You guys remember "Hawken"? A video game featuring giant robots,
duking it out in multiplayer combat the way giant robots always do? It
had a brief moment in the sun back in 2014, but slowly faded away and
eventually got shuttered a few years later.

Well, it's coming back, rebooted as "Hawken Reborn"*

More FPS than full-bore sim, I never really got into the game.
Although I loved the idea and aesthetic, the game was just a little
too fast for my taste; more akin to Quake-style arena shooters than
the rompy-stompy robots I prefer. Even so, I might have given it more
of a chance if the developers hadn't started pushing pay-to-win
mechanics so heavily (the starter mechs were incredibly underpowered
compared to the real-money robots you could buy).

Will this newest iteration be any better? It's too early to say
(especially since it's not even been released to early access yet). On
the one hand, it looks to be maintaining the same aesthetics and
they're adding an option to fight bots instead of being multiplayer
only. On the other hand, it doesn't look any slower, and it's the same
developers who over-monetized the original game.

But giant-mech games are few and far between, so I'm trying to be
optimistic. The game will be facing off against "Battletech" and
"Mechwarrior 5", strong competition which may keep its more egregious
greediness in check, after all. Either way, I'll be keeping an eye on
it. After all, who doesn't like giant robots shooting themselves to
pieces?**

* here's the (sadly low-information density) trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDWn9VlAeaI
** I'm going to regret making that remark after the inevitable AI
revolution comes to pass. ;-P

On Tue, 16 May 2023 10:40:23 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>You guys remember "Hawken"? A video game featuring giant robots,
>duking it out in multiplayer combat the way giant robots always do? It
>had a brief moment in the sun back in 2014, but slowly faded away and
>eventually got shuttered a few years later.

>Well, it's coming back, rebooted as "Hawken Reborn"*

And, based on the reviews, maybe it should have stayed away.

And maybe it's unfair to judge a game when it's still in earliest of
Early Access, but this game definitely isn't off to a good start. The
fact that - even before the game is officially released - the
developers are hawkin'* microtransactions is never a good sign,
especially since the previous game was sunk by that very problem.
Visually, the gritty graphics of the first have been smoothed away to
generic pabulum, and the level design is unexciting. It's buggy as all
heck too (I mean, sure, it's Early Access, but even so...)

Plus, there's no multiplayer at all. Now, that personally isn't a
downside to me - I prefer single-player - but the multiplayer was what
Hawken was all about, and its exclusion rips the soul out of the game.

Maybe things will get better; who knows. But "Hawken Reborn" is,
sadly, not off to a good start.

* Sorry. I'll see myself out.

On Thu, 18 May 2023 10:15:14 -0400, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>* Sorry. I'll see myself out.

No you won't. Obvious pun is obvious. Well played, sir.

(*golf clap*)

--
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

>On Tue, 16 May 2023 10:40:23 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
><spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>You guys remember "Hawken"? A video game featuring giant robots,
>>duking it out in multiplayer combat the way giant robots always do? It
>>had a brief moment in the sun back in 2014, but slowly faded away and
>>eventually got shuttered a few years later.
>
>>Well, it's coming back, rebooted as "Hawken Reborn"*
>
>And, based on the reviews, maybe it should have stayed away.
>
>And maybe it's unfair to judge a game when it's still in earliest of
>Early Access, but this game definitely isn't off to a good start.

If they are giving (or selling) access then they are inviting judgment.

Don't want to be judged, then wait till you're at least at an Alpha
release state.

Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr