by theygamesAfter seeing what happened to Concord, I can imagine any studio making a new PvP shooter is probably feeling a bit nervous. At least, in the case of NetEase’s FragPunk, it’s got a very novel (and extremely cool) FPS gimmick to help it stand out from the crowd in the form of deckbuilding. As a big FPS fan, this is one of my most anticipated upcoming releases, and right now you’ve got a chance to try it out thanks to its new closed beta.
With a variety of game modes and a roster of colorful characters, if you were to take FragPunk at face value you might let out an exasperated sigh – here we go again, another generic, 5v5 hero shooter that’s doomed to fail. However, FragPunk has an additional layer of strategy and mayhem thanks to its deckbuilding mechanic that lets you draw and select a series of cards that can alter the FPS game‘s action.
As well as picking a good team composition, mastering each character’s abilities, and getting your eye in with the gunplay, you’ve got an additional tactical element with these cards, which can do anything from extend the duration of a round to enlarging your opponents’ heads to make headshots easier to hit.
As part of FragPunk’s new closed beta test, it’s throwing in two new characters (Spider and Sonar) which brings the total size of the roster up to 12. There are also new maps, modes, and cards to get to grips with as well.
This also a cross-play beta, so there’ll be Steam PC players and Xbox Series X|S console players taking part.
The FragPunk closed beta is live right now and wraps up on Tuesday, October 21. For PC players that want to try it out, you can request access over on the game’s Steam page here, or take part in community events where you might be able to bag yourself a key. For those on console, you have to go through the Xbox Insider program to get access.
The closed beta also permits content creators to upload and stream gameplay, so even if you can’t get in, there’ll be plenty of action to watch that will give you a good sense of what FragPunk is all about.
If it doesn’t quite strike the right chord with you, here are some other great multiplayer games that you can play instead. Or if FragPunk’s core mechanic sounds fun, but your aim isn’t quite what it used to be, check out our guide to the best card games instead.
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