Hell Let Loose

Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X
Genre: Online Multiplayer
Publisher: Team17
Developer: Black Matter
Release Date: July 27, 2021

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'Hell Let Loose' Early Access Update Adds New Map, Improves Animations And Music, Gets Free Weekend

by Rainier on July 14, 2020 @ 6:00 a.m. PDT

Hell Let Loose is a realistic multiplayer World War Two combined arms first person shooter of open battles of up to 100 players with infantry, tanks, artillery and a shifting front line.

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.

Team17 and Black Matter have announced a brand new update to Early Access World War II first-person shooter, Hell Let Loose. The update, Battle of Carentan – the biggest so far for the 50 vs 50 shooter – further ratchets up the scale and intensity with an overhauled animation system and improved audio to bring further refinement to the experience.

The update also includes the new map of Carentan, a city of strategic significance in the days following the Normandy landings on D-Day, that delivers brutal house-to-house, street-to-street fighting in the largest urban environment in the game to date. 

The update, the seventh major update since the game launched into Steam Early Access in June 2019, is the most significant to date and a key milestone for Hell Let Loose as it continues towards full launch. The animation overhaul fundamentally changes how the game plays and operates, pushing realism even further. 

The new urban Carentan map is available to play in either Offensive mode, which sees the defending side hold all of the sectors on the map against an opposition attempting to capture them all, or Warfare mode, where both sides aim to control a majority of sectors within the allotted time. 

Hell Let Loose key features:

  • The brutality of war: Hell Let Loose’s unique scale and intensity are pushed even further with the implementation of a new animation system and greater audio fidelity 
  • New map: The town of Carentan has been recreated to scale using real maps and reconnaissance images from the time to introduce a new urban style of warfare into Hell Let Loose, with tight streets and house-to-house fighting, in a departure to other maps
  • Large scale combat: Epic battles with 50 vs 50 gameplay, broken down into agile units of five.

Max Rea, Studio Head, Black Matter, said: “The battles of Hell Let Loose have been raging in Early Access for over a year now, and with every update that’s been released the intensity and nightmare of war has become even stronger, but none of that comes close to what this new update brings. The real world fighting in and around Carentan was brutal and entirely different to any of the other battles held during the war up to that point, and it’s that experience that we’ve aimed to reproduce as best and as accurate as possible for our incredibly passionate and growing community of players. The animation overhaul is the icing on the cake for all of this – it pushes everything that bit further!”

Chris Coales, Producer, Team17, said:Hell Let Loose is such a remarkable game, not only for Black Matter, but for Team17 too. It’s quite unlike any other title in our portfolio, and that’s what makes it particularly special to work on. The new update brings us closer to fulfilling our true vision for Hell Let Loose, and we look forward to further improving the experience as we approach a full launch.”

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

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 PC (Steam) in 2020.


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