Hyper Light Breaker Hands-On Preview
Last week, Finger Guns were invited to the Loading Bar in Stoke Newington to check out a preview of Hyper Light Breaker from Heart Machine. Their most recent title since 2021’s Solar Ash, Hyper Light Breaker returns to the mythos established in breakout debut title Hyper Light Drifter.
But where Drifter was a top-down, retro-inspired dungeon crawler (of a sort), Breaker has gone another route. Looking more akin to Solar Ash, Breaker is instead a fully 3D, procedurally-generated open-world roguelike. Certainly an ambitious style to achieve, that’s for sure.
But does it pay off for the now-established series, or is it Hyper Light in name only? Well, let’s have a look as yours truly got a hands-on before the game goes into Early Access this week.
Breaking The Drift
Right, I will say off the bat that I am a massive Hyper Light Drifter fan. I own prints and a sealed copy of the reissued vinyl soundtrack, but that’s not all. My first mock review for Finger Guns was for HLD, suffice to say it’s a game I hold dear. So, you can imagine that I might be a bit apprehensive, like some of you, about Hyper Light Breaker looking and playing completely differently from its predecessor. Well, not completely, but we’ll get into that in a bit.
What do I mean by “open-world roguelike” then? It sounds oxymoronic, or at least something not compatible. Open-world games tend to be fixed affairs, with quests and progression proportionate to the player’s progression along said world that is open. Whereas roguelike is, by nature, randomised. Play anything from Hades to Risk of Rain 2 and you’ll get the gist: no two levels are the same. Granted, there is only a finite amount of maps and object placements, but in theory it’s mostly completely random.
How does Hyper Light Breaker fuse these two then, if such a bold claim can be backed up? By putting players in a very large randomised map… okay, that sounded a lot cooler in my head. But yes, that’s how it gets around it. Once a player/Breaker team are ready to start a run, the world they’re dumped into is randomised but quite large.
Once out in the open, it’s standard rogue affair: collect a certain amount of X, defeat a few Y’s before facing a big OMG at the end. And then you die, you tally up the experience you’ve accumulated, distribute it amongst various perks and stats… and you go again. Now, if you like rogues then you’ll be fine. But I think it would be fair to say that without the tangental, prequel story connections (which we weren’t told about), this game feels Hyper Light in name only.
Class Breakers
The other key difference players will immediately notice is the variety on display. Whereas Drifter had the one, unnamed drifter, Hyper Light Breaker has class. Well, “classes”, and “classes ” in terms of character choice for a rogue. We, and Early Access players, will have three to choose from, whilst more will be added as time in Access progresses. There will be nine at launch, and whilst it wasn’t defined at the event, it wouldn’t surprise me (as I’m always wary) if more were added down the line as DLC.
As you’ll see in the trailer above, the three we were given access to were Vermillion, Lapis and Goro. The differences in chosen character are, at this stage, purely cosmetic. What does make a difference to a build is the floating robot companion that accompanies them. This is what affects the player’s loadout: what perks and weapons they’ll begin with. Fortunately, players aren’t restricted to starting weapons, as dropped sharp things can become your sharp things if they take your fancy.
But this isn’t a deep dive at the builds or whatnot, that’s more reviews and guides territory. What I will say is that the variety is quite impressive, but we got to play in a debug mode with all the parameters turned off. What I’m sure you’ll want to know is how it plays, and what the point is…
Heavy Is The Head
Whilst it may sound simple to go hunting bosses, or Crowns in Hyper Light Breaker, there is a strategic element to it too. For one, players can’t just waltz in and start taking names/be ground into the floor right from the off. Instead, and this is where the open world side comes into play, they’ll have to hunt key-like quadrant shapes, much like the door-based ones from Drifter, to hit a requirement.
You’ll see on any map what the entry-level to the Crowns are, so one can plan accordingly if they know what they’re doing. More often than not, these golden gate-granting devices are littered in ruins, or woodlands, or any densely packed horde area. So the drill might seem familiar: go hunt, brave some mob-heavy moments and tool up for a boss fight.
It’s a straightforward pattern: hunt access keys, take out bosses in ascending order of availability/difficulty and then tackle the Abyss Giant. Fans will recognise them as the titan-like corpses dotted about Drifter’s lands. We didn’t have the opportunity to finish a Cycle (what Breaker refers to their runs as) but we were told they will be “epic” in scale.
Give Me A Break(er)
“Okay, but how does it play?”, you might be shouting, as it seems like I’ve been avoiding that aspect. Fine: it plays like any other third-person action/adventure/shooter does. It’s nothing special, and I think that’s what sores me a little bit. Oh sure, it’s very quick and responsive, there’s dodging and parrying, as well as a slew of special abilities to utilise. But on the surface, it handles like any squad-based, open-leveled “arena shooter”, like Overwatch with even more colours.
On the bright side, no pun intended, there are some interesting traversal methods in Hyper Light Breaker. As well as some nimble wall-running and acrobatics, players will also have access to a glider and hoverboard from the off. The former is simple enough: glide from heights to reach newer areas or sail over a bunch of enemies, pretty straightforward.
The hoverboard is a giggle though. It weirdly reminded me of Trickstyle on the Dreamcast… but without the tricks. It is a “stamina”-based asset, so it can’t be used constantly, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining to use. Gliding around the lands if you’re in a rush, or just cruising with your homies, is actually quite cathartic… until you glide into a zone full of enemies wanting a go. Safety first, Breakers.
Getting Hyper About It
And that is pretty much all I can say about Hyper Light Breaker so far. Again, this isn’t a guide or deep dive for those getting into Early Access. This is just the first impressions of someone who holds Hyper Light Drifter close to his heart. My impression is one of trepidation, both optimism and caution, with an air of cynicism. The cynical part makes me feel like this is Hyper Light in name and tenuous connection only. It feels like that jump that Risk of Rain or Helldivers took from their debut to sophomore: homogenised for “what’s cool right now” appeal.
As a game, yeah it’s perfectly functional as a solo/team-based boss-fighting rogue affair. It handles well, and the mix of melee and gunplay combat is tightly tuned. Again, playing with some buffs aside, it felt like an appropriate challenge as far as rogues go. The graphics are lovely and bright, the maps not too burdened with bumf and bloat, with interesting traversal options.
From an outside perspective, away from established fandom, then if you’re looking for another rogue 3D action-adventure to get into, then Hyper Light Breaker will scratch that itch. It goes into Early Access this week, from January 14th, and like anything in EA, the more support it gets, the stronger it will be. I just hope that it stays true to the Drifter mythos rather than bury it.
Disclaimer: In order to complete this preview, we were invited to an event at Loading Bar by Diva. For our full review policy, please go here.
If you enjoyed this article or any more of our content, please consider our Patreon.
Make sure to follow Finger Guns on our social channels –Twitter, Facebook, Twitch, Spotify or Apple Podcasts – to keep up to date on our news, reviews and features.
