LawBreakers smashes into closed beta this month

"Lawbreaker!" shouted the fogie queueing ahead of me. It was a sunny San Francisco afternoon and we stood at a crossing where a pedestrian had brazenly crossed the quiet road against the lights.

"I was thinking the same thing!" her friend added.

I don't know if LawBreakers [official site] is trying to conjure up images of Judas Priest and The Clash with a name like that, rock 'n' roll rebels, but I'll always think of those two cranks sick of jaywalkers. But if you want to see more of the upcoming multiplayer FPS from Boss Key, the new studio founded by Cliff Bleszinski of Unreal Tournament and Jazz Jackrabbit fame, you can sign up for the closed beta which starts March 16th.

LawBreaker, to refresh your memory, is a class-based arena shooter with loads of neat-looking movement options, from grappling hooks to slingshotting yourself through gravitational anomalies. The name is awful (ha-ha-hilariously, 'Law' and 'Breaker' are the two sides of some futurefight blah blah) and the character design is boring but I did dig what Rob Zancy thought after playing last year. Here's a chunk o' thoughts:

"The fact that Lawbreakers got me flashing back to Facing Worlds in Unreal Tournament, or the Bouncy Map in Quake 3 Arena tells me that something special is going on there. I went into Lawbreakers thinking it was a game stuck in the past, but left feeling like it was a game unencumbered by the present."

If you're into that, go sign up for the beta through the game's site. Boss Key say the first closed beta will start on Thursday, March 16th and end on Sunday the 19th. Alpha testers are automatically in the beta. Given that Boss Key spaffed alpha keys all over the place -- we alone gave away 10,000 -- I'm guessing they won't be stingy with the beta.

LawBreakers is due to launch later this year. It was initially announced as free-to-play but has since switched to being a regular paid game.