Part of my job involves playing a lot of different kinds of video games. Because of this, it usually doesn't take me longer than a minute or so to pick up the controls of a game. This is especially the case with action games like shooters, were universally-agreed-upon control schemes are the norm. As it turns out, this familiarity didn't help me one iota with "Hybrid," a 3rd person shooter with some of the most unique controls I've ever seen.
Movement Reborn
If you pick up a new shooter and move the left analog stick, odds are pretty good that your character will move. In fact, I'd say this is probably the case with 99.9 percent of shooters in the last 10 years. "Hybrid" falls square into that 0.1 percentile.
Moving the left analog stick in "Hybrid" places a waypoint in the direction you pressed. This waypoint is always situated against a point of cover, and the icon will just sit there until you hit A. At this point, your character with sprint over to the point and hunker down, all automatically. That's right, despite this being a shooter, you have no direct control of the movement of your character. "Hybrid" plays almost like an RTS where you only control one guy.
The cover-based mechanics are true to real combat, as you'll never see soldiers standing in the middle of an alleyway, firing blindly at a target. And the automated nature of the movement frees you up to do other things. For example, you can easily aim and fire at targets around you while you're moving. You can even hit the left analog and select new waypoints, changing your direction in the middle of a sprint.
Truth be told, it's a bit of a mindf***. But after five or ten minutes of messing around in an empty map, I was starting to get it. Despite the control scheme, "Hybrid" is still a speedy shooter, requiring accuracy and quick reflexes. Experienced players will quickly learn that staying in the same place will lead to a short lifespan, and in a full 3-on-3 map, there was constant movement among the two teams battling it out.
Back to Basics
Once you have a handle on the movement, "Hybrid" follows some pretty traditional shooter paradigms. Players can create custom loadouts, choosing special abilities and weapon add-ons (which are unlocked as you level up your character). Standard modes like deathmatch are available (though other modes will be a bit more involved). There's even a killstreak system which allows you to spawn in AI-controlled soldiers to fight for you as you rack up streaks.
"Hybrid" is definitely unique, and 5th Cell is promising more variety beyond the control scheme. They've hinted at a world-spanning metagame, though details on that front are scarce. It's safe to say that the team behind "Scribblenauts" isn't going to do anything half way, and so far, they're living up to expectations. Whether fans will adopt this new way to play a shooter is tough to say, but you have to respect the effort to innovate. In this industry of sequels, it's a rare commodity.