The closed beta of NGL Biathlon 2027 has been running in our Discord since summer 2026: a small group of players race pre-release builds and report what they find. Most of their messages are notes and bugs, which we go through and fix. Below is the heart of what the testers write about the game and its new features. Quotes keep the testers' own words, with typos fixed and without names. What exactly changed since 2026 is covered in What's new in NGL Biathlon 2027

The game as a whole

  • "tbh 2027 is a huge gap with all the previous games in basically everything"
  • "We're all agree about the huge gap between 2027 and before"
  • "Thank you for giving us access to this beta test, feels great and I have no idea how I'll transition back to 2026"

Graphics, night and weather

  • "Huuuge step, it's beautiful, more realistic. Day lighting is beautiful"
  • "Night races are clearly incredible. Ambiance is crazy, I'm feeling I'm in a night. Snowfall are a beauty"
  • "About the atmosphere, it's clear that 2027 is a HUGE gap with 2025 and 2026"
A night race at Antholz in heavy snow
A night race at Antholz in heavy snow

Slipstream

  • "Perhaps indeed manual system is better, because… it creates decisions of when to slipstream"
  • "With my last normal boost reserves... I pushed slipstream button, latching onto the athlete in front, so relieved! I rested while behind him for some time and then boosted with my replenished boost bar, rocketing past!"
  • "I actually like this feature tbh it makes the races more funny"

Opponents

  • "Races themselves are fine, the AI is better actually"
  • "Bots ski much more similar to humans now, which is great for immersion"
  • "AI does use the new slipstream (which is nice)"
  • "Separate two athletes one behind the other is harder than before but it's a good thing. It sounds like 'Hey, it's my line! Create your own!'"
  • "I was being overtaken on lap 2 by Jeanmonnot, so I started following her. Erika Janka, who was just being overtaken by me slipstreaming Jeanmonnot, decided to tag along, so for like 4-5 s it was us 2 following Jeanmonnot"
  • "It was a hell of a pursuit at Antholz… On the last lap Jacquelin twice slipstreamed me… In the last stand Giacomel missed, while both me and Jacquelin cleared and I knew that he was hungry for revenge"
A group on the course at Antholz: the bots hold their own racing line and fight for position
A group on the course at Antholz: the bots hold their own racing line and fight for position

Advanced difficulty

  • "Clearly, the advanced difficulty option is great! We can adjust everything with our evolution or mood"
  • "At least with the AI sliders we can adjust the difficulty so that they are competitive with us all the time"
  • "I like the fact that AI is actually faster on this game (tho it may be my skill issue), we should keep it like that, especially now, with advanced settings"
  • "…they are very competitive for me, every race is neck and neck… Racing with them feels like real biathlon"

Career and relays

  • "Career: love the relays selection and calendar"
  • "Thank you for finally fixing single-mixed relays"

Settings, controls and translation

  • "I love what you did with settings and controls, my eyes want to thank you"
  • "I was playing on Polish the entire time, and overall, feels natural"
  • "Endless mode for shooting training is great! Thanks for it!"