Hyper Scape Beta – Impressions (PC)
Love it or hate it, Battle Royale games appear to be here for the long haul. When PUBG made the genre popular not so long ago, there were very few contenders. The time was right for a game like Fortnite to come out of nowhere, abandon their original premise, and become the game to beat in the battle for royale supremacy. Since then, nearly every publisher has thrown their hat in the ring in an attempt to steal some of the player base away from Fortnite. Some games, like Apex Legends and Call of Duty Warzone, have been able to stand on their own two feet while the majority just look to find that one aspect that makes their game stand out. One of these games is Hyper Scape from Ubisoft Montreal. Having dealt up some of Ubisoft’s biggest franchises such as Splinter Cell, Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed, and Watch Dogs just to name a few, Montreal brings Hyper Scape into the Battle Royale landscape with quite a bit of pedigree. Ubisoft shadow dropped the beta for the game during their Ubisoft Forward conference this week and we decided to dive in and see what the hype was all about.
The game starts with a fairly thorough training area that gives you the rundown and lets you practice with various weapons and abilities. It’s evident early on that what they expect to set Hyper Scape apart is the verticality of the maps. I was running around yelling “hardcore parkour” nearly every second I was playing the game. You can leap and bound your way to the top of the highest of heights almost effortlessly. This makes for some pretty intense fire fights in a genre that relies on pretty intense fire fights. You have to pay close attention to all of your surroundings, including the sky above, because you never know where someone may be hiding.
Like most, if not all, Battle Royale games, you’ll fall out of the sky and land somewhere on the map. Here you’ll do so from inside of a pod. Once you pick your spot and land, the action begins. 100 players will battle in solo and squad matches until only one player or squad is left standing. Various areas on the map will contain a variety of treasures for you and your squad to find and use. You’ll know where these areas are when you find breakable golden windows that grant you access inside once destroyed. You have the ability to carry two weapons and two hacks with you at any point in time. The hacks will help you offensively and defensively, so you’ll want to choose these very wisely. Weapons can be upgraded if you find more of that weapon during the match. This can make for some pretty awesome weapons the more you upgrade.
Another thing that sets Hyper Scape apart are the battle events. During the match, various live events will take place and change the course of the game. You have to be willing to adapt to these events if you hope to stay alive and take the crown.
Like all Battle Royales, as the heard is thinned it could become harder and harder to find other players to engage in combat. To combat this, certain zones throughout the map will disappear, so you’ll want to pay attention to where you are and if you’re in a zone that is going to be destroyed – taking you with it.
The setting has a very futuristic, Ready Player One vibe to it. You’re a contender plugged into this world of violence in an attempt to be the last one standing and claim victory.
It’s too early to tell how much of the genre’s player base will jump on board, but it definitely has a few aspects that will set it apart from other Battle Royales. I’m not sure it has the skins and character to go up against some of the bigger dogs in the fight, but it definitely has some interesting ideas we’re excited to see as the game evolves.
