Hawked Fingers-On Preview (PS5) – Since on-line multiplayer video games kicked the gaming trade and its revenue potential into excessive gear, the quantity of multiplayer titles that flood the market has solely gone up.
Lately they’re all of an identical flavour, free-to-play reside service video games which might be doubtless squad primarily based, PvPvE, and in addition doubtlessly an extraction looter-shooter.
Hawked is a brand new, free-to-play, 3-person squad-based PvPvE third-person extraction looter-shooter, however this time you’re looting historical treasure, and it’s obtainable now.
Developed by MY.GAMES, the studio envisioned Hawked as a multiplayer treasure-hunting journey, the place you’d clear up puzzles and keep away from traps like Indiana Jones, and on the identical time combat off different gamers to take dwelling essentially the most treasure.
Besides not like Indiana Jones, you’re gathering the treasure for this big company referred to as Grail, and also you’re additionally looking for this massive treasure earlier than these historical creatures discover it, as a result of they’ll use its energy to take over the world.
And regardless that your solely actual enemy is the traditional creatures, you continue to need to compete in opposition to different treasure hunter groups of three (referred to as Renegades) and the creatures.
I bought to go hands-on with Hawked for a short while forward of launch, and whereas I need to preface that I’ve not spent an entire lot of time with Hawked, I don’t actually really feel like I must.
Sadly Hawked feels extra like a sport chasing the tails of different big, profitable multiplayer video games by means of a paint-by-numbers mannequin that finally lacks any conviction, and feels empty.
Hawked Fingers-On Preview (PS5) – Tail Chasing
I’ve Bought A Unhealthy Feeling About This
Once I first jumped into Hawked, if the treasure searching facet didn’t already make me consider Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford would’ve nonetheless come to thoughts for one in all his extra iconic traces throughout his time as captain of the Millenium Falcon.
Even earlier than that, I ought to say, I started to have my doubts. Earlier than getting controllers in hand, myself and different members of the press blended in with some content material creators bought to listen to from the builders what we wanted to learn about Hawked. Not simply what the sport is or the way to play it, however about their inspirations and the form of expertise they need gamers to have in Hawked.
The concept that it’s meant to really feel like an outdated treasure hunting-adventure story is obvious, when you get in a match. The map is big, and I can simply think about matches the place you spend a good chunk of time not seeing different gamers.
Your time will as an alternative be spent dodging noticed blades or fixing a puzzle, principally by means of matching symbols or taking pictures the odd crystal. Those I skilled struck a good steadiness between being easy sufficient to determine, but in addition time-consuming and doubtlessly distracting sufficient to make you weak to different groups. A great threat v. reward characteristic imbedded within the gameplay loop.
Once I truly bought to enjoying Hawked, going by means of the tutorial first after which stepping into matches, my actual first impression was as I feared.
Worse than being dangerous, it was bland. There was virtually nothing about Hawked that basically stood out, a stunning feeling to have contemplating how vibrant Hawked is.
The motion felt stiff, the taking pictures and melee fight felt weightless, and it didn’t enhance after I was getting deep into matches. It felt bland to play, and that was actually disappointing.
It Will get Worse, Precisely How You’d Count on It To
With poor gameplay at its core, there’s actually just one manner you could possibly see this reside service, free-to-play sport worsen. After all that’s with egregious microtransactions, and a grind-heavy development system.
Your participant development is tied to the devices and talents you unlock. Devices are unlocked by means of spending in-game foreign money, and talents are unlocked by means of discovering treasures in matches which you could then equip to present you passive talents, like a velocity enhance that makes you run sooner for a short while. These talents aren’t one use both, they simply have a brief cooldown time earlier than you need to use them once more.
That is truly one of many elements that makes Hawked extra distinctive. You possibly can equip three ability-granting treasures at a time, and actually create a playstyle for your self. I didn’t get to expertise this in my quick time with Hawked, however I might see how that may be very cool, and evolves the character customization a bit past its contemporaries.
Including extra of those treasures to your assortment isn’t what’s grind-heavy. It’s the devices, the opposite characteristic that may extra straight have an effect on your playstyle, the place the grind might be discovered. To unlock a gadget, you spend an in-game foreign money, nevertheless it’s not the case that every gadget is just costlier than the final.
You additionally must spend that very same foreign money on “loyalty ranges,” and your degree determines which devices you should buy. So for instance, say the Grapple Hook gadget requires you to have a degree 6 or greater loyalty degree, so earlier than you’re allowed to purchase the grapple hook, you must spend hundreds of this foreign money to get your loyalty degree as much as 6.
Solely then will you be capable to purchase and use the grapple hook, after what I can solely think about could be hours of grinding in matches. You may as well promote smaller treasures you discover for this foreign money to assist get you there sooner, and I might very nicely be unsuitable in how lengthy it could finally take to get your loyalty degree up.
However when the core gameplay already isn’t satisfying from the soar, even when the Grapple Hook or different excessive loyalty level-gated gadgets drastically make it extra enjoyable, it’s not engaging to assume I’d need to spend anyplace from possibly two hours to 10 only for the sport to be enjoyable.
Shiny Issues And A Glimmer Of Hope
Regardless of my many points with it, I wouldn’t say that it’s all doom-and-gloom for Hawked. I additionally wish to reiterate that these are preview impressions for a sport that I had little or no time with. You may even be studying this as somebody who has spent tens, even lots of of hours in Hawked, because it’s been obtainable as an Early Entry title since November 2023.
The puzzle fixing and the concentrate on treasure searching is cool, and whereas the motion didn’t join with me I do assume it’s nice that there are clearly loads of methods to customise your character and playstyle.
I additionally just like the narrative angle Hawked is making an attempt to soak up its multiplayer setting, that every one the ‘renegades’ you play as are working collectively to search out highly effective historical relics to combat in opposition to an evil drive who would use the identical energy to take over the world.
However these issues I feel are good about Hawked don’t mesh with every little thing else it’s making an attempt to do. The PvP facet of it’s a massive one, because it appears to go in opposition to each the sport’s narrative and the circulate of the gameplay, as a result of everytime you discover a relic, everybody else within the match can see the place you might be.
Which implies you’ll doubtless be overrun by gamers who as an alternative of operating to search out the relic had been simply ready for another person to do the heavy lifting. You’re unlikely to really extract with the relic, additional stunting your development and including to the grind.
It’s much more disappointing, as Hawked totally launches in every single place at present, to learn almost half of the opinions from gamers on Steam who’ve hung out with the Early Entry model, to be voicing the identical points I had in my quick preview.
Together with some new ones, like how the matchmaking has a behavior of placing model new gamers into matches with high-level gamers who merely have higher gear, do greater injury, and so forth.
All these points on high of recent gamers being in no-win conditions from the soar don’t spell a enjoyable time. After all matchmaking points can get fastened and are reportedly being labored on, however the true points Hawked has goes past what a patch can repair.
If Hawked had higher motion, fight, and eliminated the PvP components fully, I’d be much more enthusiastic about this sport lastly coming to PS5 in its full launch. It could even be a distinct sport, and there’s no use in wishing it was one thing it’s not.
What it’s then is a confused sport that doesn’t do any of the issues it tries extraordinarily nicely, that also wants a whole lot of tuning up. All whereas nonetheless making an attempt to chase the monetary success of free-to-play titles that merely provide a greater enjoying expertise.
Hawked is obtainable on PS5 and PS4 now.