Hawken Reborn Announced, Coming to Steam Early Access on May 17th

Remember Hawken, the competitive first-person shooter which shut down in 2018? Publisher 505 Games is bringing it back as Hawken Reborn. It enters early access on May 17th for PC via Steam but will still be free to play. Check out the announcement trailer below.

Unlike its previous iteration, Hawken Reborn is a PvE title. Set on Illal, a dystopic planet suffering a plague of nanites called the Giga, players become mercenaries in mechs. You’ll battle megacorporations, other factions, and more. It sounds very similar to FromSoftware’s Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, which is out on August 25th.

However, instead of ACs, players pilot Axes and can build new ones with blueprints while upgrading them with weapons parts. Radio Missions provide scrip and resources for upgrades, with enemies becoming tougher over time. You’re encouraged to return to base lest you get nothing. There’s a bit of extraction shooter mixed in with the PvE that could be interesting.

Promising new regions on Illal and an evolving story with new characters, the initial Arc will have six missions for players to jump into. Stay tuned for more details shortly.