‘Battleborn’ Faction Previews Wrap Up With The Peacekeepers, The Experienced Military Heroes

With a multi-chapter story mode, additional Story Operations to release after launch, and 30 unique characters, Gearbox Software’s Battleborn is sure to pique the interest of players looking for a hero shooter with more than a little lore. Over the past few weeks, players have read up on each of the game’s five factions with the final faction previewed today. The Peacekeepers are definitely the most militaristic of the five factions with a clear goal in mind, stopping the Varelsi and saving the last star.

In the same way that the Eldrid work to preserve the universe because they value what it has to offer, the Peacekeepers seek to protect the residents of that universe especially if they cannot protect themselves. The United Peacekeeping Republic is filled with people from all types of cultures working toward saving Solus. Although their intentions are benevolent, the UPR has met with its fair share of resistance. After trying to establish a colony on one of the Eldrid planet of Ekkunar, the Eldrid people resisted and that tension spawned a little dissonance among the members of the UPR, a number of which broke off from the Peacekeepers to form the Last Light Consortium whose focus is more on making money rather than helping the helpless, according to the official Battleborn website.

Do you stand with the United Peacekeeping Republics? Learn what these #Battleborn are about: https://t.co/zUekgyT14f pic.twitter.com/Y9IUDU3a1w

— Battleborn (@Battleborn) March 25, 2016

Although the Peacekeepers started as an amalgamation of many different peoples and cultures, the faction has evolved to be quite the seasoned military fleet. Most of the group’s members are traditional military types with a focus on gunplay, explosions, and battle prowess. The massive Montana, for instance, wields a minigun while basking the damage he takes from his foes. Oscar Mike, on the other hand, is the closest to a traditional solider a player can get in Battleborn, but he uses an assault rifle cable of lobbing grenades or calling in an airstrike. There is even an avian ally named Benedict in the Peacekeepers, a bird of limited flight that uses a rocket launcher to harass his enemies.

All 25 of the game’s initial heroes belong to one of the five factions in Battleborn. When they come together they work to save the universe from the darkening of the last star, but when they’re at odds, that work is against each other, regardless of faction, in three competitive modes. As the Inquisitr reported, the game will be supported post launch with five pieces of story DLC, five additional free heroes, new free maps, and much more. The five DLC Packs each include a new repeatable Story Operations in addition to skins and/or taunts. Heroes and maps, however, will always be free in Battleborn.

Battlebornreleases on May 3 with an open beta scheduled on April 8 for PlayStation 4 owners and on April 13 for PC and Xbox One players. The open beta will last until April 18 for everyone and progress will be wiped at its conclusion. PlayStation 4 players that participate in the open beta will receive a few goodies for helping test the servers, too. Players on that platform that participate in the open beta will receive early access to Alani, the 26th announced playable Battlebornhero, and free access to the game’s first DLC Pack.

During the open beta, players will be able to experience two different competitive modes, two Store Mode missions, 25 of the game’s 30 heroes, and the overall progression aspect of Battleborn. A handful of the heroes will be instantly available while others can be unlocked through gameplay. On Xbox One and PlayStation 4, players can try out the splitscreen in Battlebornin both cooperative and competitive matches. Check out the open beta detailson the official site including download sizes, pre-load times, and some restrictions like the Xbox Live Gold requirement.