Necromunda Hired Gun – Review

Our Rating: 8/10

Necromunda Hired Gun is a first-person shooter that allows players to step into the shoes of a bounty hunter unfamiliar with pity. The game’s keywords are nervousness and violence. We can speculate a good Doom-like where you can let off steam against enemies waiting to die.

The violence

Necromunda places us in the shoes of a bounty hunter who has become completely bionized as a result of a botched assassination attempt. As a mercenary, we must hunt tirelessly to amass as much money as possible. Eventually improving our brand new body and thus learn the identity of a mysterious man known only as Silver Talon.

During our fights, we will be accompanied by a mastiff. He will be extremely useful in not only sniffing out our opponents but also in helping us to eliminate them. Except that, because our canine companion has such a keen sense of smell, our targets are encircled by a pixelated bold red outline that obstructs vision far more than anything else. It’s unattractive and hurts the environment.

Enemies and Difficulty

Your opponents will become more powerful as you progress through the levels. However, we can easily counter them thanks to the ability to customize our weapons, dog, and character before each mission. A boss fight or a wave of elites can be exciting at times. Sadly, it is usually simple to kill enemies in one hit if we manage to obtain a shotgun, for example.

However, because the game has several levels of difficulty, the maximum level may be more difficult than the normal mode if the increased difficulty is not unbalanced. However, this feature does not allow the player to use the various skills that the game provides.

If we’re standing on a high vantage point, the AI can block itself in the background or even lose sight of us. Not to mention the difficult task of managing these abilities. Let’s pretend that completing a mission isn’t difficult with a little dodging and well-placed hits.

The bestiary is cyclical and uninspired. We rarely get a surprise when confronted with a new type of adversary. This makes it difficult to keep the game fresh. It’s becoming rare to frown at a new antagonist by the end of the fifth mission. Although some missions will make up for the lack of variety. However, the title is a bit repetitive. In addition to having the same opponents every time, the rest of the story will be littered with the same actions. Repeated over and over.

Warhammer 40,000

Despite having its own identity that will appeal to anyone who enjoys dark atmospheres inspired by Warhammer 40,000, the menus, interactions with NPCs, and cutscenes all have flaws. We are frequently confronted with interface bugs. This causes pop-ups to remain on the screen, causing the next interaction as well as our battles to be ruined.

We have a strange feeling that the game isn’t over yet. There are probably still some adjustments to be made in terms of loading and re-entry. The player’s immersion is completely broken at this point, and the fluidity of the FPS’s rhythm is severely disrupted. Even though Necromunda is a 2021 game, it feels like a game from the early 2010s. It gives an impression that the company chose to release the game too soon.

Where’s the immersion?

Furthermore, the story is worthy of the biggest yawn in the game. We always do the same things in the main town. We are doomed to speak to only three characters among the population who occupy the Martyr’s End landmark. Immersion is lacking because, after each mission, you repeat the same actions. Even the cutscenes leave much to be desired and are sorely lacking.

Nonetheless, the level design of the various levels is done well. The small interesting puzzles for those attempting to open loot caches are fun to do. Furthermore, we can sense the universe’s violence because even the chest throws the items we’re trying to recover at us. However, we can applaud the soundtrack. It will surely delight punk rock and metal fans alike and will transport them to a classic Doom game.

Mechanics that take the guts

The Doom-inspired aspect of the game is in the gameplay. This is arguably one of the few positive aspects of the game. Our protagonist has a bionic body that allows him to do a little bit of everything. All thanks to a variety of skills that, while not all of them are particularly useful, may appeal to players interested in in-game mechanics.

All of them have a good sound design that gives a pleasant sense of power and occasionally good performances. When an NPC speaks or in cutscenes, however, it’s not the same. It frequently reminds us of the title’s inequalities.

We do have a fairly diverse arsenal of weapons. Including an excellent vision of theorycraft in the modification of the latter, our bounty hunter, passive and active skills to improve. We have plenty to do, and we can model our mercenaries based on our gameplay. This adds an intriguing dimension to this Necromunda and piques players’ interest.

Replayability

The game takes advantage of the level design’s verticality, allowing players to run along the walls, reach great heights with a grapple, and carry out “stealth” attacks. The player has complete control over his movements. This allows him to take advantage of the game’s plethora of skills to surprise opponents.

A small but useful feature is that the game records the completion of a mission-based on our preferred gameplay style and, of course, the risk-taking. Although skills are not required to complete a level, they are highly recommended because you can earn significantly more money by improving your body, weapons, and, of course, your robotic mastiff.

Even though Necromunda Hired Gun isn’t a particularly long game, it does have some replayability in the form of additional hunts that provide enough currency to upgrade our avatar.

Final Thoughts

Necromunda Hired Gun appears to be a work-in-progress, with unfinished technical aspects and a graphic quality that could use some tweaking. Nonetheless, the FPS has interesting combat mechanics and customization for players who aren’t too concerned with flaws. It’s worth noting that Necromunda Hired Gun is from a small team, which may explain why the game doesn’t seem as polished. Even so, with a few fixes it can easily become a promising FPS for run-and-gun fans.