Glory to the Heroes features dedicated PvE gameplay split between an offline solo training environment and online cooperative battles against AI-controlled forces. Developed by Ukrainian studio Deaf Tone Games and released into Steam Early Access on October 9, 2026, the mil-sim lets squads engage AI threats across recreated Ukrainian battlefields while navigating complex medical, ballistics, and survival mechanics.
A dedicated single-player narrative campaign is not included in the initial Early Access launch. Instead, Deaf Tone Games has confirmed that a story campaign—scripted in collaboration with a writer from Supermassive Games—is planned for later in Early Access or version 1.0. Players looking for non-competitive play currently have distinct offline and online bot-driven options.
Offline Training vs. Online Co-Op Modes
The game distinguishes between standalone offline practice and persistent multiplayer engagements. While both involve combating bots, their rules regarding progression, economy, and squad sizes differ fundamentally.
| Feature | Offline PvE Training | Online PvE Co-Op | Hybrid PvPvE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connection | Local / Offline | Online Dedicated Server | Online Matchmaking / Persistent Server |
| Player Count | 1 Player (Solo) | Up to 18 Players Co-Op | Up to 24v24 or 25v25 combined with AI |
| Playable Faction | Unrestricted / Configurable | Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) | Ukrainian Forces vs. Russian Forces (RFAF) |
| AI Combatants | Bots configurable on map | Bot waves / entrenched AI | Mixed real players and AI patrols |
| Inventory & Stash | Sandbox access (all kits unlocked) | Shared persistent character stash | Shared persistent character stash |
| Progression Carryover | No (Stats/items do not carry over) | Yes (XP, money, vendor tasks save) | Yes (Full risk of gear loss) |
Offline PvE Training Mode
Offline Training acts as an unranked sandbox environment. When launching offline training, players do not need an active matchmaking server, and nothing is locked behind level ranks or in-game currency. You have immediate access to standard weapons, vehicle driving, artillery mechanics, and FPV drone kits.
Because it functions as an offline testing ground, actions taken here do not affect your multiplayer account. Loot collected, bot kills, and completed map captures do not transfer to your persistent personal stash or vendor assignment logs.
Dedicated Online PvE Co-Op
Online PvE matches place squads of human players on the same side against AI forces. In this mode, the player team is locked to Ukrainian armed forces, while the AI populates the opposing faction positions.
Online PvE shares character data, persistent stash storage, money, and vendor quests with the broader online ecosystem. Completing map objectives and extracting safely lets you store looted weapons, gear, and supplies in your permanent warehouse.
Game Formats: Contact vs. Operations
When deploying into online battles against AI, Glory to the Heroes structures combat under two main game modes:
- Contact: A fast, high-stakes matchmade skirmish lasting 15 to 25 minutes. There is no home base or forward supply point. Squads advance through sequential frontline objectives. If you run out of respawns or leave early without extracting, equipment brought from your stash is lost permanently.
- Operations: Persistent, long-running servers lasting 30 to 60 minutes or operating continuously. Players can jump in and out, capture strategic map nodes, and access personal stash reserves at secured objectives. Extraction points allow soldiers to pull out gear and currency without staying until the server resets.
AI Mechanics and Known Early Access Behavior
Deaf Tone Games designed the AI system to emulate organic threats across the front rather than static target dummies. The AI roster includes poorly trained recruits, regular infantry, sniper pairs, roaming reconnaissance groups, and remote FPV drone operators equipped with high-explosive (HE) and thermobaric (TBG) munitions.
During live Early Access testing and server slams, players observed specific AI behaviors:
- Spawn Grouping: On maps like Krynky and Chasiv Yar, AI units frequently cluster in trenches, rear residential sectors, or bomb craters. Player feedback notes that bots often defend static zones rather than executing aggressive flanking maneuvers on capture points.
- Engagements and Hit Registration: Bot combatants react to suppressive fire and dive prone into cover. However, community feedback highlights occasional hit-registration quirks at close range and instances where bots fail to advance onto objectives, causing PvE matches to end quickly once spawn pockets are cleared.
- Environmental Hazards: Even in PvE, players must constantly watch for automated mortar strikes, sudden artillery barrages, and incoming loitering drones, which can wipe an entire squad caught in the open.
Key Survival Systems for PvE Deployments
Facing bots in Glory to the Heroes requires the same disciplined mil-sim tactics as fighting human opponents due to the lethal ballistics and punishing health design.
Hardcore Medical Management
Your soldier does not have a regenerating health bar. Damage to individual limbs impairs movement and weapon handling:
- Bleeding Control: If struck by shrapnel or bullets, you must open the medical interface (Tab key) to apply tourniquets to limbs or bandages to torso wounds. Failure to stop arterial bleeds causes blackouts and fatal blood loss.
- Pain and Concussion: Shockwaves from artillery or close bullet impacts cause tremors and tunnel vision. Taking painkillers restores character stability.
- Recovery: Medkits do not restore lost blood volume. Soldiers must consume water, canned foods, instant noodles, or chocolate bars to begin gradual physical stabilization during prolonged operations.
Target Identification (PID) and Friendly Fire
Friendly fire is fully active across all cooperative modes, and there are no standard nameplates hovering over friendly soldiers. Players must identify targets visually using armbands:
- Friendly Forces (Ukrainian Armed Forces): Marked with blue, green, or yellow armbands.
- Hostile Forces (Russian Armed Forces / AI Bots): Marked with red or white armbands.
Poor visibility—such as early morning fog, rainstorms, and dark building interiors—makes visual positive identification difficult. Rushing into unsecured trenches without checking your map or communicating over squad voice channels frequently results in accidental team kills.
Managing Stash and Free Kits
Losing your personal equipment on a failed extraction is a core risk. To prevent players from losing everything:
- Free Issue Kits: Faction quartermasters provide free default loadouts (such as standard rifleman kits). Items provided through free kits cannot be sold for profit, but any enemy weapons, attachments, or meds looted from AI bodies during the mission can be extracted and placed into your permanent stash.
- Secured Infiltration Points: Capturing randomized infiltration points across the map grants bonus respawn tickets, giving solo or co-op players a backup margin if they are eliminated during an objective assault.
PvE Launch Maps
All three launch battlefields support cooperative AI encounters:
- Fight for Krynky: A 2.0 × 1.4 km map set along the Dnipro bridgehead, featuring dense reeds, flooded terrain, destroyed courtyards, and foggy woodlands.
- Chasiv Yar - Canal: A ruined urban zone featuring high-rise concrete apartment blocks, industrial basements, and entrenched defensive lines.
- Izium Machine-Building Plant: A dense industrial facility from the 2022 counteroffensive, focused on close-quarters combat across factory workshops, rail depots, and subterranean passages.
Deaf Tone Games has listed future expansions on its development roadmap, including Serebryansky Forest, Antonov Airport, and a large-scale combined-arms theater covering the broader Battle of Izium.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I play Glory to the Heroes PvE completely solo?
Yes. You can launch the offline PvE Training mode to play solo against bots without other players in your lobby. However, offline solo play does not advance your online faction rank, wallet, or permanent item stash.
What happens to my gear if I die in an online PvE match?
If you deploy with personal gear from your stash and die without extracting or having redeployment attempts remaining, that equipment is lost. Using the daily free faction-issued kits avoids risking your personal weapons and armor.
Can you play as the Russian faction in dedicated PvE?
No. In dedicated online PvE co-op against AI, players can only play as the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Russian side is playable exclusively in PvP and hybrid PvPvE scenarios for simulation and historical conflict accuracy.
Is there a single-player campaign available right now?
No. The single-player story campaign is planned for a later phase of Early Access or the full version 1.0 release, written in collaboration with a narrative writer from Supermassive Games.
