The live-action trailer for the Hawken web series is very cool, but isn’t this supposed to be a videogame?
I can’t help but be impressed by this trailer for the Hawken web series that’s set to debut in 2013. It’s not exactly packed with stars, but it’s got that guy from House and that dude from CSI Miami, and the mech combat effects are actually pretty good. It’s clear that some real effort and money is being put into this thing, and the results, at least based on this trailer, appear very promising.
As a long-time fan of giant fighting robots I wish nothing but the best for the series, but I can’t help wondering just a bit why this is all happening in the first place. Hawken the videogame – the PC-exclusive, free-to-play online indie shooter – won’t even be out for nearly five months, yet here we have a full-on trailer for a live-action series based on the property. What if the game bombs? What if it’s decent but unable to attract more than a very narrow, niche audience? And as gamers, wouldn’t we rather see this budget put into the game, rather than a transmedia world-building exercise?
I think that may be my biggest beef with the whole thing. I’m thrilled by the idea of deepening the experience, but it’s a game, I’m a gamer, and my natural preference is to keep it within that context. There’s a huge amount of storytelling potential in the interactive medium of videogames, so why not take advantage of that instead of falling back on more conventional formats to build a world?
But hey, I’m a weirdo – and this does look pretty cool. Here’s hoping the series is as good as the promo. Hawken the videogame comes out on December 12, while Hawken the web series will debut sometime in 2013. And, in case you’ve forgotten, Hawken the graphic novel is scheduled to arrive in March 2013.
