In simple terms, I like Hybrid. I think it's derived from my joy of Jeremiah Slaczka's work. He's one of the unsung revolutionaries of this gaming generation. Although some of his franchises have been beaten like a dead horse (Drawn to Life, soon-to-be Scribblenauts), his ideas have been amazing. So, in 2010 when he announced that 5th Cell would be leaving the kid-friendly DS games for a third-person shooter, people were surprised...and then all coverage fell off the map. Game writers didn't seem to care. Then, the Summer of Arcade line-up was revealed and everyone started caring again.
Hybrid is a sort-of deconstruction of the third-person-cover-shooter genre. While games like Gears of War and Spec Ops: The Line leave you to hide behind cover and run around the battlefield freely, Hybrid streamlines that to just cover. With your jetpack (which instantly bumps up the cool factor of the game) you fly from cover-to-cover shooting your opponents. While some would think it takes away your freedom, it instead makes action much faster and hectic. You can change course in mid-flight and change your destination, as well as strafe around as you fly. Once you arrive at cover, you can vault and move around while locked to the cover. Shooting mechanics will be instantly familiar to anyone that has ever played a third-person shooter ever. Blindfire, aiming, reloading, all the same. A killstreak mechanic has been placed where kills allow you to summon robots to the battlefield. One kill gets you a small drone, three for a larger death machine, and five for a robo-ninja that can kill anyone instantly (robo-ninjas also make this game that much cooler). There is also an ability mechanic that allows you to choose a special ability to take into combat. Whether you be selfish and get an ability for yourself, or if you choose a support ability to help the team, it's up to you. The abilities add a strategic element to the game. If you don't like your current load out, you can always change it while you wait to respawn.
Where the game starts getting really interesting is in the social mechanics built into the game. Each bout is part of a larger on-going conflict. The two factions of which names I do not remember right now are fighting for dark energy that does...something. The near-nonexistent story is crap, quite honestly, but it together this awesome mechanic. The world is separated into different sections where the two factions are competing to this large amount of dark energy. All the experience gained in battle gets your faction on closer to the energy. The closer you get, the more xp bonuses you get for being in the "hotzone". Then, at the end of each season (which I think ends once the energy is collected in each zone) everything is reset. You keep your levels, but not your rank. The winning team also unlocks a special golden dragon helmet while the losing team gets a paper bag.
It's good the dev's can still be funny :)
The unlock system is probably the only thing I'd consider bad about the game. Although none of the podcasts we've recorded have been posted, I have this strong dislike of free-to-play games; a hatred I will write about another time. Anyway, the unlock system is based off of levels. Every level, you gain one unlock key to unlock something out of different categories. Until you gain that key, each item has a little gold-block-thingy next to it that represents credits.
Credits that cost money.
Now, everything can be unlocked normally without having to spend Microsoft Points, it just takes dedication. The credit system allows someone to buy the same item someone probably spent hours working towards. I really don't like that, but as I wrote earlier, that can be saved for another time.
Hybrid is an amazingly fast-paced third-person shooter that reinvigorates the genre with new mechanics that could lead the way to grander gameplay for next generation. This game is heavily reliant on people playing it, so go buy this game and fight the good fight :)
-Frankie out.
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