Wait battle royales, in this current climate? How is it still a strong trend? I mean, the big names have taken over the majority market share, new FPS that are coming out have steered further away from it. Yet, Heist games aren't common, turning them into mini-royales isn't either, this going to pull off?
Heck, a game studio known for making strategy titles and that popular Aliens survival horror, how is the new fare into competitive multiplayer might work? If Hyenas is anything, it's less of a work in progress and more of a high-concept been there and done that. Don't get me wrong, I see potential, true potential. It combines parkour, PvE, and fast-paced shooting to steal goods and get away with it.
I got to try out a few matches from the closed beta, and with only one map to play in, I pretty much got around the gist of it. Can in faith say that if they're willing to put actual effort into this, I can see it become even more popular than Cliff Blezinsky's Radical Heights.
It was first for me to find out that Creative Assembly and Sega decided to put something like this out, with barely any hype or marketing around it. It's being dubbed as looter extraction shooter, with a lot of borrowed elements from battle royales and other FPSes.
After getting the game installed in Steam using the beta code, I started playing the basic tutorial which introduced me to the bullet fodder A.I., they're there to protect the base and be bullet sponges that if not cleared out soon, can easily kill us off. They put up quite a fight at times, so being good at shooting is important. That's lesson one.
The other important thing to do is to collect as much possible. First being gear, there's no starting the match empty handed. Based on a Hero character type system where each criminal selected has their own primary weapon and ability. Only their secondary weapon can be changed.
Now, there are game loots, I am calling those as I go along, these are type of grenades that have different functions and tiers. Such as one being a shock grenade, a grenade that creates a wall, one that teleports, explosive grenades, etc. And tiers being like white is tier, gold is tier 4. Also shields, yeah, this and shields are the only game mechanics as loot that have tiers.
Now, the big goal as a gang of 3, is to break into the vaults, collect the loot inside, and get out. There are other game loots, like upgrades for the primary weapons. But the next thing is progression loot. This is permanent stuff that is accessed from the account anytime.
I have yet to figure out exactly what the permanent loot is for, but maybe if am playing this for the heck of it, it'll all come along nicely. And no, Sega's franchise crossovers isn't exactly what I had in mind for that kind of experience either. The gunplay is tight, weapons feel heavy but not with the complexicity and depth that other shooters would give them. It largely works and is serviceable. Of course, a lot of games tried that, and gunplay alone doesn't carry games, unless you're Destiny.
After playing the PvE only mode, which is a barebones version of Plunder Riot, I did kind of get the gist of what am supposed to be doing. I played Payday 2, I know how to fend of mobs of security that are coming after my loot. In fact, if all 3 of us knows how to deal with em, then easy game.
Which isn't good, and I hope that doesn't become the industry's habit where they abandon any prospects of working on co-op multiplayer games. The A.I. are everpresent with drones, mall security grunts, swat teams, suits with mechs, and so on. There are even traps laid out around vault rooms, including tunnels and shafts.
I think the guys who came with this can do better, or they're keeping the good stuff for release. If so, I couldn't wait to play those out. For now, the MURFs are what stand between us, the vault, and another team of players just killing us off.
And now about PR, this mode is where the main attraction is at. 5 different squad of players have to steal stuff and make the getaway. Problem is, there's only one extraction for a team of players, so they have to compete with each other. The winner is the one who escapes.
Now, I have to make use of what I've learned in the game, with my throwables, special abilities, and the absurd nimble athletic skills, I went all Gung-Ho, and that strategy didn't work, at first of course. I am not that dumb to be a griefer.
I had a lot of fun in this mode, it creates heightened suspense and tenacity, both needed to play it. Each of the team are placed in different areas of the map, but they could show up whenever. There's so much to explore here and there, especially moving in zero-g gravity around certain rooms.
Whenever we finally get to the point where most of us got what we needed, we head out to the extraction and duke it out. That's the battle royale part, and everybody is just spaghettifying each other. If I get down, someone can revive me, or I have to wait till reviving myself. I get killed, if one of us is left alive, can be resurrected. There's a time limit, so if nobody gets out before that, game over.
I started off bad, but after using playing this guy who throws frisbees that torch people who come close, this match I got 5-6 kills total, and I was ecstatic. I finally got over the learning curve that took time. It's dumb fun, has a good design that incentivizes in the game loop, and I mean, it matches the anarchist meet absurdist personality going on.
The Zero-G stuff takes getting used to, and works differently from the rest. That being said, god forbid I stay floating and someone shoots me down, that just feels plenty embarrassing for me. Several games later, I still don't know how to get it to work if I needed it to.
Speaking of personality, this game has, ah, interesting ways of being colorful and letting its characters express themselves, the roster isn't big now, but am sure there will be plenty to pick on
One big gripe I have: no Asian servers. It doesn't do SEA or Oceania even. That's a real bummer, on top of the lack of promotion this game has gotten. Matchmaking works really well, because within 3–5 matches, I got to win with at least me carrying the game or someone else. But I literally saw the A.I. T-posing their way in and had no idea who was firing at me.
As for the loot collecting, I am not hugely into Sonic, and as much flare and personality you can give me, if all this is for the cosmetics, then just make the game F2P. If not, make it worthwhile. I do get coins for buying new Hyena characters, but there's gotta be a better incentive than that.
I like that this game reminded me of Brick, Dirty Bomb, and would seem like a better tower defense game if they actually got a mode for it. I hope Creative Assembly, and maybe Certain Affinity are taking feedback and notes. There are other new titles coming out, and I don't want to see this get fizzled over quickly like Bleeding Edge did.
Obviously it has things to balance out as well, but I didn't feel the need to point that at the forefront because that didn't seem the issue. It's a beta after all and these guys seem competent enough to do this. But there is barely any traction about this, just Google it and you'll see wildlife Hyenas.
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