Hawken

Several months ago I saw a page in a game magazine that told me to keep an eye on Hawken.  When I got accepted into the beta not long afterwards, I was turned off to it for some reason.  I don't even remember what it was - maybe the servers were having problems and I couldn't actually get into any games. That seems familiar...

Anyway, I got an email the other day telling me they're giving out 5000... credits(?) of some kind to use in-game.  I took them up on it and gave the game another shot.  It's still technically in beta, but it feels pretty well tuned.  The graphics are great.  It's fast-paced and controls well...with one complaint - pressing shift and any direction zooms you off in that direction.  Any direction EXCEPT reverse.  Pressing shift+back makes your mech pull a 180.  Instead of putting distance between you and the guy charging you, you're suddenly wondering what the hell you're looking at.  By the time you figure out what happened, you're toast.  Aside from that nitpick, the game is all kinds of fun.

I just hope I'm not suddenly required to drop $20 on a new mech at some point.  It appears everything can be attained just by playing the game and earning money (even if it would take some time.)  There's also RMT currency to help speed things up if you'd rather just pay.  For now I'm pretty happy driving around and shooting things in my TV-on-legs.  Plus, it's an indie operation which pleases me.