You’ll be able to play the Marvel’s Avengers beta next month

In a nutshell: Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics have revealed when gamers will be able to play the beta of Marvel’s Avengers. Other details include what kinds of missions are included and which characters will be initially available during the beta. The details were revealed in a YouTube video, dubbed a “war table”, earlier today.

Players will finally be able to get a glimpse of Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics’ Avengers game. The beta starts with the prologue mission on the Golden Gate Bridge which acts as a tutorial section that allows you to use each of the Avengers and learn their various play styles. You’ll only have access to Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, and Ms. Marvel after the prologue.

Following the tutorial, the game opens up with access to the War Table. This allows you to play through two single player missions. These missions feature Ms. Marvel and Hulk, with them traveling to the Pacific Northwest to search for JARVIS and to Russia to look for underground SHIELD secrets.

Once players are finished with the single player missions, they’ll be able to participate in three different co-op activities. HARM rooms, Warzones, and Dropzones.

Holographic Augmented Reality Machine (HARM) rooms are similar to the Danger Room of X-Men fame and allow you to practice using different characters in wave-based challenges. The beta has three HARM rooms with progressive difficulty. Completing all three nets you a special title that can be used in the full game.

Warzones are five missions that are similar to dungeons. Like dungeons in other ARPGs like Diablo, there will be plenty of loot to collect and environmental puzzles (called Bunkers) to solve. Square Enix didn’t reveal exactly where in the Marvel universe the Warzones would be though. Meanwhile, Dropzones are more “focused” versions of Warzones, typically with only one objective. They can be a short as ten minutes or stretch as long as two hours.

When you’ll be able to access the beta depends on a few factors, namely what platform you’re on and if you’ve pre-ordered the game. PlayStation 4 owners who pre-ordered Avengers will get beta access first on August 7th. Xbox One and PC pre-orders will get access on August 14th with all PS4 players also gaining access. Finally, all platforms will get access on August 21st.

While there were some initial controversies over character models and gameplay, you’ll finally be able to make up your own mind soon. In the meantime, watch the entire reveal video below: