Publisher Ubisoft announces that an open beta for ShootMania Storm will be starting up February 12th and will run all the way until launch, which is no longer this month but in early April.
The first-person shooter is based off developer Nadeo’s TrackMania series. Storm is the first of three environment-based releases for ShootMania. It uses TrackMania’s map editor.
Another known environment is the snowy Cryo, which is due out in 2014. The remaining third instalment hasn’t been revealed. Nadeo also limit weapon selection.
The player’s primary weapon is similar to a rocket launcher, and the reason behind limited the selection is so that more time is spent in-game and not in menus. They also restrict player customisation to a shield worn on the back of characters. It will be the creation of ‘playgrounds’ using the map editor that ensnares the community, hopes Nadeo.
ShootMania Storm releases on PC April 10th.