Creative Assembly owns studios in Horsham (UK) and Sofia (Bulgaria). In recent years, the team primarily made a name for itself with large tactics games for PC. The “Total War” series and its “Warhammer” offshoots celebrate massive battles and combine them with turn-based building strategy.

Creative Assembly last dabbled in the first-person genre in 2014 with “Alien Isolation.” After initial problems, the stealth action game was praised above all for the successful atmosphere and the extremely exciting gameplay.

“Hyenas”, which will be released in 2023, is something completely different! Namely, it is a flashy and brightly colored multiplayer shooter. At first glance, the game resembles a mix of “Borderlands” and “Fortnite”.

At Gamescom, Sega and Creative Assembly presented gameplay clips of the colorful shooter for the first time and explained what will set the gameplay apart from the strong competition.

Shooter journey into the retro future

The multiplayer shooter is set in a distant future ruled by the megacorporation Clout. The rebels of the “Hyenas” prefer to break into stations guarded by Clout and steal the valuable merch there. This, of course, involves individual pieces of equipment and tools. Creative Assembly avoids the term hero shooter so far, but serves six classes with concise personalities and characters like the drag queen Galaxia for the start.

During the presentation, the team confirmed that – similar to “Overwatch” – they will present more information and backgrounds about the characters in the future. They want to enable identification with the heroes and create a “Hyenas” universe.

However, the game is most notable for its unusual graphic style and staging, which borrows heavily from modern pop culture. For example, “Hyenas” repeatedly plays with video game nostalgia. In the featured section, for example, the rebels crack a safe using an explosive charge in the form of a Sega Mega Drive.

The level architecture itself is deliberately styled on the eighties with oversized retro TVs and other equipment and is correspondingly colorful. On the one hand, this is funny, but at times it’s also a bit too much of a good thing. The presentation fluctuated between charming and discreetly unpleasant in terms of humor.

Unusual Map Design

In “Hyenas”, fifteen participants spread across five teams of three get down to business. The goal of the rounds, which are limited to 20 minutes, is to capture as much merch as possible and then exfiltrate the loot. Since only one of the teams can succeed in escaping, there are fierce shootouts at the end of a game at the latest. However, the developers emphasized during Gamescom that it would theoretically be possible to win a round without shooting at all – as long as you take advantage of the maps’ possibilities.

On the maps, in addition to the teams, there are also Murfs – clout troops. They guard important nodes and also serve as cannon fodder. The maps are quite extensive and offer different areas with changing conditions. On the presented map, for example, there is a section in zero gravity. This makes the gameplay slower on the one hand, but also more three-dimensional on the other. Finally, shooters can be in every corner of the demarcated area. At other points, the “Hyenas” dive into a ventilation shaft and escape the approaching reinforcements.

It is precisely this versatility that should distinguish the gameplay. At the same time, “Hyenas” doesn’t dictate a path or open up areas piece by piece. How many vaults with merch you finally crack is ultimately up to the teams themselves. Because: If you or even your entire squad dies, you lose the loot and others can pick it up.

A look at the arsenal

The “Hyenas” mentioned above have various abilities and weapons. In terms of arsenal, Creative Assembly’s multiplayer shooter is strongly reminiscent of Borderlands. For example, the foam grenade was introduced here, which can be used to build walls and cover options. These withstand light bombardment, but can also be used as a platform to reach higher levels.

The Galaxia, on the other hand, uses an antigravity shield. With it she protects herself and her comrades. On the other hand, it attracts the bullets fired at it and then hurls them back at the opponents. Ballerina Prima, on the other hand, manipulates gravity at the touch of a button. Thus, she gives her team an advantage by putting them in unusual positions. On the other hand, of course, she can use it to set traps and thus confuse her opponents.

Finally, they served up a gadget turned gag for cat lovers. With the so-called Cat-Bomb, the “Hyenas” cause area damage and can thus secure escape areas, for example.

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“Hyenas” will soon enter the closed alpha phase and is scheduled for release in 2023 at the earliest. There is no mention of the extent of microtransactions. It is also not yet clear whether the characters will be expanded with new weapons or features at a later date. Creative Assembly is in constant contact with the community for this purpose and wants to wait and see what their wishes are for the finished game.