Hawken Reborn Early Access Impressions on Steam: It sucks

Oh remember when a lot of people were excited about the mechanical shooter Hokkien Was he back from the dead? That was on Monday! Now it’s Wednesday and I’m sad to say the excitement has been very short term

Hokken Rebornwhich is free to download and in early access but also charges for microtransactions, launched in almost the cruelest way imaginable. On Monday I expressed a slight concern after vision Reborn the launch trailer in which “edges seem to have been removed from the game’s aesthetic”; After playing it, I don’t know how this game is set in the same universe.

Hokkien The game was most famous thanks to its visuals that were not only technically great, It was also heavily inspired by Kitbash’s style Machinin Krieger. Hokken Reborn The visuals seem to be inspired by the free mobile shooter, and it’s hard to find any common ground between the original rusty and gleaming look and… whatever that is:

This stark contrast between what we remember and what is presented today continues into the game itself. That’s what Hokkien appeared in 2016:

That’s what Hokken Reborn It looks like in 2023:

Yikes. Perhaps most telling are some of the artworks used in it Hokken Reborn Fixed sights, which raise some questions. Like… why are you holding your iPad upside down?

And why do these nearly identical angles of the same character look so different? Especially her teeth? And why do her earring designs change every time you see her?

would humans An artist who overlooked these things? I asked publishers 505 Games, via an email to a PR and community representative on Reddit, if AI art was used in the game’s development (and also who exactly the development team was responsible for that project, since it’s only listed as the “505 Games” title on Steam). At the time of posting I had not received a response from either of them.

Anyway, what about the game itself? Also sucks! Hokkien The trademark was a swinging view of your cockpit, which gave gamers the illusion that they were driving a large, lumbering machinery. Hokken Reborn It tries to mimic this, but in a slightly sickening way having to sit still, the PvE levels are uphill zigzagging through wastelands trying to shoot down small and insignificant human enemies and static missile turrets, a monotony broken up only by the occasional bullet-sponge enemy mechanism driven by the dumbest AI international imaginable.

Wednesday night match It received a “Mostly Negative” rating on Steam, where players hate everything from the game’s microtransactions (which relate to actual game equipment, not cosmetics) to repetitive missions. This is probably the most useful, from Shard:

This is the Hawken IP that the publisher is using to give a shallow, generic touch to a version of Destiny that while it doesn’t have any multiplayer at the moment, does indeed have premium currency packs that are sold for right below the Play Game button on the store page (Which I’ve already seen). It lacks Hawken’s striking art direction and instead combines Hawken’s familiar mechanics with a grittier modern sci-fi style. Graphically, it manages to look even worse than the original game, which came out in 2013. I realize it’s “early access”, but with the state it’s in, we all know why there was no public knowledge of this until 36 hours before release.

Things aren’t any better on Reddit either. I know the game is in early access, which means there is room for improvement. That’s why this is an impressions piece, not a review. But the fact that her publishers have seen fit to release her in such a condition, looks like this, plays like this, and has the audacity to charge money for small transactions in spite of it all… does not bode well!