Games Workshop’s Necromunda comes to life in a bloody new trailer for Necromunda: Hired Gun, a new FPS set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Warhammer’s expansive setting has produced a plethora of video games exploring various time periods, events, characters and more from the lore. While some games, like Vermintide, are action-based, others take the TTRPG (Table-Top Role-Playing Game) elements of the series and extrapolate them into a digital format. Various implementations of this formula have come in the form of X-Com style gameplay and StarCraft style base building and campaigns.
Revealed in March 2020, Necromunda: Hired Gun is the second video game entry in the Warhammer franchise based on the Necromunda board games. It is in development at Streum On Studios and published by Focus Home Interactive. Focus Home also published Necromunda: Underhive Wars, a tactical RPG developed by Rogue Factor in 2020.
The new trailer posted on Focus Home’s YouTube channel looks at the hive cities of Necromunda and provides an overview of what players can expect. Equipped with weapons, a robotic canine companion, and an arsenal of bionic augmentations, players assume the role of a bounty hunter in one of the hive cities. Missions will take the bounty hunter to various explorable environments throughout the city. According to the official website, customization is at the forefront, with different options available for weapons, the bounty hunter character, and even the cyber-dog. While there is no information on how missions will be structured, plenty of gory gameplay in the trailer showcases enemies and obtainable weapon types.
Streum On has released three games before Hired Gun, one of which was an original adaptation of the company's RPG board game A.V.A in 2011’s shooter E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy. The other two games, Syndicate Black Ops, which released as a mod for Half-Life, and 2016’s Space Hulk Deathwing, based on Warhammer’s Space Hulk board game, were shooter games as well. While the studio doesn’t have a long list of titles, Streum On’s specialty in shooter games led to its acquisition by Focus Home Interactive earlier this week.
Necromunda: Hired Gun seems to draw from popular aspects of other shooters over the years, as evidenced by the fast-paced action in the trailer. However, what it also has is the ability to bring in new fans for the Warhammer series. Because of the wealth of lore in the series, it might be hard for newcomers to understand where to begin. But with a single-player game like Hired Gun, there is a brand new opportunity to introduce thousands of new players to a universe people have loved for decades.
Necromunda: Hired Gun release June 1 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Source: Focus Home Interactive/YouTube, Focus Home Interactive, Streum On Studios