- Releases August 08, 2012 for XBLA
- Massive online world war
- 3v3 Air and Ground combat
- 60FPS, 720p
- 10 Different maps and modes
- Tons of weapons and abilities
- Online multiplayer only
- 60 in-battle-minutes demo available
- In 2032 a newly built Hadron Supercollider imploded, obliterating Australia. The world was sent into turmoil as an alternate reality collided with our own and from it emerged a species known as the Variant. Chaos ensued and world war broke out between the Variants and a group of rebel humans known as the Paladins.
- Hybrid sports Combat-Focused Movement™. In Hybrid you remain either behind cover or in air. In order to move forward, you select one of several available cover points with A and you will automatically fly toward selected cover. B will negate the action, and you will return to your previous cover. This will also work when you are not in air. While behind cover, B will retreat you to your previous cover. Y will allow you to flip to the cover's opposite side.
- Cover is available on floors, walls, and ceilings. Behind cover, you can stay hidden, blind fire, stand and fire, throw grenades, or strafe left and right. You do not move backward or forward or freely with the left analogue stick--you may only strafe.
- Air combat feels like a combination of Panzer Dragoon-esque on-rails combat and the ground combat. When you select cover, you are on rails as you move from point A to point B (you may retreat or choose new cover while in air, thus changing your flight direction, however). Here you can freely move your character up, down, left, and right with the left analogue stick while aiming with the right stick. You can move forward and backward by cancelling and reselecting cover only. Mastering air combat is difficult, but very important.
- These restrictions make Hybrid an interesting and tactical third person shooter. Your movements are only slightly restricted; in practice you'll quickly accustom yourself to it. Combat becomes very movement-focused, and you need to have a purpose behind each movement or you'll quickly throw yourself in harms way. Likeways, camping behind a single piece of cover will often leave you open from a flank or rear attack; levels are designed with this in mind. You'll also need to watch out for grenades if you decide to sit in one place for too long.
- Before each battle, you select your weapon, ability, and specialization. Specialization will provide you with some kind of slight buff throughout the match. Abilities must cool down before they can be used again. You can make modifications to this set up mid-battle if you face something unexpected.
- Drones are available upon completing a kill streak of 1, 5, or 7. Drones hang out with you and help you kill your enemies. They can be taken down easily, but you'll find yourself dying to drones if you aren't careful. You'll find more strategy to drone usage the more that you play.
- Heavy Pistols (Highlight: the Gambler, a one-hit kill gun. But if you miss, there's a slight chance you might die)
- Specials (Highlight: the only two specials are the Trident, a rocket launcher, and the Swarm. Both come with crippling weaknesses (slow gun and weakest gun, respectively) and dish out area of effect damage).
- Shotguns
- Sniper Rifles
- Submachine Guns
- Lighmachine Guns
- Secondary Pistol (this light pistol is always available and you may switch to it at any time)
- Offensive
- Venom - Bullets cause extra venom damage for a short duration
- Ammo - Unlimited ammo for a short duration (no reload necessary)
- Impact - Bullets hit harder for a short duration
- Grenade - Standard grenade (one per use until cool down)
- Fusion - Sticky grenade (one per use until cool down)
- Defensive
- Meta Shield - Temporarily decreases all damage for a short duration
- Smoke - Smoke grenade (one per use until cool down)
- Siphon - Damaging opponents will heal you for a short duration
- Teleport - Allows a single teleportation to a selected point in cover
- Team Support
- Satellite - Allows you to see the location of enemies and teammates for a short duration
- Flash - Gives you a limited number of flash grenades
- Hack - Gives you a limited number of hack grenades (these will grenades hack enemy drones, making them your own)
- Recharge - Allows you to recharge your team's abilities
- Heal - Heal
- Assassin - Deal extra damage with your guns
- Spec Ops - Abilities will cool down faster
- Strategist - You gain extra XP
- Commander - Your drones will have increased offense and defense
- Armored - Take more damage
- Stalker - Available after one kill. This small drone will stay by your side and take cover if you take cover. He will fire at any enemies in range.
- Warbringer - Available after three kills. This large drone floats above cover at all times, deals a lot of damage, and takes a fair bit more to destroy than the stalker. He's also slow, so he'll lag behind as you move around.ta
- Preyon - Available after five kills. They Preyon is a one-hit kill heat-seeking missile. You'll hear a screech when a Preyon has been unleashed. It will fly to the nearest enemy and kill it instantly... however, the Preyon is really weak. If you can get it in your sights you can take it down. You can also reverse it with a hack grenade!
- Choose the Variant or Paladin faction. In order to keep the sides balanced, you may be offered some small bonuses for choosing to side with a certain faction. There are no major differences aside from cosmetic and starting weapons (which can all be gained by either faction).
- You do battle in a particular region in order to win that region and gain some dark matter. As matches take place, a meter will fill showing who is closest to winning that region. When "hot zones" appear, you will gain extra XP for fighting in that region.
- Every two weeks, things will reset and the war will happen all over again! It's actually a lot of fun battling over a region, even if it is just a meta-game.
- Matchmaking is not restricted to a single region. Your match might consist of players who all selected a different region. They represent that region, so winning points from that battle will could go to up to three different regions. When enough regions are concurred, that faction wins the continent.
- My knowledge here is mostly limited to the beta. I'll update the changes they've made to this aspect of the game upon release.
- Deathmatch - Standard death match. First to 25 kills wins.
- King of the Hill - Get the meter up to 100% to win the match.
- Overlord - First to level 21 wins the round for the whole team. If you get a kill, your level goes up by one. If you die, your level is halved. Whoever has the most kills is the current Overlord. If you kill the Overlord, you get his level. It's sort of like hot potato. You want to be the Overlord and as you raise your level to 21 by killing others, but if you die, your level is halved and the one who killed you now has your high level. Go find him and get it back!
- And more! These were the only 3 in the beta. If the others have been announced, somebody let me know and I'll add them. I tried to find them but didn't find anything.
- IGN - 8/10
Putting such a heavy emphasis on cover and limiting player movement in intriguing ways is a risky move that pays off in Hybrid. With its quirky play style and captivating global meta-war, it’s easily one of the most unusual and interesting online shooters out there. While it's not very original in terms of the core weaponry and visual presentation, it more than makes up for it with sheer creativity in the gameplay department, which it needs given the fact that it has no single-player or offline modes whatsoever. The war is on, and it's awesome.
- Gamespot - 8/10
This is crucial because Hybrid is online multiplayer only. It does only one thing, but it does that thing really well. Hybrid subverts one of the core mechanics of this popular genre, while skillfully implementing many of the elements that have made its predecessors so addictive and successful. The result is an enjoyable blend of the new and the familiar that makes Hybrid something special on the shooter scene.
- Joystiq - 4/5
Opposing teams taking potshots at one another from cover is nothing new, and Hybrid doesn't really turn the concept on its ear, but supplanting the usual ground game with an entirely aerial one is a delightful twist. It turns every movement into a serous commitment, a dedicated choice. When that choice is to glide into the air and gently lob a grenade behind a pair of unsuspecting adversaries, that's just gravy.
- OXM - 8/10
Pros: -Stripped-down movement centered on frequent flying = more shooting, less commuting. -Cool special abilities broaden tactical possibilities, while plentiful drones keep the pressure on foes. Cons: -Movement behind cover can feel unresponsive; little reason to care about the overall war; game is online-only. -Why can’t we save and name our favorite loadouts?
- OXM UK - 7/10
Pros: -Loud weapons with satisfying feedback, -Refreshingly snappy and exciting matches, -Intriguing meta-game adds longevity. Cons: -First hour will put off many, -Repetitive and fairly shallow.
- Eurogamer - 7/10
Hybrid still justifies its asking price in the moment, with crisp 60-frames-per-second action and satisfying feedback. It's a solid, enjoyable shooter, but one that ultimately fails to leverage its strange control decisions into a truly unique experience. It should be different yet, for all its bold ideas about movement, it ends up feeling strangely generic over the long haul. Recommended, then, but far from essential.
If there are any errors, please let me know! If everybody would like anything else added, just say so. Be sure to check out the demo if you're on the fence!
Disclosure: Credit to Jackson for the banners. Banners were provided when I asked the community to provide some, and he had no other influence on the OT as per GAF rules.