PlanetSide Arena footage shows off its large-scale squads mode

With PlanetSide Arena launching this month, albeit in Early Access, Daybreak has given us our first look at the large-scale battle royale in action, specifically its squads mode, featuring teams of 12 in battles that can support up to 300 players. It will be available at the start of Early Access, and you can take a look above.

It doesn't look quite as thrilling as the premise makes it sound. The footage was captured during a developer test, it should be noted, so it's not the scale that you might see when the battle royale goes live. Still, it's a disappointingly underwhelming debut, especially given the delays. It does at least end in a tank battle and an orbital strike.

More vehicles will be flung into the fray eventually, including flying ones, bringing it ever closer to PlanetSide 2, but with discrete matches and a shrinking battlefield. You'll still drop in, try to outrun a wall of doom and arm yourself by looting your way across the map.

It's a weird direction for a series that's up until now been all about territorial control in war-torn sandboxes. The scale is part of the appeal, and while Arena promises to be considerably larger than your typical battle royale, it still feels less ambitious than its progenitors.

I confess I'm a bit salty because I loved PlanetSide 2 and think it's much deserving of a sequel, and honestly we could probably do without a new battle royale appearing for a few months. I need a wee rest.

PlanetSide Arena is due out on September 19 on Steam Early Access.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.