WW1 Isonzo, the third entry in the historical multiplayer first-person-shooter series following Verdun and Tannenberg, has been announced by M2H and Blackmill Games.
For the uninitiated, the WW1 game series throws players into strategic squad-based gunfights inspired by battles from the first World War. 2015's WW1 Verdun kicked off the franchise with close-quarters trench warfare on the Eastern Front, WW1 Tannenberg followed up with larger-scale maneuver warfare in Russia, and now WW1 Isonzo will explore the clash between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Being the first game in the WW1 series to launch on new-gen consoles, you can expect Isonzo to look and perform better than its predecessors. "We've been making use of the new-gen hardware to really enhance the visuals for Isonzo, as befits the third game in the WW1 Game Series," M2H told GamesRadar in an email exchange.
"For example, we have completely redone the way we handle terrain, harnessing the power of tessellation to bring the razor sharp rock formations of the Italian Front to life - it also allows for trenches that are much more detailed than the previous games. Secondly, we are now taking advantage of Global Illumination, which impacts the feel and cohesion of mountainsides and ruined villages alike, while enhancing performance. Finally we have upped our game in terms of IK-assisted animations to make player movement and the overall game way more fluid and dynamic."
Inspired by the real-life two-year battle for the Isonzo river, the latest entry in the WW1 series features a variety of maps taking the action down into rugged valleys, idyllic towns, and even the majestic Alps of Northeast Italy, where some new gameplay mechanics will be introduced.
"The incredible landscapes of northern Italy provide very novel battlefields with a lot of variety to them - fighting uphill to assault a bunker in the mountainside is very different to battling through ruined towns or attempting to ford a river under fire," M2H said.
Among the innovations Isonzo brings to the WW1 series is a new historical game mode called Offensive, which sees players struggle to control major landmarks including the Salcano Bridge. Offensive splits teams up into attackers and defenders, each with new loadout options and equipment to keep things fresh on subsequent runs.
WW1 Isonzo is set to launch sometime in 2021 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC.
Check out our definitive ranking of the best FPS games of all time.
