You've never played World War 2 the way it was meant to be played... with lumbering tanks dominating the battlefield, crucial supply chains fueling the frontlines, being a cog in the machine of colossal combined arms warfare. Hell Let Loose puts you in the chaos of war, complete with deep player-controlled vehicles, a dynamically evolving frontline, and crucial platoon-focused gameplay that commands the tide of battle. This is a simulation of war... not an arcade arena shooter. 

At it’s core is a unique resource-based strategic meta-game that is easy to learn, but hard to master. 

Hell Let Loose places heavy emphasis on teamwork and communication as players work together as limited Roles in Platoons beneath the leadership of Officers and the force Commander. Using historically accurate weapons, logistics, armor and tactics, Hell Let Loose is a game that demands teamwork and communication not only to win, but to survive.

Featuring sweeping 4km2 maps, the battlefield is divided up into large cap sectors - allowing for emergent and constantly unique gameplay that pits two forces of fifty players in a fight to the death across fields, bridges, forests and towns. The first theater of war is the sleepy Norman town of St Marie Du Mont on D-Day 1944 in northern France during Operation Overlord. It features a stunning and detailed 1:1 scale battlefield recreated from archival reference material and satellite photography.

Players will organise and muster behind the front lines before carefully pushing forward into the French countryside towards the town. They will need to establish supply lines using logistics vehicles - enabling them to build Garrisons and other spawn locations in the field. 

Armor and infantry must work together to smash through the front line and capture territory - pushing the enemy back and earning greater resources to sustain their fighting power. 

Engineers will lay minefields and barbed wire to create choke points. Sunken lanes become killing zones while dense woodlands could mask the presence of a devastating PAK 43 - towed into position by a waiting unit of Wehrmacht infantry. Allied infantry call in strafing runs as hedgerows light up with the fire of a Panther tank and the scream of the Hitler's Buzz Saw - the MG42.

Hell Let Loose is now primed for a hundred-player battle on Omaha beach in Normandy, France. Update 3 brings a brand-new map, based on a historically accurate recreation of the battlefield from 1944 as well as a new game mode, called ‘Offensive Mode’.

On this new map, fifty players begin the match at sea in Higgins Boats and will be dropped off in waves as they assault the beach defended by players on land. The hundred-player battle takes place along the beach terrain, in extensive trench systems as well as on the village square and lush fields that will force players to constantly change tactics and adapt to said environments.

You can learn in depth about Hell Let Loose's second gamemode, Offensive Mode, here. Currently this gamemode will be only available on Omaha Beach. We’ll be watching this closely over the weekend as well as playing alongside you in order to make sure we iron out any bugs and make sure the experience is working as intended in a live environment. We’ll then begin rolling out the Offensive gamemode to each current map (as well as applying Warfare to Omaha Beach) in coming patches and Updates. This will include attacker overlays for both teams, creating three significantly different ways to play a single map. We will be creating new weather conditions for each of these overlays, giving you a fresh experience on each map.

“Update 3 is one of our biggest updates to Hell Let Loose with the much-requested Normandy beach landing map as well as the brand-new Offensive Mode, which will encourage a much more strategic playstyle. The game’s received a lot of positive feedback from players looking for a more authentic battlefield experience, so we’re very excited about the prospect of this update. Hell will be let loose, so come and join us!,” said Black Matter Co-Founder Max Rea.

This update will also bring quality-of-life fixes in the form of some brand-new audio for several fan favourite weapons like the M1 Carbine, M1 Garand and the MG 42 and many more. Finally, another new map will be released at the end of October with several fixes and improvements.

To celebrate the launch of Omaha Beach and the Offensive Gamemode we’ll be running our first ever free weekend. starting today (Oct. 10) until Monday (Oct. 14).

Hell Let Loose is now available through Steam Early Access for £24.99/29,99€/$29.99.

Where to next?

We’ll be updating our roadmap shortly to version 3. This will lay out what we have planned for Update 4 and Update 5, as well as patches between them. 

Animation:

Currently, our animation team are separated off from the main project in their own branch. We’ve been looking at FPP and TPP systems that we would consider to be AAA or world-class in their look and functionality and we’re continually jumping in and testing the system as it’s built. The new gunplay feels far more fluid, solid, responsive as well as visually appealing than what we currently have. The upgrade to new photoreal hands, as well as the ability to quickly match the FPP sleeves and hands to your customisation choices are going to take our FPP gunplay experience to where we as developers feel it needs to be. Matched with a ballistics system upgrade, we are keen to roll this out as soon as possible. We’re looking at U5 or U6 for this - subject to testing. A caveat on this, is that finalising these systems will allow us to add new weapons very quickly. This clears the path to add more US and German weapons, as well as begin on new faction weapons. It also enables us to add open vehicles with ease.

Mapping:

We’re very excited to add a new map with a focus on urban warfare in U4. This map is currently in the final development stages and we’re beginning to QA with greater focus. In the background, we’re half way through another new map that’ll eventually be paired with Carentan during the Campaign. It has a distinct focus on armored combat and bridge control. Finally, we’re setting up a third new map that will be paired with Hurtgen Forest. Like Hurtgen, this will be dense forest but with a greater emphasis on small villages and industrial sites. Our approach to mapping is to have three in progress at any one time, with no end in sight. In tandem to this, we’re thinking about overhauling both SMDM and Hurtgen to use more optimised solutions, greater asset variation and to create more interesting micro terrain. We’ve learned huge amounts about the type of gameplay our mapping creates and we’re keen to polish and improve on the maps currently in the game. We see Early Access as a great time to do this (before we move forward into new theatres).

Customisation:

Our amazing character artists are constantly working on new options to unlock in your progression. You’ll see the first 20 additional German helmets added in U4, shortly followed by more uniform and head variants. We really enjoy creating these, as well as seeing clans and groups roleplay with these on the battlefield.

Audio:

When approaching the weapon sound design for Hell Let Loose, we wanted to deliver an experience that would balance realism with cinematics. Using a mix of real weapon recordings and combining them with other related sounds allowed us to create a satisfying and powerful soundscape across all of our weapons. We have taken your feedback on-board and have improved the fidelity of the sounds as well as enhancing the low frequencies of all weapons to give you the punch you expect when firing. 

Weapons contain multiple layers that attenuate and cross-fade depending on the distance you are from the firing position, assisting in a more realistic way of judging the distance with the goal of promoting more accurate battle planning on the fly. We are currently building out our new system. It uses four main layers for each weapon: initial punch, weapon shot, mechanics and environmental report. In addition to this, we have a new system in which we play weapon sounds allowing us to optimise audio much better, helping to reduce performance cost.  

In the future you can expect more audio changes and additions for the weapons. 

This will include:

• Realistic reflection of the environment you are firing in, whether that be in the forests of Hurtgen, or the fields of Sainte Marie du Mont to the bunkers of Utah beach. 
• Ability to judge the direction of weapon fire.
• New weapon foley audio overhaul to match the new animations in the FPP overhaul.
• Audio delay for weapons firing at distance.
• Improvements on suppression audio and bullet flybys.

The game's first epic theater of war captures the beauty and foreboding of the Norman countryside in the early weeks of Operation Overlord, 1944.

Dense woodland, hedgerows and canals frame rolling stretches of open countryside, while small villages and towns provide the perfect choke-points to command crossroads and high ground. 

It takes approximately fifteen  minutes to cross on foot, and our unique capture territory system demands a new strategy and offers a totally different experience every time. Instead of pushing in a linear tug-of-war, you will be forced to fight across a realistically wide battlefield with an ever-developing front line.

Will you roll armour into Brecourt Manor from the west in order to quickly secure the northern approach, or will you attempt to choke the enemy in the stretches of open farmland between the eastern crossroads and the orchards that encircle St Marie Du Mont? Or will you become bogged down in house to house fighting as you battle tooth and nail to take the Manor at Hauchemail?

Three levels of warfare. Engage in multi-dimensional warfare like never before.

1. Strategic: Play as the Commander and decide on the grand strategy as you deploy your forces and adapt to the ever changing situation on the ground. Communicating via radio, it will be up to you to summon reinforcements, supplies and powerful aerial and naval strikes while accurately assessing the situation on the front line.
2. Operational: Establish supply lines of trucks, transport vehicles and armored recovery vehicles. Supplies will allow your forces to construct minefields, defenses, and Garrisons. Failure to supply the front line will result in a devastating collapse.
3. Tactical: Play as an Officer and establish Observation Posts and Garrisons before working to determine the best course of attack or defense for your unit. Mark targets with your binoculars to notify the Commander and work together to flank, reinforce, supply and obliterate the enemy.

Instead of capturing a small flag, the entire map is divided into capture sectors - forcing each team of 50 players to make continual tactical decisions as to where they should attack and defend.

When a sector is captured, it will generate one of three resources for your team, creating a complex metagame that will influence your push to victory.

Will the cost of spending Fuel on a Tiger tank inflict significant enough damage to the enemy to wrest control of the western flank? Will the Munitions spent on a Typhoon strafing run clear the distant hedgerows and open a path to the town of Carentan? Can the bridgehead at Feuilly be maintained without sustaining devastating losses to your Manpower?

The 16+ historically accurate rifles, sub-machine guns, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, pistols and assault rifles are all accessible in realistic limitation. With no crosshair, a focus on realistic weapon behavior including jamming and overheating barrels, and a brutal suppression system,

Hell Let Loose gets as close to the historical truth of the conflict as possible without becoming tedious or chore-laden.

Grenades, mines, mortars, heavy ordnance, anti-tank and tank rounds dismember, while flamethrowers light up the morning sky. Each one of the 14 playable roles will be equipped with a unique array of equipment inspired by their historical counterparts

Key Features:

• Fight in epic 50 vs 50 multiplayer battles
• Select one of 14 unique roles
• Take control of fearsome tanks - with more vehicles being added during early access
• Bombard and wipe the enemy from the field by taking control of heavy weapons - such as anti-tank guns and artillery
• Build defenses on the battlefield to fortify your position
• Use teamwork to smash through the enemy front line and push through to victory
• Play the game as the Commander and lead your team to victory using different abilities as you orchestrate your forces via the tactical map

Hell Let Loose will be available on Steam in 2019.