Although Streum On Studio's latest contribution to the Warhammer video game series, Necromunda: Hired Gun, hits shelves in less than two days, publisher Focus Home Interactive released the game's opening cinematic trailer on May 28, setting the scene for the epic battles to follow on the industrial Hive World of Necromunda.
Unlike its spiritual predecessor, Underhive Wars, which was a more tactical turn-based game, Hired Gun is painted with a first-person-shooter brush, and focus is more on single-player action than on group cooperation. Players take up the role of a bounty hunter, with major customizable control over their character's looks, weapons, and even the robotic mastiff that hunts alongside them. They set out to take down gangers and mutants infesting Necromunda's darkened streets — for the right price, of course.
The cinematic opens up on the world of Necromunda, where Ambots tunnel beneath the planet's surface, and Eschers roam the streets alongside their longstanding rivals, the Goliaths, ostensibly competing for dominance in the Underhive. But it doesn't offer up much more of what to expect from Hired Gun that hasn't already been revealed by the gameplay trailers, other than the hinted presence of the Imperial Fists, and an inside look into the tense atmosphere pervasive on Necromunda's darkened streets. Check out the cinematic below.
Necromunda: Hired Gun has drawn ready comparisons to fast-paced first person shooters like DOOM ever since it was first revealed, and the opening cinematic only further demonstrates that similarity. It's dark, it's gritty, and the atmosphere is electrically tense. And even though there is no physical conflict in the cinematic, the multitude of weapons shown in every frame hold a promise of violent action soon to come. Hired Gun should move at a faster pace than Underhive Wars, particularly with its heavier focus on action — undoubtedly a welcome change to gamers who felt a little bogged down by Underhive Wars — while its single-player action might make it more approachable for players new to the Warhammer universe.
Warhammer and Necromunda-based video games have had very little mainstream success, although dedicated fans of the series still snatch up copies as quickly as they can be released, and this may be attributed to their births as tabletop games and subsequent status as niche franchises. But Necromunda: Hired Gun looks like it might be breaking away from that mold thanks to its more approachable shooter gameplay, and if it draws more fans into the incredible universe of 40K, then it will definitely be a success.
Necromunda: Hired Gun releases on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC on June 1.
Source: Focus Home Community