The top-down PUBG spinoff formerly known as Project Arc has a new title, PUBG: Blindspot, and you'll soon be able to give it a spin: A playable demo is set to go live on Steam on February 21.
PUBG: Blindspot is a 5v5 top-down tactical shooter that "owes more than a little debt to Rainbow Six Siege," PC Gamer's Jake Tucker said after spending some time with it in November 2024. There's a basic team deathmatch mode, but the Demolition mode showcased in the new trailer sounds more interesting (and Rainbow Six-like): "The attacking team chooses one of four spawn locations and then pushes in to plant an object at the A or B objective," Jake wrote. "The defending team can make this more difficult by placing barbed wire and explosive traps throughout the corridors and reinforcing destructible walls."
The map he played in Demolition mode was set in a hospital, "full of crawl spaces, destructible walls and hidey-holes," and as befits a team-based tactical shooter, planning is in and respawns are out: "Die and you're dead for the round, and often a round is decided by one cataclysmic fight, whether it's an ambush or a smart room take."
PUBG Studios said the new title "signifies the game’s innovative blend of top-down shooting and vision-based tactical play." Line of sight in Blindspot is shared, so you can only see what your team can see: That, Jake wrote, provides "a logical realism to Project Arc's visual information even though the game isn't really that realistic at all."
Despite the title, the connection to the PUBG universe (and yes, there is a PUBG universe) is tenuous at best, but even without that connection Blindspot sounds promising: "With some polish to the controls and a proper onboarding experience, this could be a genuinely fun, highly accessible tac shooter. The link to the battle royale is meaningless and Project Arc comes across like its own world attached to PUBG purely by circumstance, but this feels like a lightweight option for players who can't get invested in something like the sprawling horror of modern day Rainbow Six Siege."
The proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes, and you'll be able to sample that on February 21, a few days ahead of the upcoming Steam Next Fest. A full release date for PUBG: Blindspot hasn't been announced.
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