Creative Assembly, the developer behind Total War, is back with another first-person project, and no, it"s not a sequel to Alien: Isolation. The studio today announced its first multiplayer shooter experience Hyenas. Described as a zero-G, multi-team, multiplayer robbery game, its cinematic announcement trailer can be seen above.
Creative Assembly describes the setting of its latest title as a colorful future where the rich have colonized Mars after Earth had become inhabitable. The remaining population take refuge in The Taint, a giant slum in space. Meanwhile, salvaged pop-culture artifacts from Earth have become the most valued items in this post-apocalyptic space age. Teams of robbers, known as Hyenas, are "liberating" these high-value merch, and that"s where the multiplayer shooter bit of the experience comes in.
Teams of three, with up to five teams total, will be fighting both the AI security forces of the "Plunderships" (massive spaceship shopping malls) as well as each other to grab the most loot and escape. While the exact nature of the gameplay has not been shown off yet, the studio has confirmed that it will not be a battle royale.
The merch being stolen from billionaires will be referencing popular franchises from the title publisher Sega as well as other companies, though no specific outside partnerships have been announced yet.
Here"s a rundown of the game"s features straight from the developer:
Give Zero Fs in Zero-G
- Why walk when you can fly? Traverse seamlessly into zero-G zones where movement and combat take flight.
Meet the HYENAS
- A cast of memorable misfits with unique abilities and big personalities. Pick a Hyena to suit your style, whether that"s all guns blazing, or manipulating the environment to your advantage.
Steal Iconic Merch
- Yesterday"s pop culture collectibles are priceless artefacts in a post-Earth age. Steal iconic memorabilia from the Plunderships" vaults before rival crews do.
Become the Top Pack
- Compete against other packs of players while taking down Plundership security forces. Meet your loot quota and make your escape to win.
An Evolving Challenge
- Look forward to new HYENAS joining the party and the launch of extra Plunderships with more precious merch to steal.
Hyenas has a broad 2023 release window, and it is aiming at launching across PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. For those interested in jumping in early, alpha play session signups are open on its website over here.