Hawken (video game)

Hawken
Developer(s)	Adhesive Games Reloaded Games (acquisition)[1]
Publisher(s)	Meteor Entertainment K2 Network (acquisition)
Producer(s)	Joshua Clausen (acquisition)
Designer(s)	Khang Le Christopher Lalli John Park
Engine	Unreal Engine 3
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	12 December 2012[2] (open beta)
Genre(s)	Vehicular combat First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Distribution	Download Steam (in Early Access as of February 2014)

Hawken is a multiplayer mech combat video game developed by Adhesive Games. The game focuses on creating an intense battle experience that captures the feel of piloting a mech and includes fast-paced strategic action. The game will feature four modes: team deathmatch, free-for-all, and two unique modes. It currently follows the freemium model of game monetization with in-game purchases as the source of revenue.

On August 27, 2012, publisher Meteor Entertainment announced^[3] the game would be launched on December 12, 2012. On this date, an open beta of the game was released^[4] After transitioning to Steam, as of February 2014, Hawken had been undergoing an early access phase leaving new users of Hawken to wait until the end of Q1 of 2014 before creating a new account with the exception of buying a pilot license key from an early access bundle. Hawken is now available to all users on Steam.

In an interview with G4, Khang Le, the Creative Director, stated that Adhesive Games had found a publisher which was Meteor Entertainment.^[5]

Gameplay

Hawken promotional image

Hawken is a mech-based first-person shooter. The game takes place in a dystopian human-colonized planet industrialized to the point of collapse, in which the hunt for resources has become a battle for survival.^[6] The player assumes the role of a pilot of a bipedal battle mech, armed with a variety of ballistic cannons and missile weaponry. Relatively agile, these machines are also equipped with booster jets that allow them to travel faster and hover in short jumps. Unlike many other first-person shooters, weapons will have unlimited ammunition, but are prone to overheating during sustained fire. Overheating will shut down all weapons of the mech, forcing the player to find a safe place to recover. It will be possible to choose alternate weapons, equipment and upgrades for all mech types to match a play-style or to fill a specific role in a team. In combat, the player will be able to side dash, boost, and make 180° turns to compensate for the slow movements of the mech, which will in turn deplete the recharging fuel gauge rapidly.^[7] Turrets are also featured in the game as two types: stationary and placeable. Stationary turrets will be aligned to the team which activates the turret, while placeable turrets can be picked up and placed around the map by anyone.

Modes

Five game modes are planned for release: Team Deathmatch, Free-for-All Deathmatch, Co-op bot destruction, "Siege" and Missile Assault; Khang Le has said that they also want to do a co-op "Horde" game mode, resources and time permitting.^[7] Seven to eight unique maps have been planned for the game on release, with plans to provide additional downloadable content afterwards. There will be three different mech types: a light type, a heavy type, and an all-around type.^[8]

Energy Units

Energy Units (EU) are used only in "Siege" mode and Coop Mode, where players collect them from power stations and dropped orbs to launch a large battleship, or in coop mode to upgrade the armor, cooling, and damage of weapons. If a destroyed mech was carrying EU, it is dropped, and can be collected by other players. The base amount of EU a mech can carry vary from is class (A or Light: 150 EU, B or Medium: 200 EU, C or Heavy: 250 EU.)

Development

On March 9, 2011 Adhesive Games announced Hawken with a trailer of the work-in-progress,^[9] with only 9 months of development behind it.

Hawken has been developed using the Unreal Development Kit (UDK). "We were familiar with its reputation as possibly the most licensed game engine in the industry. Being able to begin production using a cutting-edge game engine with no start-up cost offers an important opportunity to indie developers like us", said Khang Le. Despite their decision the team had almost no experience with UDK. "We’ve searched the UDN docs as well as online tutorials. Using a publicly available engine means it’s not only possible, but likely that there will be information online about whatever we’re trying to accomplish. Also, the UDK community has been very supportive. We often browse through the forum and read what’s possible or not before we make design decisions."

The main focus for Le was to deliver the graphically intense vision he had for the game on a tight schedule with "triple-A" quality. Within one month of production they were already able to test out a prototype.^[10] The actual name of the game came from the last name of one of their former 3D artists James Hawkins whom Khang Le was trying to make fun of resulting in the name "Hawken" in the process. "We couldn’t come up with a better-sounding name. We had "Bolthead", we had "Steel Vultures", a ton of other names like that, but Hawken was just the name that had a cool sound everyone liked. And gameplay, you have a lot of aerial kind of movement where you kind of swoop into the enemy, so it sort of makes sense for us, too".^[5]

The game was acquired by Reloaded Games, the owner of APB Reloaded in March 16, 2015. It was met with mixed responses from the community.^[1]

Reception

In 2012, Hawken was nominated for 20 awards at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), won 12 and had three Honorable Mentions.^[11] Awards included:

• Destructoid’s Best of PC
• GameTrailers’ Best Free to Play
• GameTrailers’ Best Online Only
• Polygon’s E3 Editor’s Choice Award
• Awesome Robo’s E3 2012 Best Overall Title
• GamingIrresponsibly’s Best of Indie
• Examiner.com’s Best PvP (Multiplayer)
• Video Game Writers’ Best of PC
• Sidequesting’s Best of E3 Editor’s Choice Awards
• GamerLive.TV’s Top 5 PC Games

Hawken also received awards and nominations at Gamescom 2012 in Germany.

• MMOBomb.com's Best Graphics
• GameSpot's Best Game of the Show
• Destructoid nominated Hawken for Best PC Game, Best Shooter, and Best Game of the Show

At PAX Prime 2012, Hawken was awarded:

• STFUandPlay's Best of PC
• STFUandPlay's Best Graphics
• Destructoid's Must Play
• ShogunGamer's Best of Show
• MMOhut's Best Graphics: Runner Up

Film adaptation

On 24 August 2011 an article on entertainment news website The Wrap was released confirming that DJ2 Entertainment, an independent production company, was able to obtain the rights for a film adaptation.^[12] Adhesive Games was hesitant to release the rights at first, opting to focus on the game release instead. "I assumed someone already got it because it was so huge. Big names were chasing this", said DJ2 producer Dmitri M. Johnson, "A-list directors and big hit agencies."

The story will follow two young pilots from separate clans pitted against one another after a devastating virus has covered most of the heavily industrialized planet surface in toxic crystal. There have been no official announcements regarding writers, producers or lead actors for the film at this point, but a panel at Comic-Con 2012 announced Act of Valor director Scott Waugh would be taking the reins on the adaptation.

See also

• Shogo: Mobile Armor Division

References

External links

• Official website
• Developer website