Publisher Good Shepard Entertainment and Ice Code Games have announced today that the open beta for their supernatural turn-based strategy sequel, Hard West 2, has started today on PC (via Steam). The playtest will run from now to June 5th, 2022, the Hard West 2 beta features a small slice of the game’s full campaign and introduces players to some of the special abilities they’ll acquire in their journey through the dark heart of the West.
To celebrate the occasion, Good Shepard Entertainment released a new Open Beta Trailer, which you can watch below.
As noted in our Hard West 2 Preview, the game is off to a good start. If you like turn-based tactics games, you have much to look forward to. Though performance issues could occur depending on your setup.
About Hard West 2 Beta
The Hard West 2 Beta ups the ante on the original game in every way. The unique new Bravado system delivers a more aggressive approach to tactics and combat, rewarding you for going on the offensive so you can extend your streak and dish out even more damage. Experience shootouts on the move with dynamic levels that play out in changing environments to recreate the action-packed feeling of high-speed horseback chases and nail-biting train showdowns.
Demolish your adversaries with special abilities such as
- Gin’s Shadow Barrage, which ignores cover and can hit several enemies
- Flynn’s Shadow Swap, which lets her trade places with friend or foe
- Old Man Bill’s Dead Man’s Revenge, which can hit anyone in line of sight and scales based on the amount of damage he’s taken
- Laughing Deer’s Wild Run, increases in damage the further he is to the target
Turn dire situations to your advantage by utilizing Luck, which you’ll gain when taking damage or missing shots and can be used to improve your chance to hit. Obtain new abilities and give your posse additional skills or enhance existing ones when you find and equip cards from the Deck of Haunts.
Key Features:
- Conquer the Dark Frontier: Wehn first-class con man Gin Carter raids a legendary “Ghost Train” in search of gold, he discovers it haunted by the Devil himself! Non Gin must lead a posse of strange outlaws to save his soul in a land claimed by darkness. Explore the frozen wastelands and lawless frontier towns of the Wild West in a desperate battle against the living and the undead.
- Unleash Your Bravado: Rack up kills to activate the new Bravado State and replenish your Action Points. Rush out of cover, go on the offensive, and chain together stylish kills to extend your streak as you take down anyone or anything brazen enough to stand in your way.
- Shootout on the Move: Hard West 2’s turn-based combat is set in dynamically shifting environments, keeping your brain as busy as your trigger. Let your Western imagination run wild, from horseback chases to tense train holdups, as you hone your strategic skills to a fine edge.
- Supercharged Posse: Unearth mysterious playing cards to build your crew’s poker hands. Arm them with guns, explosives, trinkets, or just some beans and whiskey to keep them in top shape.
- Unnatural Leader: Responsibility for your growing posse of gunslinging outlaws, witches, and other mysterious beings lands at your boots. Make the right calls to get more Loyalty Points and new skills for those closest to you, but choosing poorly will test their commitment to your cause.
- The Good, the Bad, & the Undead: Wild West folk tales and the occult collide in a character-driven story featuring the voice talents of Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series), Darien Sills-Evans (Days Gone), and Adam Gifford (The Colony), plus a score by BAFTA Award winner Jason Graves (Dead Space) and a story co-written by Origins Awards winner and New York Times bestseller Matt Forbeck (Deadlands).
Hard West 2 Beta is open right now. You can also wishlist the game on Steam. For more information about the game, visit the game’s official website.
Source: Press Release