Impressive indie shooter Hawken unveiled

By Fred Dutton Published 10 March, 2011

Mech FPS packs eye-melting trailer.

No platforms, gameplay details or release date have been announced yet but mysterious indie mech shooter Hawken might be about to leap to the top of your most-wanted list.

All we know about the title is that it's a "mech combat FPS", it's currently in development at a "small independent game studio" called Adhesive Games based out of Los Angeles and that its debut trailer could melt faces at 100 paces. Take a look below.

According to the developer's website, 'all clips in this video were captured from actual network game matches. The third person shots are from a spectator camera, gameplay is first person."

A note at the start of the clip states the game has been in development for nine months

An FAQ on the site explains that "the focus is on creating an intense and enjoyable battle experience that captures the feeling of piloting a heavy war machine while keeping the action fast-paced and strategic.

Adhesive is "interested in bringing Hawken to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC" most likely as a downloadable title.

One to keep an eye on, for sure.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (33) Latest comment 1 year ago

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  • Butr0sButr0s #1 1 year ago

    The mechs are a bit more agile then I was expecting, but I like how much verticality the levels have. Too many multiplayer games this generation have had nearly flat levels and the gameplay options have suffered because of it. I guess I still miss some of the old games like Tribes, Jedi Outcast, and Unreal Tournament where some of the levels went up vertically as much as they went our horizontally.

  • HisDudness #2 1 year ago

    This looks awesome.

    It's basically what I was hoping Guerrilla would do with their unannounced IP, but from the looks of it they don't have to bother.

    Will be keeping a close eye on this one. I loved the aesthetic of the video (music, scenery).

  • HermitArcader #3 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • RoOhDaMite #4 1 year ago

    Where's the destruction though? What's the point of vertical tanks if they don't make the surroundings go BOOM!

  • CaptainQuint #5 1 year ago

    Very interesting indeed. Looks lovely.

    The potential for Mech customisation via online gameplay unlocks is immense. None of that superficial CoD perk shite, but proper and believable sci-fi mechanical hardware.

    I'll be keeping an eye on it.

  • KujiGhost #6 1 year ago

    Colour me sold!

  • coolbritannia #7 1 year ago

    Hated the music, loved the visuals. A bit too fast for my liking, but the gameplay looks almost exactly the same as underrated xbox classic, Phantom Crash.

  • scoop #8 1 year ago

    Wow. Fabulous environments.

    Oh dear. Bloody awful visual fx.

    Why why why...

  • Dizzy #9 1 year ago

    Style is very impressive... but TBH the gameplay looks just like any FPS but then with Mechs.

    Was hoping for a slower game with more destruction... but who knows.

  • mingster #10 1 year ago

    The architecture is very impressive love the design of the city.

  • Bleemo #11 1 year ago

    Even the indie guys are making FPS now!

  • Tryhard #12 1 year ago

    You sure this isn't footage sent back from the future?The scenery,backdrops look amazing.

  • space_ace #13 1 year ago

    sweet, these guys know their polys and loops.

  • Pirotic #14 1 year ago

    Stunning graphics, the coders and artists are really onto something. Not so sure about the floaty jumpy mech fights, I want slow and stompy please.

  • JamieR #15 1 year ago

    Indie game really? very hard to believe looks amazing. america has some serous talent

  • coolbritannia #16 1 year ago

    Phantom Crash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a5eOUaXG...

  • ExplodingClown #17 1 year ago

    Looks stunning. This is what I've been hoping for since Heavy Gear 2. Now please please please have a proper campaign and don't just be multiplayer!

  • Tomo #18 1 year ago

    It's the kind of world I'd like to play an adventure game in rather than a mech game :/. It just looks like an amazing environment to explore - all the nooks and crannies - rather than stomp over. Does look quite fun still though.

  • GooseUK #19 1 year ago

    Like the fact they have shown a 100% in game trailer, 9 months in. That takes balls, and i assume skill to develop something this good that fast as an indie.

    Certainly, more impressive that say, a fully out of engine trailer for a game which has been in development for like, 4 years *hint* Dead island *hint*

  • Deckard1 #20 1 year ago

    Nice looking game.

  • zedzee #21 1 year ago

    If I was the producer of the "Battle:LA" film, I'd keep a close eye on how some of those rockets are launched from the mechs.

    I like the look'n'feel of it - it's a cross between a Gorrillaz album cover and "District 9" aesthetics.

  • coldfoot #22 1 year ago

    Ah....the signature look of UE3

  • QotSAfan #23 1 year ago

    Hopes it is not vapourware!

  • gjgjg #24 1 year ago

    9 months?! give it another year or two and this will be gobsmacking
    i have a feeling this will be how the pc version will look however

  • Stop-gap #25 1 year ago

    Looks like War World but a lot prettier. I was hoping for something a bit more Mechwarrior-like personally, but there you go. I think it'll do fairly well- the trailer was nearly nice enough to make me overlook the fact it seems to be team DM yet again.

  • dadrester #26 1 year ago

    Wonder what engine they're using. I'd wager it's unreal. Lovely artwork. will no doubt get negged for this but, I don't understand why people are so surprised by the fact this has come from an "indie" studio? Studios like Level 5, Rocksteady and Insomniac are independent too (See how I picked one from each major territory :D). "Indie" doesn't necessarily mean a bunch of bedroom coders. These guys clearly have some decent financial backing from somewhere, assuming hawken doesn't already have a publisher, to have sustained a team big enough to put together that kind of demo over nine months.
    Edited by dadrester at 11/03/11 @ 02:21

  • phAge #27 1 year ago

    I'd like to echo the (from the looks of the demo, sadly dashed) hopes for a slower, more tactical game. This does indeed looklike any ol' FPS - albeit gorgeous and with wonderful style. I want a new Mechwarrior dammit!

  • Markusdragon #28 1 year ago

    That's their PROTOTYPE? Good lord, that's some impressive work...

  • Empedocles #29 1 year ago

    It's developed using UDK

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #30 1 year ago

    Indie game really?

    I suspect they're indie in the sense of former established studio staff who've sourced some start-up capital rather than the sense of teenage bedroom developers.

    But if I'm wrong, they've worked amazing feats. I take it they're using a bought-in engine, though, probably Unreal given the flexible indie licensing they've got these days.

    Edit: indeed, from their website "Hawken is powered by the Unreal Engine." The website itself is very cagey about who is involved, though, small companies are usually keen to tout their key staff.
    Edited by MENTAL1ST at 11/03/11 @ 09:04

  • SpaceMonkey77 #31 1 year ago

    Cool impressive looking game. One to watch.

    Sorry chaps, slow stompy mech went out a long time ago. Japanese influenced mech games like this, tend to offer speedy or slow mech options, though.

    There's been no more Mechwarrior, probably because its a very PC game, laced in those old horizontal fps mechanics. For that series to come back and make bank on consoles/pc, it would need serious changes to appeal. Heavy Gear 3 or Shogo 2, would be a better options, and with the right people behind it, could be what Front Mission Evolved was aiming to be.

  • DefendoCroc #32 1 year ago

    Wow , that looks very nice and raw , maybe a little bit to fast though: amphetamechs :)

  • peppergomez #33 1 year ago

    Fantastic. That cockpit-POV at the very end looks to provide an intense gaming experience.