 4 and PC on August 8.