Heart Machine has revealed Hyper Light Breaker, a 3D, co-op sequel focused on the hit classic Hyper Light Drifterwill be available on Steam Early Access in Spring 2023.
This announcement marks the sixth birthday of Hyper Light Drifter, the popular action/adventure game from the studio that takes players on a beautiful yet melancholy journey through a ruined world. That first game was built around challenging combat and a wealth of secrets that provided a brief look at the game’s unsettling story.
However, where Drifter offers a 2D single-player experience (although local co-op was added post-release), Heart Machine is currently looking into creating Breaker in 3D, with live co-op. line is the focus.
The announcement trailer (below) seems to indicate that Breaker will combine Drifter’s precision combat with the elegant movement mechanics seen in Heart Machine’s second game, Solar Ash. Speaking to IGN, creative director Alx Preston also noted that it will be “a bit more system-heavy, with more RPG mechanics” than Drifter, complete with a bunch of separate playable classes.
“And when we say online cooperative play, we mean multiplayer, not just you and one other person; we are looking at a group of players that can go out and kill some monsters together. ”
The online aspect represents the second major technological leap for Heart Machine since its launch; Solar Ash found it made the transition from 2D to 3D, resulting in a game that was well received, but took almost twice as long to make Drifter.
We asked Preston if this transition could lead to a smoother development cycle for its new 3D game. “Yes. I mean, that’s definitely part of it, now that we’ve made the transition to Unreal and built the technology. It’s important for us to make sure that we release content regularly. more often, and we weren’t locked into a too-focused mentality that didn’t go public about it for years on end.”
The plan to announce Breaker about a year before it is scheduled to launch on Steam Early Access is an important part of this desire for transparency and marks a natural step up from Drifter’s initial success on Kickstarter.
“We wanted to get Breaker out of there. We wanted to start talking openly about the development process, about the streaming process and all that interesting stuff. Because I think on Drifter, after Kickstarter, we ended up doing the same on a smaller scale, where we could engage regularly with that particular community. ”
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While Solar Ash comes from the Hyper Light universe, Breaker is part of it. Drifter’s story is told without a single line of dialogue, choosing instead environmental cues, alien text that the player needs to translate outside of the game, and occasional cutscenes that don’t blur. the line between what’s actually happening to the player character and their own illness -has induced hallucinations.
Despite this – or, more likely because of it – players are truly drawn into Drifter’s story and, six years later, still want to learn more about its world. “There will be themes and things for those who have played Drifter, for sure they will get some value. And sure, there’s an aesthetic and vibe, and lore to the world we’re continuing to build. ”
Preston adds that you won’t need to play Drifter to know what’s going on. “However, it continues the lineage in many ways.”
It’s too early to discuss the story or theme, but Preston suggests that Breaker will likely follow in Drifter’s footsteps, while also reflecting the changes taking place across the team. “I think we tend to lean towards those elements of past experience that have actually shaped or shaped us in some way. For me personally, it’s my own health struggles that I’ve tried to manifest there in one way or another, and for Solar Ash as a larger group of people involved in the question. story, it has become the broader context for the vicious circles you can enter. ”
“There is a sense of humor that I think we would like to explore a little more. We started doing that with Solar Ash a little bit. But I think our story will remain murky and about topics that are really hard to deal with, regardless of the form of the game. Sure, Breaker is online multiplayer, but we still have a story to tell there. We still have a world we’ve built, and we still have themes to explore. ”
Players can expect to review those themes (while slaying monsters with their friends) when Hyper Light Breaker launches to Steam Early Access in Spring 2023.
Sean Bell is a freelance writer, podcaster and streamer. You can find his hilarious jokes on Twitter: @CaptainToss.
