Hawken: Indie FPS mech combat

[Ratman_tf]

Mech games should be realistic!

[HaemishM]

 

[Tarami]

Mech games should be realistic!

You know what's realistic? Tanks.

[Sheepherder]

Mech games should be realistic!

Again with the missing the point.

The game seems to have far less chassis customization than MW4.  It appears to only have one chassis option.  The explosions are positively tame.  I have yet to see someone drop a highway overpass, construction crane, building, or billboard on top of (or out from under) another mech despite the fact that the physics engine would make it almost trivial.

You know what's realistic? Tanks.

You need better bait to troll WUA.

Also, you joke.  But a game letting you customize and play with mechs, tanks, helicopters, jets, hovercraft, ships, and power armour would be the most goddamn awesome thing ever.

[koro]

Sweet christ, it's a stylish unfinished mech shooter by a small indie team that's been in development for less than a year. It's practically a glorified proof-of-concept at this stage.

What do you people expect?

[HaemishM]

Magic rainbow pooping unicorns. Platform independent, of course.

[Sheepherder]

Sweet christ, it's a stylish unfinished mech shooter by a small indie team that's been in development for less than a year. It's practically a glorified proof-of-concept at this stage.

What do you people expect?

Indie teams build the stuff they're excited about first.  If you're not seeing an overabundance of physics objects, big explosions, and a large variety of weapons, it's because chances are it's not a priority.

[Samprimary]

it's just not going to be a mech game. It's quake in robot suits. I'm sure it's going to be fine for what it is!

[Mrbloodworth]

it's just not going to be a mech game. It's quake in robot suits. I'm sure it's going to be fine for what it is!

More like shogo, or armored core.

[raydeen]

it's just not going to be a mech game. It's quake in robot suits. I'm sure it's going to be fine for what it is!

More like shogo, or armored core.

Like I said, SHOOOOOGOOOOOOOO!

Now if someone were to properly reinvent Earthsiege I wouldn't complain. That was my fav mech game but I'm a Dynamix fanboi. Reimaging Front Page Sports Baseball and the Red Baron/Aces games would be nice as well. Oh, and some Stellar 7/Nova 9 love would be nice too.

[Stormwaltz]

A new trailer has appeared. Not much more to see than the previous ones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwA03XsKzbY&hd=1

Also, it's been already optioned for an ill-considered and tenuously-related movie adaptation.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Film+rights+nabbed+upcoming+video+game+Hawken/5306356/story.html#ixzz1W9uaGbId

[Stormwaltz]

More in-cockpit gameplay footage. Now in a desert, because real is brown and whatnot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVa7B1bLv8I&hd=1

[koro]

Hawken beta signup!

Be aware that it's a referral link that apparently lets you reserve your callsign for the game's launch if you get a few people to use it.

[Ghambit]

Better beta signup link! 

[Malakili]

There is a new Trailer up for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFbTYybOHtM

[Megrim]

RPS has been given access to a promotion for the next beta event. Details can be found here. I've not tried the game myself just yet, but I'm looking forward to giving it a shot (in lieu of MWO, since it had so far been an average experience, at least for me).

[Vaiti]

I have a couple beta keys. If anyone needs them. Not even sure you need beta keys still for this title.

[Falconeer]

I've tried it extensively.

It looks fantastic. It feels... really weird. One minute it feels totally mecha, the next is just a hilarious mess.

Personally, I want to love it but I just can't. I see soooooooo much wasted potential here, but I admit it's probably a matter of personal taste about the style they went for and the gameplay.

[Trippy]

Open beta has begun.

[apocrypha]

Had a brief (30 mins, all I had time for) play yesterday.

Looks great, really nicely done. Very "dirty, dusty warzone" feel to it. Gameplay is fast and twitchy with an emphasis on active dodging. Fights last a few seconds, it's die, respawn, die, respawn, etc. There is (so far) no level segregation so fresh noobs are in with higher levels. Also seemed as if you get no XP unless you win a match? Could be wrong about that, didn't have time to investigate more thoroughly.

Has potential, feels like alpha not beta right now.

[KallDrexx]

Destruction demo from GDC 2013

[Shannow]

Put this on my new pc last night as I played at PAX East and have some free money for it through vid card purchase.

It isn't Mechwarrior, as someone mentioned it's Quake with robot skins. However, in it's limited scope, it's a hell of a lot more fun than Mechwarrior is.

Actually reminds me of Exsteel (oh Exsteel how I miss you)....I hope they add a Co-Op mode....and physicals (sword attack ftw)....

Also the finish of the game and the UI are way , WAY ahead of Mechwarrior. FFS piranha hire some decent coders. Also appears they have some interesting game modes, though I haven't tried yet. A small indie that appears to be able to code, who knew? Not that I'm bitter against MWO or anything this weekend after it literally made my PC catch on fire.

Maps are pretty but also seem somewhat generic and small scope. Again this is a FPS with jetpacks.

[jakonovski]

Destruction demo from GDC 2013

What an excellent modeling of a styrofoam environment.

[Falconeer]

It's not even worth comparing with Mechwarrior. This is a good looking casual shooter, while Mechwarrior is a game about giant robots. In Hawken you drive around magical robot-shaped ninjas, in Mechwarrior you drive around robot-shaped tanks.

That said, the difference in talent between the artists and coders here and in MWO is blatantly obvious, but this doesn't change the fact that Hawken and Mechwarrior are not about the same thing, so they are not interchangeable in the slightest.

Also, PGI hired lots of folks from Mechwarrior Living Legends, so we are probably gonna begin to see some of that talent in the actual game soon.

[MediumHigh]

Well I just picked this up. I'm liking this so far. Maybe because I haven't played any mech games, kinda like a league of legends for someone who never touched dota.

It took me one match to understand whats going on and after that it plays like a very slow and claustrophobic FPS, which works. Damage feels right, and even at level 1 with a level 1 mech its possible to hurt anyone seriously, something that is important cause the match maker doesn't seem keen on giving you only noobs to shoot at. Which pretty much won me over. If I had to play the game 20 times to move out of tier 1 and actually start the real game I'd probably uninstall. 

[Goreschach]

Also, PGI hired lots of folks from Mechwarrior Living Legends, so we are probably gonna begin to see some of that talent in the actual game soon.

I doubt it. The people running PGI are incompetent. It doesn't matter how good the coders are. If the people telling them what to do don't actually know what to tell them to do, then they're not going to be doing anything useful.

[Falconeer]

PGI really showed utter incompetence since I wrote that message, this is just a fact.

The Hawken team on the other hand seems full of talent in many departments. My only problem with the game, as stated before, is that the vehicles are too agile, they are mechas not 'mechs, they are supersoldiers not tanks, and while that can still make for a very good game, it is simply not the game I am looking for.

But Hawken is certainly impressive in many ways.

[Venkman]

So I enjoyed Titanfall alot. Is Hawken better in some ways? Titanfall didn't really feel like a full "mech" game for people who like mech games. But I'm not that into them either. So is Hawken maybe light enough for me?

[Falconeer]

Not sure it's better. You won't have infantry and the whole map setups feels a bit claustrophobic, and chaotic. And the mech style is really unique, also questionable. But the overall quality is very high, the graphics are absolutely impressive and the pace of the game is extremely fast for a "giant robots" game, that's why I compare it to Japanese mechas more than Northamerican walking tanks. Agility versus Armour. Not sure if Hawken is light, it feels very "Quake 3" if that makes any sense to you.

[MediumHigh]

Falc will make it sound like your zipping around corners and narrow hallways. The maps are "big" giving plenty of opportunity for flanks and paths for counter attacks, but the map makers weren't concerned about it feeling open, so you have very little open field and very little in the way of straightforwardness. Much of the maps have multiple levels of elevation on top of being mazes of buildings and steel. Nothing in this game will zip past you unless its a rocket or a bullet. I wouldn't call it a mech game since, while there is customization I honestly don't see much reason to move very far beyond the base models they provide. You'll spend more time shooting up cover and desperately finding a safe place to repair more than worry over your stats and your equipment. And while it does feel like your in a robot, you wouldn't notice since you functionally just feel like yourself with maybe a heavy backpack strapped to your shoulders at all time.

[Venkman]

The lowbie version of this was $10 on Steam so I picked it up. It's enjoyable. I enjoyed Titanfall more, enough so that I'll end up buying it. But this is a fun romp, and certainly worth $10. It has a level of polish I wasn't expecting for a game at this stage too.

But I'm not all that into mechs, so don't really have any preconceived notions.

[Falconeer]

I was about to ask what's wrong with you (Darniaq and Jakonowski) paying for a free to play game that has been out -free- for over a year, but I noticed that they went for a strange business model: at the moment they are on the Steam Early Access program, so you need to purchase a bundle to get in. After the "Early Access" phase will be over, the game will go back to being free to play. I still find it weird that you guys decided to try the game at the only time that it requires money to play, but I suppose it's just that Steam put it back on your radars. Seems like it was a winning move for them.

[jakonovski]

I just wanted to try out a bunch of mechs, WoT showed me that I'll burn out if I try to grind my way to riches.

Also, I'm not sure their plan worked, the game is not trending very well on Steam stats. It's no longer on top 100.




 

[Venkman]

Pretty much that. $10 to me is basically free for me and I was looking for a quick action fix until Titanfall becomes available next week.

As an aside, I have no idea how being f2p will affect the game balance. Not that I care much because I'll have forgotten Hawken by the time it reverts or whatever. But curious if it'll change the balance in any way.

[Falconeer]

HAWKEN will be free-to-play for all Steam users starting this Friday, March 7. The Early Access period will continue and bundles will still be offered for sale, but a purchase will no longer be required for new users to start playing.