Co-op, weird monsters and a “procedurally assisted” environment
Antistatic Studios, a new outfit made up of formerCyberpunk 2077, Bioshock and Borderlands developers, have announced their debut title, a PvE co-op tactical shooter set on a haunted, post-apocalyptic continent. They’re codenaming it Hornet. The announcement trailer is sort ofLethal Companymeets STALKER with a bodycam found footage perspective. It’s quite the cocktail of tropes, though I’ll take this over another “Soulslike roguelite deckbuilder” or similar.
Before you read on I must warn you that this is one of those games with mildly exhausting ARG marketing. The announcement materials are framed as a heavily redacted undercover report, and they’ve knocked together a fake (OR IS IT???)conspiracy theory websiteto sweeten the deal. I feel like I’m being pandered to, but then again, I am a miserable old git, and should know better than to rain on the parade of some innocent, hard-working marketing team.
In Hornet, or whatever it’s eventually called, you’re a field agent working for Mortfield Industries. Your mission is to scour an irradiated and decidedly eldritch wilderness for paranormal activity. The landscape is billed as “a procedurally assisted open world full of dynamic events, secrets, and encounters with multiple factions and entities.” I’m not clear on how “procedurally assisted” stands apart from “procedurally generated”, but I’m guessing that it means that major elements of the setting are created by hand, with randomised bits floating on top.
It’s possible the trailer above isn’t how the game looks. There’s key art on the studio’s website which looks quite different, though comparably eerie and despairing. Here’s a screen.
Antistatic’s members include former Cyberpunk 2077 writer’s room lead Lukasz Ludkowski, former Bioshock series lead environment artist Kris Teper, Starward Industries co-founder Maciej Miksztal, formerConan Exilesgameplay programmer Michal Koltun and formerProject Wintercommunity manager Gabriel Nordholm. It’s certainly a team that’s been around. The developers describe themselves as “committed to crafting worlds that are constantly evolving and respond to player actions, and to the immersive sim genre, where possibilities extend beyond the conventions of traditional video games”.
Antistatic are demoing the thing at GDC in March, and are now staffing up for “full-scale production later this year”. They’re also doing closed playtests in the near future - hit up theDiscordif you’re interested. Naturally, Hornet doesn’t have a release date for the moment.
