Enlisted – the lesser-known, squad-based shooter sibling of free-to-play action wargame War Thunder, using the same Dagor game engine – launched its inevitable Normandy-focused segment on Tuesday, announced by publisher Gaijin with a press release and a two-minute trailer that’s pure Hollywood (naturally, you can watch it below).
This ‘campaign’ content block, entitled Invasion of Normandy, adds three new playable maps – a lush gallic meadow, a charming coastal town, and a bombed-out cityscape – which you’ll be fighting across with 14 new, historically appropriate weapons – including the Beretta M1918 and MP34(ö) submachine guns – and five new vehicles: the American M5A1 light tank, M8 “Scott” self-propelled howitzer, and A-20G bomber, and the German Sd.Kfz.234/2 armoured car, and Ju.188 A-2 bomber.
The update also makes the game’s beta version playable on the PlayStation 5 for the first time; it was originally announced as an Xbox exclusive in 2018, but made the jump to PC in 2020. There’s a slew of gameplay changes, too, including soldier classes and perks. We don’t have a final release date yet, though, and the beta development programme shows every sign of continuing for a while.
The current roadmap lists various areas of ongoing development – including AI and meta-game improvements – but gives no confirmed date for when Enlisted will go into open beta, or beyond.
Invasion of Normandy is the second of four slated ‘campaigns’ for Enlisted – it follows the initial Battle for Moscow (1941-42) block, set at the dramatic turning point of Hitler’s ill-fated Operation Barbarossa, and developers intend to follow it with a Brits-vs-Germans North Africa campaign (Battle of Tunis 1942-43) and the Soviets-vs-Germans Battle of Berlin (1945).
Each campaign appears to consist of a new set of multiplayer maps, weapons, vehicles and equipment to suit the war theatre chosen, plus a progression of in-game squads – infantry, tank crew or aircraft pilots – that you unlock via gameplay, with some premium squads set aside for purchase in the store, a la vehicles and crews in War Thunder or Wargaming’s World of Tanks.
Darkflow Software, the Latvian studio behind Enlisted, is largely staffed by ex-Gaijin developers who previously worked on War Thunder, using the same Dagor engine.
The firm says Enlisted’s slightly unusual core gameplay – which sees you control one member of a squad of individually named and equipped infantrymen, giving orders to your AI comrades, until your own soldier dies and you immediately jump behind the eyes of the next living squadmate – both minimises in-game downtime and adds to immersion.
“It’s also important that all weapons, gear, vehicles and aircraft that are present in our campaign were really used during the real battles on that theatre of operations at that time,” lead game designer Sergey Kolganov tells Wargamer.
“We hope that the attention to all minor details makes our game feel more authentic.”
Currently, you can only get access to the game’s beta by buying one of the “Founder’s Packs” – which both get you in, and grant you a fully upgraded premium infantry squad to use in-game. These start at €29.99 / $36.09 / £25.88 on the Gaijin online store, or the Xbox or PlayStation stores for all you consoleers.
Love Gaijin’s crunchy multiplayer warfare, but not feeling like enlisting in Enlisted just yet? Try our guide to War Thunder planes or War Thunder tanks instead. Or seek out a new look in our War Thunder skins guide.