| Steel Hunters | |||
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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
STEEL HUNTERS is a free-to-play mech shooter where you and your partner take on the battlefield against 5 other teams. Read on to learn everything we know, our review of the early access version, and more.
Everything We Know About STEEL HUNTERS
STEEL HUNTERS Plot
After the discovery of the Mayday Meteorite Cloud, which threatened humanity as an extinction event, the Board of Earth-Space Transition (B.E.S.T.) was formed to send humanity to space. This world-devastating event brought the material called Starfall, a resource that caused rapid aging to humans but has powerful potential.
Twenty years later, Earth was ravaged by Mayday Omega, leaving behind Earth Scrappers who survived underground. A war erupted between these Scrappers and the space-based Coldfire PMC, both vying for the invaluable Starfall. A Scrapper miner, uniquely resistant to Starfall, sparked a rebellion and was identified as the first Promise,
destined to become a colossal Hunter.
Since then, a race to find Promises began and build Hunters. These Hunters are tasked to initiate a Starfall Hunt, with millions of people watching and enjoying the spectacle of epic, colossal Hunters fighting each other for survival.
STEEL HUNTERS Gameplay
STEEL HUNTERS is a free-to-play, PvPvE third-person shooter featuring futuristic mech battles. Choose from a wide selection of huge mechanical robots called “Hunters” and take on the battlefield with a partner against 5 other duos. Hunt down NPC drones and collect loot to get stat boosts and other essential items.
Level up to upgrade your arsenal and customize your loadout to find the perfect playstyle. Take over and defend the extraction point against enemy teams or finish them off to become the last pair standing.
STEEL HUNTERS Release Date
STEEL HUNTERS was launched for PC Early Access on April 3. The developers anticipate the Early Access period to last around 4 to 6 months. There are no announcements regarding an official release date. The game is free-to-play and can be downloaded from its official Steam store page.
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| Price | Free to Play | ||||
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STEEL HUNTERS Review (Early Access)
Multiple Shooter Gameplays All Rolled Into One
STEEL HUNTERS is an epic PvPvE mech shooter centered around teamwork and communication. With Wargaming’s long-standing expertise in developing free-to-play multiplayer games like World of Tanks, STEEL HUNTERS looks to follow suit based on how the game is currently structured with its monetization and progression.
However, it also looks to take inspiration from multiple other titles for its gameplay and aesthetic, something that may backfire if not executed well. Specifically, it tries to be a hero shooter, an extraction shooter, and a battle royale all at once. On paper, this sounds all very promising. Imagine Apex Legends, Marvel Rivals, and Delta Force all rolled into one.
It’ll definitely be a tough hill to climb because, at the moment, no game has tried to do this, meaning they’ll have to trailblaze their own path to combine these genres. What’s more, Apex Legends, Marvel Rivals, and Delta Force are already massive titles in their fields, meaning STEEL HUNTERS has to excel in all of those aspects to really draw people away from its competitors.
So does it manage to achieve this? Well, the battle royale aspect seems to be the main focus of the game, with the extraction genre’s loot gathering and drop zones feeling secondary. However, the execution of its battle royale features does not meet the quality of its contemporaries. This can also be said for its extraction mechanics. At this point in its early access journey, I feel the extraction locations and timings need a few tweaks, as I seldom run into enemies during the early to mid-game. This is probably due to the max 12-player map being massive, making clashes few and far between.
As for its hero shooter mechanics, well, let’s just say it doesn’t feel very heroic. The skills and abilities do not make as much of an impact as they should, mostly because of the unbalanced leveling system in each match.
Blending these three genres is a tough task, and it feels like STEEL HUNTERS’ solution for this is to simplify their mechanics for them to coexist well with each other. However, doing this may discourage shooter fans and push them to stick with current games that do those genres better individually.
Is It Really A Battle Royale?
STEEL HUNTERS’ battle royale mechanics seem to follow what is expected for the genre, mainly for its looting mechanics, teammate revival, and shrinking playable area. Despite having those general features of the genre implemented in the game, it fails to grasp why those mechanics make a battle royale, specifically its oversimplification of looting.
Typically, battle royale games’ loot progression requires players to move around the map, defeating NPCs to collect loot or simply finding loot boxes in different locations. STEEL HUNTERS’ loot progression revolves around collecting stat boosts and other items by defeating NPC drones scattered around the map. These drones drop loot such as stat boosts (cores), med kits, revival kits, exp points (energy cells), ammo, and… that’s it.
You’d expect a battle royale to have a wider variety of loot so that scouring the map and defeating these drones would feel rewarding, especially since you run the risk of giving away your position when you shoot them down. Unfortunately, that limited selection of loot is all you get from these drones, making it feel high risk, low reward, and discouraging players from bothering with it..
A few more issues also arise from the fact that the Hunters have their own set of predetermined weapons and loadout at the start of each game. You can choose different types of Hunters that specialize in different playstyles, such as Heartbreaker, who is an elite sniper and has stealth abilities, Prophet, who can summon a drone to fight alongside him, and more.
Although this promotes that feeling of uniqueness for each unit, it takes away from the genre’s prevalent looting mechanics, as you already have a set loadout. Other battle royale games may also make use of preset loadouts, but at least they have unique weapons put around the map to make yourself stronger, giving a sense of urgency to scavenge for these upgrades to beat out other opponents.
Here, all you have to do is pick up Cores and Energy Cells, which diminishes the joy of finding something unique and new out in the open map.
Sooo Unbalanced
Oh, did I forget to mention that drone drops have a huge disparity in their RNG? On multiple occasions, I’ll defeat a bunch of drones but not get any medkits at all, or receive a handful of Cores while my opponents would already have maxed out their stats. You can chalk it up to just me being unlucky, but experiencing it multiple times in so many different matches seemed odd to me.
It also features an in-match levelling system where each level gained provides a percentage increase to your Hunter's Ability Power (AP). AP directly boosts the strength of your offensive and healing abilities. The maximum level you can reach is Level 5, which gives you a 7% boost for each Core you get. The game caps the boosts you get from Cores, capping out at +42% when you’re at Level 5.
Drones can drop energy cells, which are used for leveling up to get another ability and general stat boosts, so you’d think farming would close this gap. Unfortunately, hard work doesn’t beat pure luck, as levelling doesn’t really let you match up against enemies who have had better luck in drops. So even if you’re a level or two above them, you can still end up getting smoked just because they lucked out on their loot..
There are also times when the drones themselves become annoying and even cost you the match. Some drones can hit like a truck, for example, which can mess up your extraction objectives at the same time. You can especially feel this when you’re defending your position against enemies, when suddenly, a drone drops bombs on you out of the blue, despite doing nothing to aggro them.
Matches are also quick, ranging from 10 to 15 minutes, depending on your luck in surviving. In a game where the Energy Cells are also reliant on the game’s RNG system, this is often not enough time for you to close the gap between you and your luckier opponents. Nothing screams “enjoyable” more than your hard work not being rewarded.
Feeling Like A True Big Mech
One thing STEEL HUNTERS does well is that it fulfills everyone’s dream of piloting a huge mech, giving a lot of focus to making the Hunters feel massive. Every movement feels weighty, and that’s the point—you’re a big metal robot, which means each step is going to feel heavy.
The environment highlights your size as you scale well in all of the available maps, too. Set in a post-apocalyptic Earth where only mere remnants of society still stand, the crumbling buildings, abandoned vehicles, and scattered debris are all properly scaled to match the towering presence of your mech.
The amount of environmental destruction possible accentuates this, as almost everything you see is destructible. Cars, barns, buildings, and others explode on contact, making your movement feel more impactful. However, the practical gameplay consequence of this is that the cover they provide is limited. The solid terrain features, such as cliffs and huge rock formations, become your best friends, since those are the only things that you can hide behind without them getting destroyed.
You also have a significant amount more HP compared to other shooter games, along with a shield that gets replenished over time. This gives players more chances to survive, including the ability to live through headshots.
Truly Unique Hunters to Fit Your Playstyle
There are 7 types of Hunters, each with their unique playstyles and specializations. I managed to try them all and see how different each Hunter plays from the other. The starting Hunter, Razorside, is your typical beginner-friendly unit that specializes in mid-range combat with its assault rifle. The other mechs require a bit more mastery, like Weaver, a crab-like mech that puts up an Energy Barrier as cover and uses its mini-gun to pounce on enemies. For Weaver, properly knowing when and where to place your Energy Barrier can turn the tide of the battle, especially during extraction at the end.
My favorite of the Hunters is Fenris, the Zoids-looking mech that has great damage coupled with amazing mobility. His skill lets him jump right over great distances, which can be used to surprise enemy lines or to escape dangerous situations. His other ability lets him throw out a bomb that he can detonate at will. These are just some of the Hunters in the game, but every one of them has their unique playstyle.
Each Hunter has their progression level to show how much time you’ve spent and the level of expertise in using them. This rewards players who try to master a Hunter, giving them additional perks and boosts. They also have a System Tree that gives extra stats and advantages in battle, which range from additional HP, stronger shields, lower ability cooldowns, and more.
Grindy Customization and Concerning Monetization
However, these can only be upgraded using different in-game currencies (and there are a lot, which can be confusing at times). First off, there are two categories of currency: economy and progression. Economy currencies, which consist of Credits, Platinum, and Constructs, are used to buy stuff. Credits are the basic currency and are mostly used for upgrading your Hunters. Platinum is the premium currency, and can be used to purchase Shop items (just the battle pass as of the moment). Constructs are required to unlock Hunters, which can be earned through account progression.
Meanwhile, Progression currencies, which consist of System Points, Starfall, Shards, and Gear Upgrade Cores, are used to upgrade the Hunters’ level systems and other related things.
System Points are solely dedicated to level-up specific nodes in your System Tree and can be earned through completing daily and weekly missions, progressing through the Battle Pass, and as a reward for general in-game progression. Each Hunter has their System Tree that improves different aspects of their stats, such as HP, skill cooldown, damage, and more, to make them stronger in matches.
Starfall can be used to boost the progression of all Hunters. Shards are the unrefined form of Starfall, and these can be converted to Starfall by using Platinum. Gear Upgrade Cores are used to upgrade gear and can be earned by dismantling unwanted gear.
With all the resources you need to keep track of, and all the things you must do to get these resources, it would take hours and hours of grinding (especially if you’re not in the top 2 most of the time) for you to experience other Hunters and upgrade them This may be a concern down the road, as it points towards a pay-to-win structure, which everyone knows is a pitfall of a free-to-play title.
It seems to have a pay-to-skip grind structure since almost all resources can be earned through in-game progression (albeit through a grueling grind and ranking top 2 in matches), which can easily become pay-to-win over time. There’s only so much Construct and System Points you can get from the free version of the Battle Pass. This means those who buy the Battle Pass have immediate access to more of these resources, which can be used to upgrade their Hunters and give them an advantage in matches.
Wargaming has gone down this path with World of Tanks. With what started as a pay-to-skip-grind model, it now offers premium consumables, premium ammo, and premium tanks that make your playthrough against enemies much easier. Many argue that skill is ultimately what is needed to win matches, but the fact remains that using real money gives you higher chances of winning, as it makes your tanks generally better.
STEEL HUNTERS is free-to-play, so you can test it out and see if its battle royale/extraction/hero shooter style is for you. The developers plan to hold the early access for 4 to 6 months, which is plenty of time for them to brush up on their gameplay and balancing. For now, I think the game needs to refine what they’re trying to do with these 3 genres to satisfy players enough for them to consider checking out this never-before-seen blending of these shooter genres.
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STEEL HUNTERS Product Information
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| Title | STEEL HUNTERS |
|---|---|
| Release Date | April 3, 2025 |
| Developer | Wargaming Group Limited |
| Publisher | Wargaming Group Limited |
| Supported Platforms | PC |
| Genre | Shooter |
| Number of Players | 1-12 |
| ESRB Rating | T |
| Official Website | STEEL HUNTERS Official Website |
