8 replies to this topic

[LastProtagonist]

Hello. I'm a newbie here; in fact, I hadn't even heard of Hawken until yesterday. I knew next to nothing about Hawken before playing it...other than it was based on the Unreal Engine and that it features mech warfare. That's it. Nothing else.

I downloaded the game today and proceeded to adjust my settings, looked at the keybindings to get a general idea of things (glad I did that!) One thing I noticed was that the main menu used a lot of graphical resources--a lot more than I think is necessary since it doesn't seem like much is going on. It had my laptop's GPU up to 80º Celsius...not something I like to see when all I'm doing is looking at the menu screen. Granted, my GPU is a little outdated now (a GTX 260M,) I'd just prefer my GPU being able to take a "break" between matches, so to speak, but that's not really a big deal.

Onto my play experience: I browsed the menu, but the only two accessible tabs were Garage and Deploy. I was a little disappointed to not see a Tutorial, Help, or Training Tab. I checked out the garage for a bit, but I didn't really understand too much of anything. Rather than have a wrench icon, I would have preferred first clicking on my mech slot, and then clicking a specific button to either choose my weapon, or upgrade my mech. I didn't notice the "mech shop" tab at first, and I tried to click one of the empty slots to see if I could purchase another mech, or at least see some kind of shop. I would suggest implementing this feature as it feels more intuitive than browsing through the shop. I actually thought there would be a shop tab in the main menu and was surprised to not see one.

The labeling of the different tabs were confusing to me. When I read "upgrades," I figured I would be able to choose a part on my mech and upgrade that part specifically; similar to how one can upgrade parts to a vehicle. Instead, it seems kind of like a progress chart that doesn't really serve a purpose. Since it's in the second slot, it seems like it would be more important than it really is. When I saw the "optimizations" tab, I thought it would be a more streamlined page to upgrade the equipment you were currently using. I think the name is a misnomer, and I would call it something like "tech tree" or "tech specializations." I like the inclusion of being able to customize your abilities to your playstyle. I was wary of spending points I wouldn't be able to get back, or specializing into a tree I didn't like or one that was underpowered.

When i got to body shop, I assumed it would be what I had in mind at last, of being able to mix and match mech parts that would influence your mech's performance, but alas, I was wrong. Just aesthetics. The game wasn't what I was expecting so far, but that's fine. I still have a lot to discover, and I'd yet to join a match.

So at last, I clicked Deploy, saw that Training wasn't enabled yet, which was a bit saddening, but I persevered and joined a quick match. It turned out I was playing a Free-for-All, but I didn't notice at the time...so for a while, I thought it was Team Deathmatch because I was getting assists. I also thought the enemy was spawn camping because I'd died almost immediately after my respawn. So...uh, I could be blind, but it'd be nice to make it more obvious which type of game mode you're in. In retrospect, it's obvious I was in Free-for-All since there were no teammate arrows on my HUD, but I didn't know if you could identify teammates that way, or if friendly fire was enabled.


On to my first match:
I joined the lobby, clicked Ready and got sent to my garage. Being level 0 and not having much in the way of options, I stuck with the Assault Rifle and clicked Launch. Oh boy, powering up my mech for the first time felt fantastic. Walking, at first felt slow, but my speed increased over time. My reticle swayed with the waddling of my craft and it felt pretty damn cool, and annoying (in a good way) because it added more of a challenge to playing. The faster I went, the more the waddle disappeared and the steadier my aim became. The environments were amazing; they're really well done, and I really like the style of the game.

After I got my mech moving around, I saw an enemy mech and proceeded to open fire on it from behind. I quickly dispatched it and felt like a proper badass in a machine of death until an enemy came at me from behind and outmaneuvered me, making quick work of me. It was an interesting first match. I think I went like 3/11/18. I was starting to get the hang of the basics. I loved the feel of being able to dodge/shift, as it felt very fluid, but I noticed it was really easy to rely on the shift key to sprint, or get oneself over the hump of moving quickly...which detracted from the satisfaction of building your mech up to full speed. Another thing I noticed was that it felt like my mech could turn unrealistically quickly and that felt bad to me, not to mention the difficulties in targetting a highly mobile enemy. It seems like it's way too easy/convenient to rely on the shift key to outmaneuver an enemy.

I thought there would be a lock-on feature for my rockets if I targetted an enemy long enough and their indicator became red, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

In my second match, I decided to play Team Deathmatch. The map was different, and a lot of it was more vertically based, making it difficult to tell where the enemies were in relation to you. Not only that, some of the enemies on the other team knew what they were doing, holding off choke points and utilizing the high ground, which seemed to be clearly advantageous since it seems moving vertically efficiently is very difficult with your mech.

I noticed killing some opponents seemed impossible. I'd catch them by surprise, unloading a rocket into their face and proceed to shoot at them with my assault rifle, only for them to shift dodge some of my bullets and instagib me. It felt like I was playing Call of Duty on Hardcore Mode while everyone else was on Casual...which sucks. I went back through the garage and found out I'm missing some things, which would probably help improve my performance, like defensive and internal items. So it seems like those who played the original beta have a large advantage over a player in my position. I also noticed I had 4800 Meteor points and contemplated purchasing some things, but decided against it since I wasn't sure whether or not I would like what I purchased or whether it would be worth it, especially since the other way to purchase things makes everything seem  really expensive.



TL;DR: Hawken is an interesting game, but it feels like experienced players have a substantial jump on newer ones. There's a lot I don't know about, which I'm sure limits my full potential, so I'll probably need to read a FAQ or a Guide before I play more. I feel like the shift button is a bit too powerful and too easily relied upon, and that its strength level makes the vertical movement of my mech seem awful in comparison. Overall, on my first impression I give Hawken a 6.5/10 with room to grow on me and for it to make improvements. I'm a bit disappointed with the class system, as I feel it limits the customizability of my mech and would have preferred being able to mix and match every part of my mech.

Edited by LastProtagonist, November 08 2012 - 07:21 PM.

[Binary_Agenda]

I have played serveral matches today and some players are clearly spawn camping.  I was in a match with someone playing a brawler today and every time I spawned at the one spot on the map he was always there ready to pop whoever spawned or right around the corner repairing.  After the third time I saw him there when I spawned I just started dropping my turret right away.
Hopefully they add some fixes to the game to punish people who employ lame tactics to get ahead because it just ruins it for the people trying to have a good time.
Overall I have had a mostly pleasent experience so far in Beta 2.  Good luck and have fun out there.

[digitaLbraVo]

Fun fact: large temperature changes in computer components are actually bad for them. That's why people leave servers on for long periods of time (ignoring of course the fact they're expected to... SERVE)

But none the less. I like your post, you're rational and that's a good thing. I know I'm kind of the complete opposite of you, I followed Hawken closely from the first time I saw a teaser on Youtube and nearly died inside at how awesome it looked. Sadly it feels like a fairly weak free-to-play game that is going to go the way of "Ah ah ah, you gotta pay if you wanna have fun."

Unless they change a lot I doubt I'll be staying.

[Turic]

good first impressions. i started to play at alpha and there are was "training" map, that show first basic things. first impressions was great, but it was hard to play without guides, but after some matches i dont want to leave the game)

[Kai_Kitamura]

Quote

Sadly it feels like a fairly weak free-to-play game that is going to go the way of "Ah ah ah, you gotta pay if you wanna have fun."

I'm curious, where did you extrapolate that from_ Are you sure you're not confusing Hawken with MWO_

[digitaLbraVo]

Kai_Kitamura, on November 10 2012 - 11:40 AM, said:

Quote

Sadly it feels like a fairly weak free-to-play game that is going to go the way of "Ah ah ah, you gotta pay if you wanna have fun."

I'm curious, where did you extrapolate that from_ Are you sure you're not confusing Hawken with MWO_

Because it's microtransaction. I've seen one game start with this idea and do it correctly and that was Team Fortress 2, then they went to "Oh look here's these cool drop boxes you have to buy keys for to open." Bam pay for your advantage.

All microtransaction games fall into it they rationalize it with "Well but it's the best way to get money for us," not realizing they essentially curse the game to just die in a few years because the customer base sucks, it's a bunch of people who just want to buy a fun time rather than play a game. Oh and by having microtransactions where you can buy things like guns, abilities, increases in money/exp etc. etc. how many people simply turn away from the game without even giving it a chance_

[Blakjoker]

I agree with your post there. My first time in the game was a complete wreck, I had no idea where to begin or what to do. The only way I figured out what to do was to sit there and go over every last menu in the game until I got a "General Idea" of how things worked. To be only a month away from launch, there are a whole lot of things that need some work. I like the concept, I like the game, as soon as I saw the trailer on YouTube I immediately signed up for the beta. However, the game in its current form leaves something to be desired and I fear that there will not be enough time to address these issues.

[Hipnox]

The potential here is huge.

However, there are way too many ill-advised "features" and the focus of the game revolve more around stacking tiny percentage bonuses over any real, cool customization.

Coupled with an awful leveling system, extremely expensive items and mechs, low point income and you have a boring, repetitive game with little variation, with a massive gap between new players and long time players.

[Elix]

digitaLbraVo, on November 10 2012 - 02:39 PM, said:

All microtransaction games fall into it they rationalize it with "Well but it's the best way to get money for us," not realizing they essentially curse the game to just die in a few years because the customer base sucks, it's a bunch of people who just want to buy a fun time rather than play a game. Oh and by having microtransactions where you can buy things like guns, abilities, increases in money/exp etc. etc. how many people simply turn away from the game without even giving it a chance_

Biased speculation, meet cold hard fact.

[MTR]PabloPwnage, on November 07 2012 - 04:51 PM, said:

HAWKEN Will Be Free-to-Play

Team HAWKEN loves free-to-play (F2P) and we see it as a great way to be able to continually offer fresh content and a high-quality game experience.

In HAWKEN, all the mechs can be purchased with HAWKEN Points (which are earned by playing) as well as Meteor Points (which are bought with money). Additionally, every mech is continually balanced against all the other mechs in the game.  We want to ensure that when a player purchases a new mech, they are purchasing a mech that's different, not superior. You're still going to need to master the necessary skills to make your mech effective in order to realize success on the battlefield. You don't ever have to spend a dime to end up with a mech exactly as powerful as anyone else's. It might not look the same and it will take you longer, but at the end of that road you're going to be in a fair fight. There the only excuse for winning or losing will be skill.

CBE1 helped us learn that the accrual rate was off and we have doubled the speed at which HAWKEN Points are earned for CBE2. You're welcome!

Paul “PabloPwnage” Loynd
Producer, Meteor Entertainment