Engine CryEngine Developers Crytek, Crytek USA | Publisher Crytek | |
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Platforms PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows Genres Survival horror, Third-person shooter, Action role-playing game Modes Single-player video game, Multiplayer video game Similar Crytek games, Third-person shooter games | ||
Hunt horrors of the gilded age ign live e3 2014
Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age is an unofficially cancelled free-to-play video game that was developed by Crytek, originally intended to be released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Set in the 19th century, the game was to be a co-operative third-person shooter mixed with elements of survival horror and action role-playing games.
Contents
- Hunt horrors of the gilded age ign live e3 2014
- Hunt horrors of the gilded age crytek announcement trailer
- Development
- Release
- References
Regarded by its original developers Crytek USA as a spiritual successor to Darksiders—a video game series developed by Crytek USA's predecessor, the now-defunct Vigil Games, Hunt will place a particular emphasis on providing variety to players, with procedurally generated maps and a large number of creatures and boss enemies.
Hunt horrors of the gilded age crytek announcement trailer
Development
Vigil Games, known for the Darksiders series, was shut down by THQ in 2013 as part of the publisher's bankruptcy. While Crytek's founder Cevat Yerli had expressed an interest in bidding for the Austin-based studio based on their work on Darksiders alone (and because Crytek was already planning to establish a U.S. subsidiary in the city), he did not feel that their products fit with the company's business strategy. However, immediately after Vigil was closed, Yerli brought Vigil head David L. Adams on board to lead the new studio, Crytek USA, citing Adams' leadership skills. In turn, Crytek USA would hire many former employees from Vigil. It was originally stated that the new studio would focus on developing new projects rather than pursue regaining the rights to its former properties. However, the studio did attempt to re-gain the rights to Darksiders—but they were instead acquired by Nordic Games.
Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age was announced in June 2014 as Crytek USA's first game. Hunt was designed to be a co-operative game; Adams recalled having been frequently asked about the possibility of adding co-op to a future instalment of Darksiders, and stated that "one of the first things we said when we got here was, we are absolutely doing a four-player co-op game. That wasn't even up for discussion." The game will be set in the late-19th century, and feature weapons and classes reminiscent of the era. In response to comparisons to The Order: 1886, another 19th century third-person survival horror game that was unveiled at E3, Adams contended that there were few similarities between the games, noting their focus on co-op and arguing that the portrayal of the era in The Hunt was more "authentic", unlike that of The Order, which he felt was the "BioShock version" of the era. Players will be able to customize their characters with different skills and outfits; Adams said that "if you want to make Sherlock Holmes or a gunslinger from the Old West, or a witch hunter from Eastern Europe, you have the costume choices, you have the weapon choices, you have the skill choices."
Hunt will also carry "a lot of the DNA" of the Darksiders series; Adams noted that Hunt would incorporate "old school elements" of its genre in new ways (much like Darksiders, which cited The Legend of Zelda as influence), and feature a large number of distinct creatures and bosses as enemies in contrast to "typical" shooting games, which, in Adam's opinion, only tended to have "maybe a dozen" different enemies. He adknowledged that his staff had experience from Darksiders in designing large numbers of distinct enemy types—Adams alone designed 18 of the bosses in Darksiders II. Hunt will also utilize procedurally generated maps and objectives, so that no two missions will be alike. Hunt will be built atop CryEngine; Adams remarked that the transition from the custom engine developed for Darksiders to CryEngine made the former look inferior.
On July 30, 2014, Crytek announced that as part of a restructuring, development of Hunt would be shifted to Crytek, and Crytek USA would cease to operate as a studio—only as a provider of U.S.-based support for CryEngine licensees. Kotaku reported that much of the studio's staff, including David Adams, had left the company in response to late wage payments by Crytek. Similar issues had been experienced by Crytek UK, which was shut down the same day with the sale of the Homefront franchise to Koch Media.
Release
Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age was first announced to have a beta in late-2014, after which a planned released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Hunt will be a free-to-play game, but Adams emphasized that the game would still have the quality and size of an "AAA" title. Hunt will be monetized purely through cosmetic items and experience boosts—Adams promised that there would be "no artificial gates or time limits or impediments on your ability to play the game".
On December 13, 2014, Crytek delayed the late 2014 planned closed beta without giving a date or range for when it may come. The delay was due to the transition of development from their Austin studio to their Frankfurt team.