GDC 2011 Hands-On: Hybrid - Preview
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 04 March 2011 / 2,693 Views
Yesterday at the 2011 Game Developers Conference, 5th Cell - creators of Scribblenauts - showed us their newest project, Hybrid.
Here's the announcement trailer:
Hybrid is a futuristic shooter that will be exclusive to the Xbox LIVE. It will be a discount title for XBLA, not a full $60 game. Hybrid is based around two rival factions with "persistent world war." 5th Cell wasn't able to give any further information about this feature beyond what was in the trailer, but from the few glances it looks like it may be similar to what was seen in MAG.
After watching the trailer and getting a little tutorial, we were given a chance to get hands-on with 5th Cell's new shooter. We played 3-on-3 in this particular multiplayer, it wasn't made clear what the maximums will be in the full game. Hybrid looks a bit dated, but as a value-priced title, that's to be expected.
Hybrid doesn't play like any shooter you've tried before. Instead of standard left stick movement, you flick the left stick to choose cover you wish to move to. Tapping A moves to that cover, X moves within cover, Y jumps over to the other side of the cover you're in, and B retreats to your previous cover. 5th Cell call this Combat-Based Movement. They said soldiers in real combat don't spend time moving through the battlefield shooting, but spend all their time shooting from cover.
While this movement may sound odd, it really makes sense when you realize this futuristic sci-fi shooter allows you to take cover on the walls and ceiling. Double-tapping A after selecting cover on a different plane will jump-jet to it and your character will stick via what appear to be magnetic boots. This use of all three dimension in combat made for some fun scenarios. I think it's the first time I shot a guy on the very top of his head.
Finally, Hybrid features On-Demand Squads. As you kill enemies, you can spend kill points to instantly summon squad members to your aid. There were three squad member types in the demo. One behaves just like you by following you and shooting your targets. Another is a larger soldier with a turret-mounted gun that lays down cover fire. The last squad member is a one-shot soldier with a katana that instant-kills the first enemy it sees. You can keep summoning these squad members so long as you keep racking up the kills to buy them with.
Overall, the game played well and offered a very different shooter experience. Hybrid appears to be a long way from release but is coming along nicely so far.
In case that isn't enough new information, I'll leave you with an interview with 5th Cell's technical director, Marius Fahlbusch. Had a small technical difficulty (user error) with the microphone, but it's still very listenable:
