Quick Look: Hawken Beta

God this looks sweet!

Knowing Carmack's record of screwing everything up since Rage!, I think the Rift will likely suck.

@Korolev said:

Seems really neat for a casual "blast-dudes-in-mech-suits-until-they-die" kinda game, but I question how deep the gameplay can be. It seems (emphasis on seems) to involve just standing and shooting each other until the other guy falls over.

you just described pretty much 90% of all shooters :)

Seems pretty solid. Might have to give this one a try.

@Brad You guys should use D3DOverrider when using VSync. It forces Triple Buffering and improves performance drastically when forcing vsync. The NVidia Control Panel doesn't force triple buffering for any non OpenGL games, but D3DOverrider does.

Not very smart of the developers to use the HP name for their points system.

@Manekineko said:

HP booster? I'M OUT!

I hope you came back in for long enough to realize H doesn't stand for Health for Hit.

@PimblyCharles: I don't think they want to double or triple input lag in an online PC shooter. Kind of defeats the point.

I've been having great fun with this, I like more arcade mech games like Mech Assault on OG Xbox.

The art direction reminds me of Ghost in the Shell and other cyberpunk stuff, really stands out.

Seeing the Battleship and taking it down is amazing. Much more ominous feeling than in Halo games.

Also, really well optimised as I could play this on my laptop looking great with a consistent framerate.

I just want more content.

I read the comments and it seemed like no one mentioned this, but most if not all of the secondary weapons have some sort of skill use. For example, sharpshooters rifle has a scope and actually makes you hit what you aim at(non-scope is very inaccurate), and the Assaults rocket can be exploded mid-air in case you missed an enemy. Edit: And I believe the heavier classes have lock on for their rockets.

@Flacracker: Really? That seems less totally shady, and more of a dumb reappropriation of an existent initialism. Is that the game's version of XP?

FUNNY! I'm watching the video b/c I played this weekend, and who do I see BonWOLF and thats me! LOL! At the 19 min mark or so, he brings up score I see my name. COOL!

wonder how hard it would be to get mech warrior 2 to run on a modern machine

@Curufinwe said:

@Manekineko said:

HP booster? I'M OUT!

I hope you came back in for long enough to realize H doesn't stand for Health for Hit.

Yeah, the icon looking exactly like that other currency icon should've been a give-away.

@outerabiz: You should try out Mechwarrior Online, except for the fact that it's multiplayer only, it's pretty damn close. (Also missing the computer voice "group fire, engaged ... all systems nominal.) But still the best 'mech game in ten years, in my opinion.

@Fleck0 said:

hoping they take a look at Mechwarrior online at some point. I like my Mechs a bit more simmy. This definitely looks worth checking out for free though

can't believe the devs haven't changed Hawken Points to something other than HP

Here's a preview of the Mechwarrior Online quick look:

they play it like it's a shooter, never mention class roles, die 3 mins into the round and have to wait for the match to end, and then they go "eh! it seems okay but it's not for me"

actually on second thought, they'll probably just be stuck in trial mechs so they'd be woefully ineffective no matter what they do! god trial mechs are terrible/are a terrible implementation of f2p

Sorry for killing you at the 23:15 mark :P

I'm tempted to get into this just because the sound effects are so damn satisfying. Throw in the great visual design and comparatively streamlined mech controls, and I'm pretty much locked in. I understand why this game might not arouse everyone, though.

wha? I V-sync and tripple buffer almost every game I play on PC.

Hawken looks good for what it's trying to do. But, please quicklook Mechwarrior Online.

@Itwastuesday said:

@Fleck0 said:

hoping they take a look at Mechwarrior online at some point. I like my Mechs a bit more simmy. This definitely looks worth checking out for free though

can't believe the devs haven't changed Hawken Points to something other than HP

Here's a preview of the Mechwarrior Online quick look:

they play it like it's a shooter, never mention class roles, die 3 mins into the round and have to wait for the match to end, and then they go "eh! it seems okay but it's not for me"

actually on second thought, they'll probably just be stuck in trial mechs so they'd be woefully ineffective no matter what they do! god trial mechs are terrible/are a terrible implementation of f2p

If Drew or Dave leads the MWO open beta QL, I think it will be fine. They can always quit the match early and use a different trial mech.

I like the artistic and game play direction they have taken. I think too many mech games have been crap lately, the Japanese aesthetics for mech is great...but they games play like crap utilizing 29 buttons on a joypad and forcing hand-cramping finger gymnastics.

I hope a Hawken 2, that improves upon this solid base, will be on consoles in a two years. I think they could easily scoop-up the western fan base of games like Armored Core in about one second with a solid console game on PS4 or XB720.

Screen tearing I don't worry about that much, but these days I tend to notice it a lot more. I hope for a future which forces vsync.

I agree with Drew: Alarms/klaxons are amazing. My favourite is probably the Overwatch alarm from Half-Life 2.

I played the demo at Pax 2012 this year and their demo station was insane. I'm not sure what was coming out from under the counters they had their computers at, but it was pumping out hot air like I've never felt before. I'm not kidding. Hotter than oven air. The air coming onto my legs with jeans on them felt about 250 degrees Fahrenheit. It really felt like I was in a fucking mech, I thought my legs were going to melt.

This looks sweet. Great art style.

@Zelnox said:

@Itwastuesday said:

@Fleck0 said:

hoping they take a look at Mechwarrior online at some point. I like my Mechs a bit more simmy. This definitely looks worth checking out for free though

can't believe the devs haven't changed Hawken Points to something other than HP

Here's a preview of the Mechwarrior Online quick look:

they play it like it's a shooter, never mention class roles, die 3 mins into the round and have to wait for the match to end, and then they go "eh! it seems okay but it's not for me"

actually on second thought, they'll probably just be stuck in trial mechs so they'd be woefully ineffective no matter what they do! god trial mechs are terrible/are a terrible implementation of f2p

If Drew or Dave leads the MWO open beta QL, I think it will be fine. They can always quit the match early and use a different trial mech.

To be perfectly honest here, mechs in general are tougher than they are in Hawken... And faster at that, heh...

That's another problem I have with Hawken, even thought MW:O is supposed to be more "Simmy" high engine mechs in there are still much faster and more agile than the Hawken mechs, on the other side of the spectrum the heavy ones are much tougher at the same time. Boiling it down one could put it like this.

Hawken = FPS with mechs

Mechwarrior = Tank/Vehicle combat with Mechs

Obviously, one designed like the latter is going to be a bit more immerse.

@MonkeyKing1969 said:

I like the artistic and game play direction they have taken. I think too many mech games have been crap lately, the Japanese aesthetics for mech is great...but they games play like crap utilizing 29 buttons on a joypad and forcing hand-cramping finger gymnastics.

I hope a Hawken 2, that improves upon this solid base, will be on consoles in a two years. I think they could easily scoop-up the western fan base of games like Armored Core in about one second with a solid console game on PS4 or XB720.

AC and Hawken play very, very differently, so it's a bit more of a stretch than you might think. The only thing I can think they have in common is mechs.

The mech Jeff was driving looks similar to TV-kun from FLCL.

As someone that has been playing this for months in the alpha, a lot of the players that they are encountering in this QL are really bad, but I guess most were likely new, so that's forgivable.

It's a simplistic shooter game at its most basic, yes, but it's also capable of serious depth when playing with teammates. Of course, the actual depth insofar as unlocks, weapons and bodies, and pure gameplay is fairly shallow, but working closely with teammates across class types provides for a crazy amount of great fun and tactical behavior.

I hope they do a quicklook of Mech Warrior Online and Drew's on board for that one too, seems like he'd be way more in to mwo with it basically just being MechWarr2 with super pretty graphics.

I'm going to have to check this out when it releases. Looks really neat.

im just going to stick with world of tanks :-)

I'd be more interested if it had location-specific damage as discussed in the QL (limb damage, weapon damage, etc) but if it's free I'll probably try it anyways.

I'am surprised the crew forgot that during the Hawken interview it was mentioned that Hawken will not have a pay to win model. Here's the interview link: http://www.giantbomb.com/e3-2012-hawken-demo/17-6216/

@JunkanooPunch said:

pay to win = officially lost all interest in the game. gg hawken developers.

It's not Pay to win, jackass.

@Taklulas: It's pay to win.

Call me old fashioned, but I REALLY don't like that this game is free to play. That just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I would much rather pay $30-$40 up front to avoid any "pay to win" scenarios. Give me a full fledged mech experience without nickel and diming me.

@Taklulas said:

@JunkanooPunch said:

pay to win = officially lost all interest in the game. gg hawken developers.

It's not Pay to win, jackass.

Sell extra HP, it's pay to win.

It's not pay-to-win, you can't buy more health.

Jeff just misinterpreted the HP Booster as a Health Point booster rather than a Hawken Point booster, which is just a credit system.

I'm getting a real Phantom Crash vibe from this. Minus the part where animals with computer chips in their brains are the mech pilots.

@Terramagi:

HP stands for Hawken Points. The currency you buy paint with.

Edit: Actually Hawken points are what you buy mechs with. Meteor Points are what you buy cosmetic stuff with. My mistake. Still, you are not buying health, and you gain Hawken Points naturally from playing matches.

@Krystal_Sackful said:

@Terramagi:

HP stands for Hawken Points. The currency you by paint with.

The paint confers no bonuses by the way.

While people should've checked what it means before screaming PAY2WIN, choosing to use HP as the name of the currency is pretty dumb, given what the acronym usually stands for and the common view that all free to play games are pay to win. They should probably have used Hawken Credits or something like that instead, probably only fooling a few that they're getting porn or punk music boosters when they pay.

The inside of that cockpit looks NOTHING like that rectangular TV window with the windshield wiper. I hope that's something that can be chalked up to "beta."

Also, at 1:25 "some of the items, also, use these points, which you can earn for actually playing the game" which have the EXACT SAME ICON as the "HP booster." I've never played the game and I figured it out immediately. Come on, guys. Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions.

So it's SHOGO. Cool.

Who else began to lose interest as soon as they said things like 'accessible' and 'first-person shooter'?

Needs saying again, HP IS NOT HEALTH POINTS ITS HAWKEN POINTS YOU CANNOT BUY MORE HP

@fisk0 said:

@Krystal_Sackful said:

@Terramagi:

HP stands for Hawken Points. The currency you by paint with.

The paint confers no bonuses by the way.

While people should've checked what it means before screaming PAY2WIN, choosing to use HP as the name of the currency is pretty dumb, given what the acronym usually stands for and the common view that all free to play games are pay to win. They should probably have used Hawken Credits or something like that instead, probably only fooling a few that they're getting porn or punk music boosters when they pay.

You can buy characters. That makes it pay to win on its own, even if you can't outright buy health.

And yes, that means that abomination League is pay to win as well. Nobody should be disputing that.

Alright folks:

There are three different currencies in Hawken: Hawken Points (HP as several others have pointed out), Meteor Points, and Tech Points.

Hawken Points are used to buy anything that affects gameplay - new mech classes, weapons, etc. - and are earned by playing the game. You can buy boosters to speed up the rate at which you earn these points, but anything that affects gameplay you can get for free, it would just a matter of playing (grinding) to get enough points. In that respect, not so different from experience point systems in CoD, BF3, etc.

Meteor Points are used buy all the cosmetic stuff - different parts, paint jobs, etc. - and can only be purchased with real world money. Note parts do not affect mech stats, they are cosmetic only. The stats of the mech and available weapon selection are determined by its class. So think of the mech parts as hats in TF2.

Tech Points are earned by leveling up and allow you to purchase abilities for your mech, which is shown in the tree at 1:30 in the QL. Leveling up is also done by earning XP through play, and yes you can buy a booster to speed earning XP as well.

Paying gets you stuff faster but that's it (at least in terms of gameplay), it doesn't get you anything that free players can't also get by simply sinking more time into the game.

PS As someone who was in the Alpha, it's worth noting that there are some way cooler mech designs in the game that they didn't not make available in the Beta. I'm probably not supposed to say that, but whatever, you can see a lot of them in publicly released media. The "TV" mech is kind of the lamest looking one, and is correspondingly the default you get for free.

Visor boot up sequence says Reticulating Splines. Cute.

@Terramagi said:

@fisk0 said:

@Krystal_Sackful said:

@Terramagi:

HP stands for Hawken Points. The currency you by paint with.

The paint confers no bonuses by the way.

While people should've checked what it means before screaming PAY2WIN, choosing to use HP as the name of the currency is pretty dumb, given what the acronym usually stands for and the common view that all free to play games are pay to win. They should probably have used Hawken Credits or something like that instead, probably only fooling a few that they're getting porn or punk music boosters when they pay.

You can buy characters. That makes it pay to win on its own, even if you can't outright buy health.

And yes, that means that abomination League is pay to win as well. Nobody should be disputing that.

I would be disputing that, as you can gain those points by playing to win. Same as with league of legends.

@jozzy said:

@Terramagi said:

@fisk0 said:

@Krystal_Sackful said:

@Terramagi:

HP stands for Hawken Points. The currency you by paint with.

The paint confers no bonuses by the way.

While people should've checked what it means before screaming PAY2WIN, choosing to use HP as the name of the currency is pretty dumb, given what the acronym usually stands for and the common view that all free to play games are pay to win. They should probably have used Hawken Credits or something like that instead, probably only fooling a few that they're getting porn or punk music boosters when they pay.

You can buy characters. That makes it pay to win on its own, even if you can't outright buy health.

And yes, that means that abomination League is pay to win as well. Nobody should be disputing that.

I would be disputing that, as you can gain those points by playing to win. Same as with league of legends.

Then you are an idiot.

But hey, I'm sure you have time to play three thousand and three hundred games, winning ALL of them.