PAX East 2013: Heroes & Generals preview

Heroes & Generals is a MMO, FPS, strategy game currently in open beta. For this Square Enix title, nothing needs to be downloaded — it's played entirely from your browser.

World War 2 in Europe is absolute hell. You pick your faction at the beginning — whether it's the Axis or Allies — and win by either taking Berlin or London. There are multiple components to this game, including a decisive strategic battle front and FPS battlefields. These two components absolutely play together at all times.

At the strategic map of Europe, you choose which location to attack, reinforce, and send supplies to. The players fighting in the FPS battle will feel the effects of the strategic decisions. Likewise, once the FPS battle finishes, the people playing on the strategic map either gain or lose the point being contested. This sort of 'duel-action' makes for an interesting and diverse game experience.

The FPS gameplay involves making an 'Assault Team' that has various soldiers with different roles. During my hands on experience, I was able to play as an infantry soldier and a tank operator. These characters level up and have customizable weapons. If you commit a solider in your assault team to a battle, he is locked there until the match ends — even if you move on.

The infantry solider has access to various weapons and whatever vehicles he can find. They fight their enemies, support their tanks, and capture-points to win the match. Infantry serve as the main force in a battle and make up the majority of the players in a match.

Tank operators do exactly what they sound like they do — operate tanks. This member of the assault team always plays in tanks. If you die, you respawn in a tank. If there are too many tanks on the map, you respawn as a passenger/gunner in a tank. Regardless, you are involved in some sort of tank-like activity.

The other two roles I didn't have time to try were planes and paratroopers.  Basically, you play your assault team however you want to — which is awesome. As an infantry member, I rocked a bicycle quite often, which was both amusing and effective when maneuvering in between tanks.

Currently, the maps are 18 players vs 18 players with a desire to make it larger in the future. In any battleground, the highest experienced player becomes the commander and has the option to give out orders, thus rewarding loyalty and experience. Log on to the Heroes & Generals website and get started now.