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By now many testers are very well versed on just what Hawken is and how it handles and plays. The quality of the title in not in question, merely it’s long-term value and also a question on just which audience they are trying to appeal to. Do the developers of Hawken succeed in their goals_ Or do you feel that perhaps they are falling short and should consider changing their approach.
Remember we are dealing with what many consider an independent developer, but due to the size of the company and its steady growth towards release — keep in mind they are becoming less and less independent with each passing day. The end result is a product which is developed for the purpose of making money, often set as a priority over the enjoyment of the players.
Oh an please, please: don’t say “It’s just a Beta Test” because that really doesn’t mean anything at all and is in no way, shape, or form a piece constructive feedback.
Please no TL:DR bull, when I write something, I write it to be read -- not to be ignored for someones heartless summary.
What Hawken Is (to me)
Hawken is a First Person Shooter set in the future where every person is a robot. Understand that me stating that “every person is a robot” this is not how the game lore is written; or how the art is handled; or how the menu looks; or how the website looks; but it is the result we are given when we actually play game.
People who finally get their hands on the title quickly realize they are dealing with something very much more in the same genre as Team Fortress 2, Counter Strike, Battlefield, Tribes, and Modern Warfare. Through gameplay, the developers of Hawken made that Mechs are merely a cosmetic thing. The result is that Hawken is just your everyday FPS placing several mechanisms from current titles into a futuristic setting that is truly beautiful to look at.
What Hawken Isn’t (to me)
Hawken isn’t a Mech simulator, a Mech game, or any facsimile of a Mech game. The art however begs otherwise, which may lead a lot of people who are thirsty for a solid Mech simulator into believing Hawken is something that it’s not. Consider that it’s been 12 years since Mech Warrior 4 and there hasn’t been a solid Mech simulator to replace it yet. MechWarrior Online does not qualify as a solid simulator, as that has broken down the genre to pay-to-play elements to the point of being extremely tiresome.
Mech games are slightly different than Mech simulators. MechWarrior and Steel Battalion have long been the leaders of the simulation department, but the unquestionable leader of the Mech game department is without a doubt Armored Core. Developed by From Software, Armored Core has been an easy to step into Mech game that allows players to have a career and a pilot. Your goal is to not only improve your skills, but also the ultimately purpose of the game is to acquire a vast inventory of parts to freely paint them, arrange them, and even fine-tune their numbers however you want.
While simple to get into, Armored Core offered hours and hours of extremely difficult fine tuning and part collection that lead to countless unique machines that each representing an equally unique player. Let’s not forget that a mixture of the two genres game well before Armored Core in the form of Heavy Gear, a much more simplified Mech simulator that addressed more Fist Person Shooter mechanics with quick movement in the form of wheels and treads that would allow players to rapidly ‘skate’ across the battlefield — it was Hawken before Hawken existed.
Even Heavy Gear allowed players to make fine adjustments to their machines, even though they could not do extensive construction.
While Hawken may not be these things, that’s not exactly bad — what may be problematic is that it appears to be a Mech game. The Mech game and Mech simulator audience may not be so accepting of the final product, simply because it isn’t what it appears to be. Much of the game’s art and menu system goes well out of its way to say “Look, I’m a Mech Game too!” but in the end doesn’t offer anything of what people expect in a Mech game.
Sure it offers guns, missiles, jump jets, even a futuristic setting that is on the verge of collapse — pretty much the standard basics of any Mech sim or Mech game. But the problem comes from the sheer lack of the flexibility that the common Mech fan has come to expect.
Is that okay_ (my view)
The first thing I did as a Mech fan was enter the garage and try to switch out my weapon. I couldn’t. I then thought that perhaps I needed to buy more weapons, but I quickly found I couldn’t do that either. After a few minutes it eventually dawned on me that weapons were set into a predetermined pattern and that Mechs were actually just classes. Personalized load outs were impossible.
Furthermore, if I purchased a Mech and any additional set of cosmetic parts — I could not apply them to any other Mechs and the same was for paint schemes. Additional internal parts, items, etc. — all were just exclusive to the Mech they were purchased for. Experience points were only meant for the Mech too and were not related to the pilot in any way, which mean it was the Mech that was getting the experience points. Any person who has played modern FPS games with Microtransaction elements will immediately see that each Mech wasn’t a Mech at all — but a play-style.
A play-style firmly locked per-determined, which meant that personal desires were completely impossible. Want to be a medium machine that only has missiles and nimbly keeps a distance from all people only using those missiles for damage_ Well you can’t, missiles only come on huge Mechs and even still you need to use guns — if you want to work from range you absolutely have to be a sniper.
Want to be a small Mech that only runs around with a single sniper cannon_ Nope! What to buy a Mech, deconstruct it, and then use those parts to make a new one_ Well you can’t do that. Can you fine-tune parts and personalize them to your tastes_ Nope, can’t do that either.
So the game not only feels like an FPS, but it also utilizes per-determined balance like other FPS games as well. Of course we’ll see more combinations of weapons of Mechs as the game progresses and gets closer to the release, but it doesn’t change the fact that everything is isolated to one machine and if you choose to no longer play that machine you have to start all over again. Not exactly very career-like, because you’ll to buy every part, every upgrade, and god forbid every paint scheme more than once. You can’t even personalize the color of your Mechs much less make them look how you want.
I really don’t understand why the developers have chosen and worked so hard to make the game look like a Mech game, and a very beautiful one at that — only to completely ignore and omit all forms of Mech-style gameplay. First Person Shooter games are flooding the market left and right, and I know I’m completely tired of them. I hoped that an independent developer would finally bring back the Mech Simulators that so many people have forgotten about and chosen to overlook, but instead I just get another FPS game. Indeed, I am disappointed.
I know that Hawken will never be the Mech Simulator or Mech game I hoped it was going to be, and I have no intention of forcing them to make it. I’m just sharing my disappointment in a manner I hope others can discuss in a constructive manner.
Now you do the same:
What Hawken is_ (to you)
What Hawken isn't_ (to you)
Is that Okay_ (Your view)
Review each other's comments and views and discuss accordingly in a constructive manner.
Edited by TemperWolf, November 04 2012 - 09:59 PM.
