Online WW2 shooter Days of War leaves Early Access at the end of the month

We first took notice of the multiplayer Second World War FPS Days of War in early 2017, when we said that it appeared to be aiming for a higher skill ceiling than other online shooters: "Anytime you see 'Challenging Recoil' listed as a selling point in a trailer you know the game means business." Three years down the road, Driven Arts and Graffiti Games have dropped a new trailer to announce that the full release has been set for January 30.

The full version of Days of War will support up to 32 players on 12 maps set in Europe, North Africa, and the Eastern Front. Six different character classes are available, each offering unlockable content via a class-based progression system, and loadouts can be customized from a selection of 60 unique weapons. Dedicated servers, a map editor, and built-in voice chat are supported, and if you're taking too much of a beating online, an offline practice mode with bots is also offered.

Recent Steam reviews haven't been universally kind, but much of the criticism seems rooted in a lack of communication from the developers rather than the game itself; several reviews also complain about the small player base, which is a pretty big knock against an online shooter. The trailer very clearly reflects Days of War's roots in older shooters like Day of Defeat, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, though, which I think makes it interesting—the big question is whether it will be interesting enough to enable it to carve out a viable niche in what is already a pretty well-serviced segment of gaming.

Days of War is available for Early Access purchase for $25/£20/€21 from Steam.

Andy Chalk

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.