2018 saw the end of Hawken”s first life on PC. It was wished back many times, but its actual homecoming enrages gamers
That was probably nothing: The developers 505 Games of (Hawken Reborn) had hardly imagined the start of their project in Early Access. The title stands after a few days on Steam at mostly negative
Because of its just over 1000 reviews, only 22 percent are positive. What happened and why does the title seem so familiar?
What is Hawken Reborn?
Hawken – that is, without the Reborn name suffix – was a multiplayer game-focused fast-paced mech shooter released in the early 2010s, but whose PC version was scrapped in early 2018 – to the grief of a fan base that still exists today.
However, on the Playstation 4/5 or Xbox consoles, the title can even be played for free to this day
Hawken Reborn is now supposed to be a new beginning on the PC, but under different auspices. In its current Early Access version, the game is a pure single-player title, so you”ll be charging at bots in your nimble mechs. There is also an ingameshop. These two insipid facets alone are already causing offence to the community, but the list can be continued, see:
- (kingjohthan90):
You literally have Pay2Win microtransactions in a game that is currently limited to single player.
- (Steam user Enyo) criticised that more or less all core elements of the original game would be missing.
- (Spyke Foose):
Maybe you don”t monetize your game until you fix the critical bugs that make it impossible to play. And they are definitely using art generated by artificial intelligence. That is absolutely unacceptable and I refuse to support such a decision.
- (InfernalAlice):
This is not Hawken! This is the exhumed and puppet-strung corpse of a once great game to try and milk some more money out of it. Story and dialogue just suck too. It”s practically Diablo Immortal with mechs
Some defend the game, for example (Fluffden). The title just needs time, it is an Early Access, but he also vehemently objects to the apparent AI-created art according to the users and rejects its use outright.
Luckily there are alternatives
Luckily, there are other cool mech shooters on the PC that, apart from good gameplay, even tell a great story, first and foremost the impressive Titanfall 2, whose single-player campaign is still one of the best the genre has to offer.
And if you want more of a virtual experience of the more sedate, tactical version of steel warfare on two legs, the new Mechwarrior 5 is well worth a look. It”s not without its flaws either, but it”s still a good option to get your teeth into with mechs.
Do you remember the original Hawken? Did you play it on the PC back then? Or do you still play it on consoles today? Have you checked out the remake or are you planning to? Do you know any other insider tips that you can recommend for those looking for mech material? And would you accept AI-generated art? Feel free to post your thoughts and opinions on Hawken Reborn in the comments!
