The second phase of the Rusty Hearts closed beta kicks off on August 24 at 2 p.m. PDT, and players who rush the servers in the first 12 hours will receive a special costume set for the first character they create in open beta. Frantz gets fauxhawk hair, Angela gets a cowboy hat and Tude gets a bandana. The bonus items will be limited to one per user, so choose your first character in open beta wisely!

You'll keep your closed beta phase 1 characters when phase 2 starts this week, but they'll be wiped with the upcoming launch of open beta.

For our impressions on Rusty Hearts, watch Mike B. aka Fony's recent BFF Report and read Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland's article. If you'd like to try out the game during closed beta phase 2, grab one of our free Rusty Hearts closed beta keys!

The first phase of the Rusty Hearts closed beta is coming to an end today, August 17. The servers will go down at 3 p.m. PDT so Perfect World Entertainment can make some adjustments based on player feedback. The servers will come back up when closed beta phase 2 begins on Wednesday, August 24.

All of your character information will be saved during this downtime, and you will be able to continue playing on your normal account with the same login information. The level cap will remain at 20 for the remainder of the closed beta.

For our impressions on Rusty Hearts, watch Mike B. aka Fony's recent BFF Report and read Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland's article. If you'd like to try out the game, grab one of our free Rusty Hearts closed beta keys!

Perfect World Entertainment admits that Rusty Hearts has limited customization options early in the game. After all, every player in the closed beta is currently choosing one of three characters to lead through the action MMO's dungeons. However, PWE posted a new blog entry today to explain the two ways you can customize your character as your progress through Rusty Hearts.

• Form: This is the cosmetic side of Rusty Hearts. Each character has 10 fashion slots that you will be able to fill with unique costume items, such as the cardboard head above. As you play, you'll come across a variety of costumes that you can mix and match to alter your appearance.
• Function: Unique gear and weapons allow you to boost stats like HP, MP, Physical Damage, Magic Defense and Critical Hit chance.

For our impressions on Rusty Hearts, watch Mike B. aka Fony's recent BFF Report and read Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland's article. If you'd like to try out the game, grab one of our free Rusty Hearts closed beta keys!

For this week's BFF Report, Mike B. aka Fony fights his way through the dungeons of Rusty Hearts' closed beta. As he plays through this beat 'em up anime-inspired MMO from Perfect World Entertainment, he shows off the combat styles of the three current characters (seen above) and explains why he's impressed with the art style. He also suggests playing with a controller since it's basically a side-scrolling action game.

Click here to watch BFF Report episode 76!

While emphasizing that Rusty Hearts is in closed beta, he mentions that the game's too easy and that many players don't seem to like the Stamina system. In a State of the Game letter posted today, the Perfect World team said they're trying to determine the best way to use Stamina and that "the difficulty level starts to dramatically increase once you enter your mid-teens." They'll also consider making the game more challenging at earlier levels.

If you'd like another opinion on the game, Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland has also participated in the Rusty Hearts closed beta. Want to try out the game for yourself? Grab one of our free Rusty Hearts closed beta keys and you can start playing right now!

While the formula may not be a brand new concept or even a unique one, Rusty Hearts is a refreshing change to the typical MMO. If you take one part dungeon crawler, one part old school arcade brawler and mix in an energetic soundtrack and anime-inspired graphics, you come up with a decent image of what this new offering from Perfect World Entertainment is all about.

Rusty Hearts entered closed beta this week, and I dove in to give it a shot. Keep reading after the jump for my impressions. If you'd like to try out the anime-inspired action MMO, grab one of our Rusty Hearts closed beta keys and you'll be ready to go!

The Rusty Hearts closed beta is now live, which means any player with a key is welcome to try out Perfect World Entertainment's anime-inspired action MMO. We're giving away Rusty Hearts closed beta keys, so grab yours now and register for the game!

We've already picked up our weapons and started fighting through Rusty Hearts' dungeons, so keep an eye on ZAM in the near future for more details on the game.

Perfect World Entertainment has released a pair of dev diary entries that discuss Rusty Hearts' PvP mode. In a new video, Product Manager Mark Hill covers the various PvP games, such as team deathmatch and survival. He also explains that players can trade PvP points for gear and items and climb the ladder system to brag about their stats. You can get all the details in the video below, or you can just read the related PvP dev blog entry on the game's official site.

The closed beta kicks off on Wednesday, July 27. Grab one of our free Rusty Hearts closed beta keys and dive into this hack 'n' slash amine MMO this week!

Do you want to enjoy a free trip to the Penny Arcade Expo next month? Then you might want to register for the Rusty hearts closed beta! Perfect World Entertainment will be giving one lucky player two 3-day passes and two round-trip plane tickets to the show, as well as the opportunity to dine with the game's developers and producers.

We're giving away free Rusty Hearts closed beta keys, so grab your key and register it by July 26 for a shot at those PAX Prime tickets!

The Rusty Hearts closed beta launches next week on July 27, and Perfect World Entertainment is preparing by releasing a new character reveal and a video dev diary!

Franz is the third main character in Rusty Hearts. He's a human-vampire hybrid with a tragic past who uses a sword and axe to destroy his enemies. More details can be found in Franz's biography.

You can watch the dev blog video below to get a glimpse of the game in action. Product Manager Mark Hill describes Rusty Hearts as "Castle Crashers meets Devil May Cry. Think side-scrolling action, co-op with your friends in a fierce, combo-driven combat game."

Like what you see? We're giving away free Rusty Hearts closed beta keys! Click here to grab your Rusty Hearts closed beta key in preparation for next week's beta launch!

Perfect World Entertainment will be showcasing Rusty Hearts at the Anime Expo this weekend, and they're celebrating by giving away three Logitech gaming gear bundles worth $170! The prize packages include a Logitech G510 keyboard, a Logitech F710 gamepad and a limited edition Rusty Hearts bear.

To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is register for the Rusty Hearts closed beta by July 3 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. That's it! And as luck would have it, we're giving away closed beta keys! Click here to grab your Rusty Hearts closed beta key and redeem it for a chance to win one of those Logitech prize packages.

The Rusty Hearts closed beta kicks off on July 27. This anime-inspired action MMO was one of three games that Perfect World Entertainment unveiled at E3 this month, so be sure to check out our impressions of Rusty Hearts, RaiderZ and Blacklight Retribution.