"Yikes. Perhaps most damning is some of the art used in Hawken Reborn’s static cutscenes, which raise some questions. Like...why is she holding that iPad upside down?"
The image below this shows a scientist holding a tablet with the screen facing away from her face.
And why do these almost identical angles of the same character look so different? Especially her teeth? And why do her earring designs change every time you see them?
In a series of comic book panel still images with text the same person appears to have changed her earrings between every sentence. TBH the teeth might be a perspective thing.
Would a human artist have overlooked these things? I asked publishers 505 Games, via both an email to a PR representative and a community rep on Reddit, whether AI art was used in the game’s development (and also who, exactly, the development team are behind this project, since it’s listed only as a “505 Games” title on Steam). At time of publishing I have received no response from either.
My gut instinct is that the silence speaks volumes, but Kotaku despite the clickbait has a history of being critical of things other outlets let slide cough Nintendo. So maybe other publishers just don't want to deal with a potentially non-softball piece of coverage just after release. A more generous take is the PR team is busy seeing as the game just dropped. First I've heard of the game though, so I am pressing X to doubt.
I really liked Hawken, and I always wanted to see a PvE mode. It's really a bummer to one it "reborn" in such a way. I usually don't trust any sort of "reborn"/"reforged/re[some pun]" title on game that's not made by the original creators or at least spearheaded by some core members of the original group. Hawken just seems to be that game that never seemed to fit into the gaming ecosystem. Arcade-y mech shooters are exactly what I want but I can't seem to find them. I was really hoping that GALAHAD 3093 would have been something but it never really found its footing in the early access (though I still think that trying to build a multiplayer game in EA is difficult task that shouldn't be embarked upon by a fledgling studio). It's a shame cause the "Hawken: Genesis" comic it pretty rad. Mech games outside of Mechwarrior and Armored Core don't seem to find their audience, which is a bummer.