2K reveals Project Ethos as a free-to-play, hero-shooter with a 'roguelike" twist.

2K Games is finally joining its competitors with a hero-shooter. The only other game that's left is the defunct Battleborn. The company flew me and other members of the press to LA to unveil Project Ethos. It's a free-to-play competitive shooter that they call a "roguelike" game.

It's not a roguelike, but you can choose from a random set of buffs during a match. It's a third person shooter that is similar to Fortnite. However, the main attraction is a low-stakes extraction mode and hero characters with unique abilities and guns.

Concord was the last surprise new hero game I previewed, and while I thought it was a good game, things didn't work out well for that one. There are rumblings about a possible comeback. Project Ethos, unlike Concord, was still in the "early stages" of development according to 31st Union reps. It will also be free-to play. The public playtest will begin today. Access is granted by Twitch drop from streamers present at the event. There was much talk about listening to feedback during development.

I spent several hours yesterday playing this game, which is still in its "early stages" of development. It was started five years ago by a small team. Prism was my favorite character. She can cloak briefly and peer through a ring-like light that marks her enemies. Arbor, who alternates between area-of effect poison attacks and healing, was another character I liked.

"Evolutions", which are "roguelikes" that randomly upgrade your abilities, can, for instance, make Arbor's poison attack heal allies or give him a speed boost to his healing ability. When the stars align, and you select the right upgrades, they will synergize to create epic builds. Ethos is a PvP title, and as such, it can't be too crazy about its buffs. I'm not certain that it will ever have the same feel as an endless Slay the Spire combo.

In the primary mode of extraction, called Trials, my trio hurried between PvE (player versus environment) events that awarded items like weapon and armor upgrades for completing simple tasks or fighting robotics as well as Cores, the resource with which we were trying extract. We often engaged with other groups, either by fighting when we ziplined into the exact same event area or simply because we crossed paths.

If your team is able to reach an extraction point, and you survive the usual defense area countdown timer, then you will receive a bonus. However, when my squad was wiped, we still received Cores that can be used for permanent player upgrades. The characters are unique, so there's no need to worry about losing weapons or acquiring them, as in hardcore milsims.

It's not that important to extract, so it's like playing a battle-royale game where there are no winners. But I felt victorious when we made it out of the game alive and our performance score went from Bronze up to Silver. Gauntlet is a mini-tournament where you have to win three rounds before losing three. I liked the format better, but I also enjoyed Concord's arena-shootery elements. So, I'm unsure if TDM will help Project Ethos attract Fortnite, Apex Legends, or Overwatch 2 users away from their games.

The movement and shooting is both okay. I wanted a jump pad--I'm not sure if that would make it a more enjoyable game, but I wanted it. I made do with the jump pads and ziplines. The guns are good enough. I like that the vanilla assault-rifle-and-grenades guy has a small twist: Rather than the usual pistol, his secondary is a single-shot rifle that takes a couple seconds to charge before firing.

The extraction map may be the weakest aspect of Project Ethos--unmemorable--and the randomized Evolutions are a neat little twist, but it remains to be seen if they're anything more than that.

The developer reiterated this at the end the day. The first playtest will begin now and run until October 20. Servers will be live from 11am to 11pm PT on the weekend. You can only get in by watching Twitch players who are playing. You can find them listed here.