The Marvel's Avengers open beta starts August 21, preloading is live now

After a closed pre-order beta for Marvel's Avengers last weekend, starting tomorrow, August 21 at 9pm (your local time), everyone will be able to get an impression of the game. You'll need to a Square Enix account to play— if you have an account for Final Fantasy 14, you can use that to quickly make yourself a Squeenix account, too—but you can start preloading right now. 

The beta will introduce you to a good chunk of the available gameplay, including multiplayer missions and some story bits featuring Ms. Marvel. Be prepared to mash some buttons, as whether you're playing the Hulk, Thor or Iron Man, your main objective is to completely level everything around you, with enemies flying every which way like helpless ragdolls. Participating in the beta unlocks some rewards for the full game, even though your progress doesn't carry over otherwise. 

The closed beta last weekend, available to PC players for the first time, started off slightly shaky, with performance issues that even a quickly offered patch couldn't completely alleviate—hopefully it'll go more smoothly this time around. 

This is your last chance for a look at the game before Marvel's Avengers releases September 4. For more info, check out everything we know about the Marvel's Avengers beta.