Game 76 - Necromunda: Hired Gun - Week 144 - Oct 22

 

ecromunda: Hired Gun

After watching the review by Mandalore Gaming this is one I decided to pass on. But after seeing it in the bargain bin I decided to give it a go. I’m glad I did because I was pleasantly surprised. The gameplay is an interesting mix between DOOM remakes and Titanfall. It’s a run and gunner with unique wave enemies, with the addition of wall running. The mobility is a double edged sword. On one hand once things get pumping and you fly around the map, while the fantastic metal sound track is blaring to the sump sinks factories in the background and your plasma gun is obliterating scum into meaty chunks in slow motion has you feel the adrenaline high. It adds a sense of verticality and true scale to a hive city, with many maps having dozens of stories, cathedrals and statues towering above you, and dark depths below you, all compounded by the ability to move around it with ease via your bionic legs and grappling hook. But there in lies the other sword edge; you don’t feel grounded. With your high mobility you can master the scale of the hive city. To me that doesn’t feel 40k. I’m not some hive scummer rooted to the ground desperately scavenging for his last shell. Now while I’m capable of suppressing my disbelief and lore purist in me; accepting that some concessions should be made to make a fun game (a fact no more true than it is on the tabletop) – I can’t help but feel a Metro style scavenging survival game would have been better suited.

 The art is amazing. For three games now Streum On Studio have proven they can nail the visuals of the 41^st millennium (yes, that includes EYE: Divine Cybermancy); the grandeur that is the exaggerated Imperium of Man. So it’s too bad you fly past most of it in a game that feels designed for speed runners. I really don’t feel like a scum ganger bounty hunter and I’m clueless as to why they started you with all your bionics. It’s cool that you find a dark tech cerebral implant that lets you slow down time and use various other abilities others don’t. It’s cooler so that it makes you a target for scavengers who want the chip in your head. I just wish you didn’t start with your legs and got something similar for that; if its so common why isn’t everyone wall running around hive cities? I’ll tell you why – because it’s not in the lore. I wonder if it would have been cooler if you were Jericho’s little pet Skitarri; scavenged and rebuild; a growing legend of an infamous killer robot assassin. Combine the cyber mastiff and bounty hunter into one.

It's cool to see some 40k vehicles; even though you don't use them.

Beyond that the weapon system is freaking phenomenal. The degree to which you can modify your weapons is a welcome sight. Scopes, barrels, triggers, fire systems, ammo mods and more – tinkering your perfect kit before you embark on a bounty contributes immensely to the feeling of being a bounty hunter. The amount of weapons you have at your disposal is nice to and helps it add to the looter shooter gameplay. Each weapon feels distinctly 40k and they finally got the plasma gun right! My favourite next to the Bolter. Some of the standouts for me were the hot shot las, auto-pistol with a drum mag, bolter with minimal attachments (as it should be), plasma gun and pistol and the grav gun which is an absolute monster! I hope Darktide has something similar or better.

The campaign was surprisingly good. Short and refreshing, it’s quality over quantity here. It feels 40k, but more importantly it feels Necromunda. Getting revenge against various shadowy entities who have large bounties on their heads for attach the merchants guild; with many scum gang betrayals along the way. Kal Jericho is well voiced, as are many of the characters. Some less so and I wish I chose the male instead of the female with her terrible cockney accent. I get that that’s the Necromundan voice, but you could have done better. The biggest highlight of the main story was the set pieces. Running up a moving train; fighting Escher’s supped up on spook; fighting over a maze of junk cubes that has miniguns blasting anyone who rises above; finding yourself deep in ganger territory only to make your desperate escape as they blow apart a hab. I love that a battle or gang war that would destroy a city on modern Earth barely puts a dint on the hive city. The fact that it goes so unnoticed is a testament to the grand scale of these planet sized cities. 

It was freaking sick to see a corpse starch factory recreated.

The Gene Stealer Cultists are easily the most dissapoiinting. I could have looked past the lore issues and head cannoned it as a secluded cult; a fresh cell that you eradicate (making it lore compliant and have no effect). But the actual Gene Stealers are terrible to fight. While the gangers have jump pack enemies, teleporting spook users, ambot bruisers and various gun toting enemies, the gene stealers run at you in swarms and die. They’re a carbon copy from Deathwing but somehow worse. Secondary missions are also pretty terrible, rehashing pre-existing mission arenas. It adds some replayability but after the first few it gets old fast. The mission objectives don’t make sense too; why create a game about mobility and then have an objective where you need to stand in the same circle? This is ridiculous on harder difficulties and just has you spamming slow mo. Its purpose is to level you up if you need it or grind for thrones. It would have been interesting if they added some random effects or conditions like ambots constantly spawn or created some unique levels to mix them in with previous ones. It makes the hive city feel a little smaller tbh and while I’m it has its audience; I can’t help but feel the game would have been stronger without it as a tight 10-hour experience. Finally, the game is still riddled with bugs and glitches. It’s been a long time since I played a game where I’ve had 10+ crashes and been stuck in walls multiple times. The game is ambitious but comes of feeling budget, and you can feel it in the janky shooting and the bugs. Of course, they don’t have the resources of Respawn or id Software and the game is ambitious but clearly budget. You can feel it in the janky shooting and when a game introduces an auto-aim ability you can’t help but compare it to Fallout VATs instead of the smooth running and gunning in Titanfall. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it despite its issues.

The final bounty is fashionably badass looking.