Bethesda announces Battlecry

With a shout, Bethesda’s Battlecry has charged over the horizon, its sabre brandished.

Battlecry is being developed by BattleCry Studios, and it’s a 32-player multiplayer-only free-to-play… no, wait, come back! It’s a game whose world was designed by Viktor Antonov – who you might know from Dishonored or Half-Life 2 – in which gunpowder has been outlawed and all conflicts are fought by small teams in sanctioned WarZones, so traditional warfare is a thing of the past. You’ll take the role of either a Royal Marine or a Cossack, battling for glory and promotion. Higher ranks get you new abilities and effects, and new abilities and effects mean you can customise your warrior to your liking.

With gunpowder outlawed, most of the weapons are a bit… different. Mentioned are swords that transform into shields, bows that can shove an arrow right through an armoured skull, and blades powered by electro-static energy which can shock foes. Think Dishonored‘s tech taken to more ridiculous extremes and you’re not far off.

There’s a rather bloody reveal trailer below, along with some screens and artwork. I really like the way blood looks in this game, by the way, and I know how horrible that sounds.

Battlecry‘s beta will be available in 2015.