Hawked F2P extraction shooter debuts on PC and consoles

My.Games said its Hawked free-to-play extraction shooter has debuted today on early access on the PC and consoles.

After its successful PC and cross-play open beta, Hawked is now available on PC via the My.Games Launcher and Steam as well as the PlayStation 4 and PS5 and the Xbox Series X/S.

My.Games showed me the game at a recent preview event, and I was able to get a feel for the game in a tutorial and live gameplay match.

Hawked immerses players, known as Renegades, into an extraction-shooter environment set on the remote island of X-Isle. Teams of up to three or solo players compete to secure and extract valuable artifacts, navigating challenges such as battling monsters, outwitting rivals, solving puzzles, and evading traps. The Renegades each have their unique abilities and combinations.

The primary objective? Be the first team to successfully extract artifacts from X-Isle, claiming victory for the session. On the treasure island, teams have to secure and extract Artifacts that can only be reached by fighting other players for the prize, solving puzzles, avoiding traps, and getting rid of local monsters. In pursuit of ensuring rewarding gameplay, players can also extract smaller treasures and accumulate valuable currency to enhance their characters, regardless of their survival on the island.

In a typical session, you start with exploration, finding stuff. Then you engage with either the creatures in the environment (player-versus-environment, or PvE) or player-versus-player (PvP). You collect treasures, glyphs and session power. You can then extract and preserve your loot. Or you can go off to seek the main reward and converge into the extraction point for a massive PvP battle.

The art style reminds me of a kind of light-hearted adventure game, with a comic book-like animated monsters and humans. The jungle environment of X-Isle is pretty, but there are creatures of varying sizes waiting to chase you down and hit you from multiple directions. It’s always best to go after them in a coordinated group.

Players scavenge for weapons and ammunition to engage in tactical showdowns against both adversaries and creatures. Embracing various strategies, from setting cunning traps to launching ambushes, players must employ every trick in the book to secure the coveted artifacts. I started with a weak slingshot and picked up a pistol and then an assault rifle. I could carry two weapons at once.

But I really scored well when I picked up a gun — I had no idea what it was at first — that was a good sniper rifle. Then I found that I could take out a lot of ordinary monsters with one or two shots and then get the bosses in a short time too, so long as they didn’t come running straight at me. It also worked pretty well against the human players. I took down four human players in my first match and could have helped us escape in the final extraction. But I got too confident and strayed from cover. So I was taken out.

Character customization lies at the heart of Hawked with options including diverse apparel pieces, hairstyles, and colors. Renegades can fine-tune their characters by mixing and matching artifacts, gear, and boosters to craft their ultimate treasure hunter, aligning gameplay with their preferred style. I spent just a couple of minutes customizing my avatar before jumping into matches.

Artifacts, each offering unique passive bonuses, can be equipped upon discovery, granting abilities like camouflage when crouching or heightened enemy awareness. Currently boasting 18 types of artifacts, players can combine three simultaneously, with opportunities to find and upgrade them across multiple rarity levels.

“While making Hawked, we wanted to create the ultimate treasure hunt. A game that brings that sense of adventure into every game whilst also being approachable and with a laser focus on creating a fun experience in every match,” said Andy Duthie, executive producer, in a statement. “For that we always had consoles in mind from the very beginning. We can’t wait for players to enjoy their hunt together through cross-play and wreak adventuring havoc across X-Isle retrieving artifacts and becoming a legendary treasure hunter.”

In Renegades, the game’s playable treasure hunting heroes start exploring the mysterious X-isle with the help of treasure hunting corporation Grail. New secrets and mysteries will be revealed as the story unfolds culminating in an explosive climax that sets up the next big story moment. A recent roadmap already laid out future Issues which will feature new content and a constantly evolving storyline. Hawked also launches alongside a sizable update to the existing Early Access version with a newly designed user interface and refinement to shooting and movement mechanics based on user feedback during Early Access.

Players can utilize an array of 16 gear types, including deployable covers, scouting falcons, and more, enabling a spectrum of customization and diverse gameplay styles. Upgrading gears and Artifacts is facilitated through currency acquired by selling or dismantling treasure in the Riftwake, the game’s social space.

X-Isle, the game’s dynamic map, presents a challenging landscape teeming with treasure but also harboring the hostile Disciples, determined to retain control. Each gameplay session unfolds across various parts of the island, with hidden treasures concealed in boobytrapped temples and ruins. Dynamic events, such as confronting the formidable Disciple Caravan, add layers to gameplay, demanding players’ strategic prowess and cooperation. More info is detailed on the game’s website.

There are a lot of extractions out there and it’s not likely that this one will come off as the most sophisticated one or the prettiest one. But it is an accessible game with a light-hearted world that could be just the thing for players who aren’t fond of dystopian worlds or ultra-serious combat.