You can play the Battlefield 2042 open beta right now
I'm going to run at a tornado
Battlefield 2042's open beta went live this morning, giving folks a chance to jump into some futuristic 128-player wars before the game launches in full next month. While there was a brief pre-order early access beta period this week, it's free for everyone to try right now, and is open until Sunday morning. I'll admit, I've never been big on Battlefield, but my pals are pretty excited about this one, so I expect I'll see you in the trenches this weekend.
While I've never been super fussed with military-flavoured games, I was drawn into this one by the promise of very nice weather in early trailers. So, I was delighted to find out that the storms are actually proper good in Ed's Battlefield 2042 preview.
"By no means is the weather a gimmick," he wrote. "The storm didn't just roll in for nice visual effects, it actually shook up the fight. Driving rain and darker skies forced most players closer together, as you couldn't really see anything or one at a distance. This meant both a lot of scrappy fights in crumbled buildings, and a greater sense of comradery with those around you."
To try it for yourself, you can request access on Steam, click the Try It First button on Origin, or hit the Join Now button on The Epic Games Store. Each should give you access to the beta client in your respective libraries, which will be around a 19GB download.
Once you're in, you'll get to try out the Conquest game mode on the Orbital map. It's essentially a 128-player battle amongst skyscrapers, trees, military facilities, the odd tornado - oh, and a rocket that can take off mid-fight.
The open beta kicked off today at 8am BST (12am PT), and will end at 8am BST on Sunday the 10th of October (midnight Pacific on Saturday 9th).
Seeing as the beta has already been live for a bit, have you had a chance to try it out? This will be my first Battlefield, so I'm eager to find out if it's good. When I play tonight, my mission will be to run directly at a tornado. I hope the consequences of this are at least somewhat entertaining.