They may look like unwieldy lumps of steel, but Hawken’s war machines are surprisingly agile. Meteor’s free-to-play shooter gives you control of a twenty-foot-tall mechanical warrior, but it’s not another MechWarrior: the maps here are small, and the combat snappy.
It’s all about the movement. As my mech thuds around, the cockpit wobbles and dirt flecks the windshield. I hear the mechanical clank of each heavy footstep, and when I fire my weapons I can sense the vibrations rattling my chassis. When I move the mouse to turn, there’s a slight delay and the whir of a motor as my robo-head swivels around. I haven’t felt as physically connected to a first-person game since Mirror’s Edge.
It’s the ability to dash that gives Hawken’s machines the edge over their squishy human peers. Press Shift + W and a back-mounted jet engine will ignite and propel you forwards. This is considerably faster than walking, but uses fuel, of which you have a limited – but constantly regenerating – supply. Hitting Shift and a direction key enables you to dart out of the way of incoming missiles, although it takes practice. You can hover by holding Space, and a good way to confuse an opponent is to float over their head, then launch missiles into their back before they can reorient themselves.
When you nail the timing, you get a feeling of immense satisfaction in sidestepping a rocket at the last second, launching into the air, then raining death on whoever fired it.
Streaking in and out of cover to avoid explosive projectiles is the hallmark of a skilled player, as is unpredictable movement – deftly combining boosting, dashing and hovering. Seeing two accomplished players pirouette around each other is an impressive sight – or a depressing one, depending on how good you are, and how much money and time you’re willing to plunge into Hawken’s free-to-play economy.
The more time you spend with the game’s mechs, the better they get, both in terms of the free-to-play bolt-ons you can add on to specialise them, and the familiarity you gain with your robot friend over the course of repeat battles. Battles also garner you experience for the vehicles in your persistent garage.
If you don’t mind forking out, this is a beautiful and competent shooter with some depth. With additional maps and a more generous free-to-play model to enable players to more easily tweak their robotic steeds to some level, it could have been great.
It’s the ability to dash that gives Hawken’s machines the edge over their squishy human peers. Press Shift + W and a back-mounted jet engine will ignite and propel you forwards. This is considerably faster than walking, but uses fuel, of which you have a limited – but constantly regenerating – supply. Hitting Shift and a direction key enables you to dart out of the way of incoming missiles, although it takes practice. You can hover by holding Space, and a good way to confuse an opponent is to float over their head, then launch missiles into their back before they can reorient themselves.
When you nail the timing, you get a feeling of immense satisfaction in sidestepping a rocket at the last second, launching into the air, then raining death on whoever fired it.
Streaking in and out of cover to avoid explosive projectiles is the hallmark of a skilled player, as is unpredictable movement – deftly combining boosting, dashing and hovering. Seeing two accomplished players pirouette around each other is an impressive sight – or a depressing one, depending on how good you are, and how much money and time you’re willing to plunge into Hawken’s free-to-play economy.
The more time you spend with the game’s mechs, the better they get, both in terms of the free-to-play bolt-ons you can add on to specialise them, and the familiarity you gain with your robot friend over the course of repeat battles. Battles also garner you experience for the vehicles in your persistent garage.
If you don’t mind forking out, this is a beautiful and competent shooter with some depth. With additional maps and a more generous free-to-play model to enable players to more easily tweak their robotic steeds to some level, it could have been great.
Expect to pay: Free-to-play
Release: Out now
Developer: Adhesive Games
Publisher: Meteor Entertainment
Multiplayer: Up to 12 online
Link: www.playhawken.com
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