Isonzo takes place on the southern front of the Great War, immersing players into the titanic clash between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Inspired by the two year struggle for the Isonzo river, Isonzo will see players deploy to new WW1 battlefields which are beautiful but deadly in equal measure. The fighting takes place among the scenic peaks, rugged valleys and idyllic towns of northern Italy. The brand new Offensive game mode puts players right in the middle of key historical offensives on the Italian Front, from high-altitude combat in the Alps through to the ferocious battles for the Isonzo river.

Isonzo is the third game in the WW1 Game Series, and introduces players to high-altitude Alpine warfare in Northeast Italy. Tannenberg revolves around the large-scale maneuver warfare seen on the Eastern Front, and Verdun - the game that started everything - immerses players into intense close-quarters trench warfare on the Western Front.

Isonzo builds on the rock solid and authentic base of the WW1 Game Series, taking the intensity of Verdun and combining it with the scale of Tannenberg. It breaks new ground in the Alps with a complete feature overhaul - including a brand new historically driven game mode - to take the series to the next level and immerse players like never before!

Accurately modelled weapons, uniforms and sound effects will immerse players into WW1 battlefields. Everything in Isonzo down to trench designs and significant landmarks have been recreated from historical sources - ranging from films and diaries to modern photographs of the battlefields taken on research trips. The new Offensive game mode challenges players to lead the charge across stunning Italian landscapes, or prepare their defense on dynamic battlefields. The tactical situation can change at any moment!

React to battlefield conditions by choosing your role and loadout carefully: snipe enemy engineers from mountainsides to stop them cutting your wire, use rifle grenades to clear enemy strong points across the river, or call in artillery barrages as an officer. This is a battle for the fate of nations, and both sides will unleash their huge arsenals of weapons. Players will handle everything from bayonets and machine guns to mortars and rifle grenades - if that’s not doing the job, they can call in support from heavy artillery barrages, bombing runs, or lethal poison gas.

The Great War on the Italian Front is brought to life and elevated to unexpected heights! But remember - it’s not the mountain we conquer, but the enemy.

A long desired visual customization feature has been announced for the WW1 Alpine Warfare FPS Isonzo! This. Means. Mustaches! A Movember video shows off one of the historic mustaches that’ll be on offer - at release there’ll be everything from real soup-strainers to more elegant styles! The WW1 Game Series community have also been participating in the Movember movement to raise awareness for men’s health.

Isonzo will introduce players to high-altitude Alpine warfare in Northeast Italy. It breaks new ground in the Alps with a complete feature overhaul - including the brand new historically driven Offensive game mode, authentic period technologies like flare guns to call in support AND character customization! Cosmetic customization is something people have wanted since the launch of Verdun – especially for mustaches. Eye catching facial hair is associated with the Great War, and while previous titles in the WW1 Game Series featured fancy mustaches, this is the first time each player will be able to choose their own. It’s not just mustaches, of course...

Character Customization

For Isonzo we are introducing a new and extensive character customization system. Whereas in previous titles your uniform and appearance was based on the squad type and squad rank, in Isonzo the uniform is foremost decided by player class and the player themselves! As with Verdun and Tannenberg, the focus is on historical authenticity and an accurate depiction of the troops found on the front. So without further delay, let's dive a little deeper into the different customization options available!

Do note that the UI may be subject to some changes however - this is WIP stuff.

Uniforms

With a class type selected you will now have the option to choose a uniform variant attached to that class. The uniforms for these classes are based on the unit and historical variations of these units, as they may have been seen on the Italian front. We’ve already taken a brief look at the available classes in a previous Isonzo blog entry and will elaborate more on what each class entails in future dev blogs.

While in previous games it was squad level that dictated your uniform, in Isonzo things are different. The Italian and (especially) the Austro-Hungarian armies sported an enormous variety of non-standard fabrics, dyes and uniform styles across the years, so we decided that it was both more liberating and more representative of what soldiers would have actually experienced to let player veterancy in any given class be the primary influencer of uniform selection. In particular, the unique combination of different ‘ersatz’ materials such as corduroy or linen in summer tunics gave an interesting contrast to regular uniforms when it was used.

Uniform options for different units are only available to the class that makes sense historically. For instance, ‘Arditi’ uniforms are only available for the Italian assault class. Furthermore, as the player gains experience in the game, uniform options will become far less pristine - some outright filthy - depending on the deployment of the unit and player veterancy. In this way, every player has the opportunity to give themselves a truly unique appearance, while remaining historically authentic. How all of these variants will be made available to players, in-game or via DLC, is something we’ll explore further in a future blog.

Headgear

With historical accuracy in mind, you can choose headgear from a range of items that are appropriate for the uniform + class type you have selected. For instance only Italian Mountaineer class “Alpini” can wear the Alpini “Capello” cap variants, officer caps are only available for officers, and so on.

This system is deeper than just linking items to classes though: for instance, should you have an Arditi officer uniform variant selected, Arditi specific headgear will also be available to that loadout.

As we did research and studied historical photos and footage, we noticed a variety in the shapes of things like soft caps, with the Austrian “Feldkappe” being a prime example. These many shapes, which usually alter the silhouette drastically, are something we have looked to replicate in many of our headgear variants. For further indulgence, the Austrian forces of the time carried a tradition of ornate cap badges, many of which have been included in our artwork. We hope to go into detail about these in a future Isonzo Intel instalment - they’re quite fascinating!

As will hopefully become evident when you try it out, we spent a lot of time making sure that we offer cosmetic freedom whilst at the same time ensuring we don’t end up with any historically incorrect setups - or indeed anything which looks like it belongs in the realm of fantasy.

Faces

Character faces are also something the player can now select. We have a fair number to choose from, and we have paid attention to accentuate where possible the subtle differences you might notice in troops from either side - e.g. the Italian faction faces will generally sport a more Mediterranean appearance in terms of skin tone and darker hair colour.

Facial Hair

With facial hair we knew from the start we had to do something special. Doing justice to the sheer quantity of different facial hair that was worn during the great war is no small feat! As it’s Movember, now is the perfect time to share our special Isonzo mustache showcase.

Our approach has been to model our facial hair assets from images of famous generals, cultural figures and charismatic individuals from the period. We started the blog of course with the introduction of the “Rennenkampf” style (which is also mentioned in this Great War channel episode). The current list consists of 50 unique styles, and it may grow. From the thin pencil-like moustache worn by Emperor Charles I of Austria, all the way up to large, bushy, and extra bristly ones such as that sported by German General August Von Mackensen.

Facial Items

Along with editing faces, uniforms, headgear and facial hair, players are also able to choose from a vast list of facial items to add even more character. This list spans a range of historically inspired eye-wear, tobacco accessories, and bandages. Equip spectacles such as the pince-nez style worn by many famous figures from around the turn of the century. Choose from some of the many tobacco smoking items from the period, with many different smoking pipes and cigarettes available. For alpine units, there’s even a range of snow and ski goggles that can be selected.

The Barracks

The barracks, accessible from the main menu, is where you can prepare yourself before battle! You’ll be able to see all the available uniform types and variants for each class of soldier for each nation, and customise the above options from there. A variant of the barracks will also be available during a game, this way you can customise your appearance when there is a lull in the fighting...

Steyr, Steyr, Steyr

The Steyr Mannlicher AG is a 157 year old Austrian arms company, which was at the forefront of auto-loading pistol technology in the early 20th century. The Austro-Hungarian military made use of several Steyr firearms, including the two we’re going to look at today: the Roth-Steyr Model 1907, and the Steyr-Hahn 1912. We’ll start with the Roth-Steyr...

This was the first semi-auto pistol adopted by the land army of a major power: it was issued to the Austro-Hungarian cavalry. Because of this, it has a heavy trigger pull to prevent accidental discharge - you don’t want a hair trigger on a pistol to be used by mounted cavalry!

The Steyr-Hahn is based on the mechanism used by the Roth-Steyr. It was initially issued to the Austrian Landwehr (remember that Austria-Hungary had effectively three armies - the Austrian Landwehr, the Hungarian Honvéd and the Common Army - with the Austrian and Hungarian armies generally being better equipped than the Common Army).

The Steyr-Hahn was a popular enough weapon that Germany would place orders for 10,000 during WW1, and years later the Wehrmacht would order 60,000 after annexing Austria in 1938. These aren’t the only weapons manufactured by Steyr Mannlicher AG that feature in Isonzo, though. Can you guess what the other(s) might be?

Movember

Movember is a charity for men's health, which started out in 2003 as two Australian friends growing mustaches to see if they could bring them back into fashion. The First World War saw advances in health care, generally focused on the men fighting. From the development of plastic surgery to care for soldiers with disfiguring facial injuries, to the partial acceptance and understanding of shell shock – what we’d understand today as post traumatic stress disorder.

The WW1 community and developers support the Movember movement and joined it with the WW1 Game Series as #TheGreatStache. To raise awareness for the charity, history has been shared about both mental health issues faced by those affected by WW1, and the moustaches that were common (or even required) at the time.

The WW1 Game Series community took part in the event and ended up with some impressive mustaches. Some highlights from our community can be found on Twitter!

Beta Progress

Alpha testers have been enjoying and providing valuable feedback on Isonzo’s Alpine Warfare, which sets the stage for a release early next year. Furthermore, the switch to a closed beta - and perhaps an open beta soon after - will not be too long coming. Make sure to apply for the closed beta here and wishlist Isonzo already on Steam, PlayStation, and soon on Xbox!

Developer and M2H co-founder Matt Hergaarden said: “The reaction from alpha testers has been very promising, and we’re ready to open up Isonzo to more players. They’ll have the chance to experiment with the customization system as well as everything else the game has to offer. We’re looking f

Key Features:

• Mountain warfare: assaulting mountain fortifications, battling through ruined towns, and fording rivers are just a few of the challenges you’ll face as you fight your way through numerous enemy positions
• Tactical multiplayer FPS: choose your role and loadout carefully to survive this high altitude combat - play a sniper to pick off the enemy engineers before they can cut your wire, use rifle grenades to clear enemy machine guns, and much more
• World War One gameplay: new historical Offensive game mode focused on the tactical challenges of Alpine warfare, including WW1 weaponry, poisonous gas attacks, and intense artillery barrages
• Authentic WW1 atmosphere: accuracy in everything from maps and weaponry to music and the uniforms you choose from – fight for the Kingdom of Italy or the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy

Verdun led the way for authentic WW1 action with close-quarters trench warfare, Tannenberg expanded the experience with maneuver warfare in Russia and Isonzo is taking it to the next level with high-altitude combat in the Alps! The WW1 Game Series throws players into intense warfare inspired by the chaos and fury of iconic battles from the First World War. The newest title is Isonzo, set on the Italian Front and expected to release later in 2021. As the series is closing in on 2 million copies sold, this novel and underserved setting has proven popular with the gaming community!

Each game in the series is standalone and provides a different experience, reflecting the nature of the fighting in the many-sided theaters of the war. The games are built on a base of thorough research and receive extensive post-release support bringing new content and challenges for our players.

Isonzo is coming to PC (Steam), Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5 and PS4 in early 2022.