Sony Online Entertainment is getting ready to deliver a competitive arena for small(er) scale Planetside 2 combat in the upcoming Battle Island update. One of the islands, Nexus, is available for players as a sneak peek.

Battle Islands give outfits an opportunity to engage in competitive matches with up to 48 players per side. The instanced environments are designed to replicate the feel of the online, persistent game. All the equipment and vehicles found in the live servers are present on the Battle Islands.

You can get a look at Nexus in the video below and play for free at Planetside2.com. 

Our Take
At E3, I had the chance to speak with members of the Planetside 2 team. One of the most important takeaways was that the title would be the same on PlayStation 4 as it is on the PC (on separate servers, though). Content will be distributed at the same time across platforms. In Planetside 2, 48-person teams are considered small. In the live servers, thousands of players can be engaged simultaneously. 

I can't vouch for how well console players will work together in the strategic environment of Planetside 2. I can, however, relay that it will be the first time that so many console gamers will be playing an online shooter together on console.