Watching Hyenas play out in a hands-off preview at Gamescom 2022 is torture. This sci-fi looter-shooter set on a spaceship-megastore (aka a Plundership) oddly loaded with retro swag and SEGA easter eggs looks so much fun; yet here I am in the front row only seeing the Sonic makers’ new game play out a round of robbers vs robbers. The aim: get the wildest riches and make a break for the escape pod. The obstacles: as many as four other teams of three each trying to scoot away with the same score. And more: there’s on-ship security ready to mess up any and every player-controlled protagonist. It’s a bit Apex–y and a pinch more Escape from Tarkov but to be totally fair to Creative Assembly’s new baby, Hyenas is already standing apart as its own delicious concoction, a scorchingly bright and fun-times-titillating blast of teamwork and ultraviolence. What isn’t to like?
Watch the announcement trailer for Hyenas, below…
Well, if there’s one thing ‘not to like’, right now, it’s how far out from release Hyenas clearly is. What we see is an alpha build with just six playable characters available - the team we follow built from the flamboyant and tank-like Galxia, cool sharpshooter El Silbon, and the agile tutu-sporting Prima - and there’s evidently some spit and polish needed in regard to environmental traversal, as our protags seem to slip and slide around the Plundership’s levels rather loosely. But that’ll come - Creative Assembly isn’t a studio to do things sloppily, as its wildly different Alien: Isolation and Total War series go to show. And even with its edges a little rough and some final-touch sparkle absent, this is still a riveting watch, as the crackable vaults of the ship pop and fizz with retro-futuristic atmosphere and zero-gravity sections allow for free-floating movement and shooty-bang action between competing parties.
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If any game was the anti-Alien: Isolation, this is it: no creeping, no skulking, no softly tip-toe-as-you-go-ing. When the ship’s security does make an appearance, our swag-swiping trio lays into them with relish, although we’re told that the AI on these guards will improve for the game’s release, so perhaps the all-guns approach won’t work so well when Hyenas emerges next year. Reach one of the vaults where the merch is kept and your crew uses a Mega Drive-styled device to break in, and another echo of SEGA’s past is evident if you lose a teammate as the respawn machines feature distinctly Master System-like controls. They’re neat nods but they don’t overpower the consistent aesthetic of Hyenas, which achieves an admirable boldness given its futuristic setting, a place that's usually so dank and grim and unappealing. (And in the case of Isolation, toothy.)
With exaggerated player movements akin to those seen in Respawn’s successful battle royale and a palette that might have your retinas needing a rest after a few rounds of play, Hyenas is shaping up very nicely indeed based on this peepers-only preview. I’m not normally much for multiplayer shooters but the style of this one alone is enough to make me want to sign up for a few potentially one-way trips to the Plundership, armed with zany weapons and decked out in my finest farcical garb (the costumes are entirely silly, and I’m here for it). With no release window beyond simply 2023, I get the impression that Creative Assembly is in no rush, any pressure it may be feeling not showing in what’s on screen, which exudes confidence. And a steady development will serve this game well. Yes, there are other looter-shooters of this ostensible model on the market and heading to it in the future, but none of them have the powerful pzazz and distinctive SEGA seal of approval of Hyenas - and if you're really keen, you can sign up to its alpha right now.