Hyenas, we preview the crazy zero-gravity shooter from the authors of Alien: Isolation

Hyenas were supposed to be a very different game. When? Creative Montage Development started four years ago, the idea was to make a competitive shooter set on Earth where teams of players compete for treasures scattered across the map. That starting point is still there, but at some point in development the game got its start – literally – and today it’s an eccentric and colorful shooter set in a spaceship symbol of capitalism, moving in zero gravity with robots, clones, and characters. extraordinary skills and tools.

The team then wondered what should be the treasure that was discussed between the different teams. Gold? Diamonds? And why not a Sonic action figure, Sega Master System or Panini stickers instead? “The idea came to us when one of us told us that he spent £200 on a collectible figurine,” chief designer Christoph Will told us during a meeting.Preview of hyenas at Gamescom 2022. Childhood memories, old toys, music albums – for many on the development team, these items are real treasures. “There are people on a spaceship who pay them gold by weight.”

Robin Hood in space

Why Hyenas? “Like our characters, hyenas they raid, steal and look like anti-heroes. In The Lion King, they are outcasts living in the shadows, “Will tells us.” And let’s face it: they are weird and fantastic animals. We love them for that. In “Greeks”, five teams of three “hyenas” traverse a single large map in an attempt to capture as many hidden treasures as possible.

L’aim It’s very simple: get more than others before others. As soon as one of the teams collects a certain amount of loot, access to the ship’s vault is opened and the last big fight of each match takes place in this area. Once alerted, the survivors converge at the exit and fight as the front team aims to outlive the opposing teams over time.

Each Hyena has its own unique ability and can collect gadgets scattered around the map. A foam gun it allows, for example, to create barricades to hide behind or to build small platforms and bridges for walking.

According to the developers, it will be very important to become familiar with each character’s strengths, but first of all, it will be very important to get to know each other. hover. “When we decided to set the game in space, we knew we absolutely had to offer zero-gravity rooms,” the lead designer explains. The lack of gravity becomes essential when navigating certain rooms: with one jump, players can quickly reach high ground or move from one wing of the ship to the other, while there will be areas where different teams will fight in zero gravity. they try to surprise each other and avoid bullets.

All Hyena sequences shown during Gamescom, team playwith groups of humans working together to find safe paths and clear areas full of robots and clones guarding treasures. Some of these required heavy armor on one side, siege techniques, and a long hail of shells. The enemies controlled by the game are currently lifeless, but by the developers’ own admission, the behavior of the guards and robots will be one of the elements Creative Assembly is aware it has to work on.

objects of the past, action figures and easter eggs but these aren’t just an endgame reward, the development team abuses them in every possible way to make players smile. To open the vault door, players use a wall-mounted Mega Drive instead of a more generic plastic explosive.

Areas included map all different, each with its own unique theme. We see players rummaging through huge reproductions of objects like tapes, Rubik’s cubes, and old Roland synthesizers; another is a passage of cabinets with the Atari logo on it; another is reminiscent of a disco with platforms that sound and light up when you walk over them.

Hyenas welcome collaborations with other facts and companies, in addition to gadgets and easter eggs from SEGA’s (the game’s publisher) historical IPs, and there will be some surprising announcements about it in the coming months, Will’s words. He doesn’t want to get into the core of Creative Assembly. post-launch content or the boost the game will receive over time, but with material like this it’s easy to imagine periodic events and new themed treasures added for the occasion.