Dust 514 beta 'Precursor' patch adds great new features, content

Later this month, the official beta for Dust 514 will be getting a major patch filled with new features, content, and some integrations that every shooter fan will love.

Titled 'Precursor,' this patch will begin the actual integration of acclaimed online game Eve Online into the world of Dust 514. This means that the test servers will be gone, and Dust 514 will finally enter the digital world within the Eve Online servers. Players across both games will be able to chat live and send in-game messages to each other, which brings us to the next big integration: keyboard and mouse.

That's right, shooter fans who have been waiting to use a keyboard and mouse on the PlayStation 3 can look no further than Dust 514 once Precursor goes live. CCP Games plans to test how players with a keyboard/mouse combination fare against traditional Dualshock users, and the company will look into a controller-based filter for Instant Battle Matchmaking.

While we're on the subject, Instant Battle Matchmaking will be another service coming with Precursor that automatically sets up squads with priorites on friends and ability level. This allows players to contend in matches that are more inviting and much easier to acclimate in for new players. This way, the environment for both new and seasoned players will be reflected on player experience rather than randomly generated matches.

Dust 514 will receive more environments with Precursor, and these environments will reflect maps from Eve Online, what's built on each planet, and planetary attributes. Players will test out nearly countless combinations of environments as they change with the integration with Eve Online, so experiences within Dust 514 will not be commonly had more than once.

Dust 514 also has a lot of polish, enhancements, and bug fixes coming with Precursor, so this upcoming, free-to-play, massively-multiplayer online shooter will be fully enhanced for the upcoming changes. Alongside this patch comes a companion app, which is free of charge, for the PlayStation Vita called Dust 514: Neocom, which will allow players to customize fittings, train skills, use the market, browse the starmap, and much more from anywhere.

August 21 is the day Precursor graces the Dust 514 universe, so load up Dust 514 later this month and pull your mouse and keyboards from your computers to test out the new integrations and changes that are coming to this massive online shooter. 

If you haven't already gotten into the beta, go right here and sign up for a chance to enter. PlayStation Universe also has a vast fanbase of Dust 514 regulars in our forums, so feel free to join them right here, ask questions, and learn some of the ins and outs in the Dust 514 universe.