All Articles: H-Hour: World’s Elite

H-Hour: World’s Elite, a tactical military shooter that is being billed as the spiritual successor to SOCOM, was originally scheduled to be released through Steam’s Early Access program on April 21. Unfortunately, SOF Studios hit a bit of a snag, and was forced to delay the game’s Steam debut to May 19… wait a minute, that’s today!

According to the development team, H-Hour is currently available through Early Access in a “pre-alpha” state. So if you’re looking for a “full-featured game without bugs,” you may want to wait before pushing the “Purchase” trigger. As of today, SOF plans to release the final version of H-Hour in late 2015/early 2016, but these things can change at a moment’s notice.

Players who plan to jump in to H-Hour: World’s Elite will find the basic framework of the game: “lobbies, 8v8 matches, several maps, two game modes, and weapon and armament selection for characters.” SOF Studios is also promising players will get a realistic military shooter right from the start:

H-Hour: World’s Elite is a tactical, team-based military shooter in which cooperation among players is required for success. The game uses a third-person “battlefield” perspective to enhance the player’s situational awareness, allowing for more strategic game play. The design philosophy is simple: bullets are lethal and players who fail to work with their teammates will not last long, just as in the real world.

H-Hour: World’s Elite’s missions and settings are inspired by real world events—based on the personal stories and recollections of US Special Operations veterans – repurposed and staged in new and equally deadly locations for the purposes of preserving national security. All missions are presented in a plausible and realistic manner.

H-Hour: World’s Elite is also in development for the PS4. Presumably, we’ll learn more about that version of the game when the Early Access period comes to an end.

The SOCOM: US Navy SEALs franchise built up a reasonably large fanbase thanks to the ten titles released across the PS2, PS3, and PSP between 2002 and 2011. But with the closure of Zipper Interactive in 2012, and Sony’s general disinterest in the series, fans have had to look elsewhere for a new tactical military shooter. Perhaps they should look to H-Hour: World’s Elite, which will be available through Steam’s Early Access program on April 21.

H-Hour: World’s Elite is a tactical military shooter that is in development at Special Operations Forces Studios. Also known as SOF Studios, the team counts several members of America’s retired warfighter community among their employees to help create the most realistic military shooter they can. A few former SOCOM developers are also employed at SOF Studios. With the Early Access version of the game less than three weeks away, the team has released a new trailer for H-Hour, showcasing the work they’ve done using Unreal Engine 4.

It’s unknown when the final version of H-Hour: World’s Elite will be released for the PC, but a PS4 release is also planned for the future.