Obsidian's Armored Warfare is now in open beta

Obsidian's Armored Warfare seemed a little odd to me when it was announced back in mid-2014, and it still seems that way now. Obsidian, after all, is known primarily for RPGs like Knights of the Old Republic 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, and Pillars of Eternity. In that light, a free-to-play online armored combat game seemed to come from out of nowhere. But odd or not, it's finally time to give it a try.

Armored Warfare is now in open beta, meaning that anyone who wants to give it a shot can now jump into the action without any restrictions. Even better, the studio said there will be no further progress wipes, so everything you earn, you keep.

"Open beta is a big step forward for us, and it's one that will bring new challenges, as we test our game services and features with more gamers than ever before. However, these are challenges that we are really looking forward to with Armored Warfare," CEO Feargus Urquhart said. "Getting to make the game better based how you play the game, and your insights, is something we have been looking forward to for months and months."

The beta will include more than 60 upgradeable vehicles spread across five different classes—Main Battle Tanks, Light Tanks, Armored Fighting Vehicles, Tank Destroyers, and Self-Propelled Guns—fighting on nine unique PvP maps from locales around the world, 25 PvE maps, a 15-on-15 battle mode, and individual military bases offering various bonuses and discounts.

This is what you'll need to play:

Minimum system requirements:

OS: Windows Vista/7/8/10 32 or 64 bit
CPU: 2.6 GHz Intel Celeron (yes, Celeron) E3400
RAM: 2 GB
Video: Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT with 512MB VRAM

Recommended requirements:

OS: Windows Vista/7/8/10 32 or 64 bit
CPU: 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium G3420
RAM: 4 GB
Video: Nvidia GeForce GT 440 with 1GB VRAM

You really don't see system requirements like that anymore, do you? The Armored Warfare beta client is roughly 30GB in size, so be prepared to spend at least a few minutes downloading that sucker. Grab it at aw.my.com.

Thanks, VG247.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.