We stepped into a mech, and had a whole lot of fun with Hawken. Here's what thought of the beta that is currently ongoing.
Siege, and Missile modes are both team-based modes that highlight the best aspects of Hawken. Both modes require teams to defended there home base or battleship. Missile Assault is forces players to defend their base by using missile silos located around each map. It’s these instants that kept me coming back because you’re constantly moving from station to station to secure the objective, but in the process you’re fending of the opposing team trying to do the same. It’s here the layers the game has to offer.
Hawken is a classed based multiplayer game. If you enjoy firing from long-range mechs then you have the option to play as sharpshooter for sniping or the Rocketeer for missile barrages. If you want to fight up and close, the Hawken offers a brawler class that can deal a heavy beating. When everything meshes together, the combination of different classes come into play, and incentivize team-communication. Nothing is unbalanced, and easy to pickup and enjoy.
The game was built for mouse and keyboard, and the controls are intuitive. Piloting a giant mech feels claustrophobic like it should be, as you will be gazing from the pilot’s cockpit, where the user interface is built in. This is where you’re going to find, your tradition modules like the map, health and bullets you have in your various weapons.
What makes Hawken standout in the free-to-play market is the console quality it holds. As I just stated piloting a giant mech is still optimized on a mouse and keyboard, but where I haven the most fun is by using gamepad support. Hawken supports of Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 controllers on your PC, and during my time I preferred to play with this setup instead. I found piloting across the map was a much more invigorating experience, and was much more engaged in the experience.
Hawken is a free to play game, and using like to perform the wait and see approach when it comes to this category, but I might have been swayed. The fast paced mobile suit mech action is really enjoyable, boasted by the impressive visuals, and class system that should help give the game legs. No official release date for the game has been announced, but currently the beta is live for anyone to play so go ahead, and step into the cockpit of your own mech until then.
