Let's cut to the chase: the open beta for Chivalry 2 is free, and you can download it from the Epic Games Store: find the "Chivalry 2" page in your client, scroll down a bit, and add the beta to your library. You will need to "check out" the game as if you were buying it, but it is free.

I played the previous beta and had a great weekend bobbing people's heads with a big hammer. This beta has more in it than the one I played. Among other things, you can experiment with customizing your soldiers. You can combine faces, hairstyles, voices, armor sets, and crests, and choose rusty or flashy versions of weapons. Likes.

There are also 40-player servers, dueling servers (where players are politely asked to allow each other to fight one-on-one), and a few 64-player versus maps that weren't in the last beta. about Chivalry 2 in general, and why I'm so excited to get to hit the archers with a hammer. If you want to know more about Chivalry 2 in general and why I think you should join me in beating archers with hammers, read my recent preview or watch the gif embedded below, which should explain better than any words I could write what Chiv 2 is all about.

The beta runs through June 1, so you can play for free for the weekend. After that you have to wait for Chivalry 2 to launch on June 8. At launch, it will cost $40.

If you play the beta, I recommend doing the tutorial. It's not that long, and there are nuances to Chiv 2's combat that are not intuitive. You'll have an advantage over those who didn't do the tutorial, seriously.