So far, the real stand-out of this, is the co-op mode.

Most co-op shooters are tons of fun with a group of friends on a LAN, but fall apart when you are playing with strangers on the Internet. This is because they tend to use the same traditional single-player gameplay design for the co-op. This co-op mode in R2 is designed from the ground-up for co-op and it really works: it’s more focused on high enemy count combat and less on exploration and story. It really does take the grindy group combat of something like Diablo or an MMO and mix with the action of an FPS. The three-class system really integrates teamwork into the game and you will want to help and get help from your teammates.

I only had time for a few rounds, my team got slaughtered every time, but I am already hooked.

As an aside, this isn’t really a “beta”. This is more of a public preview for publicity purposes rather than a QA oriented stress-testing. All serious QA efforts would happen before the game goes gold anyway. “Public Preview” would be a much more precise title, but that’s really a nitpick.