Hyper Scape is a futuristic, FPS Battle Royale being developed by Ubisoft Montreal. The cat was let out of the bag a little early, but there’s still a lot to talk about. Hyper Scape, like other BR games, drops 100 players into a steadily shrinking arena, with the last person standing declared the winner.
It’s free-to-play and is coming to PC and consoles and will include a Battle Pass with both free and premium tracks. Players will need to loot gear, can ping points of interest and are able to revive their teammates.
However, Hyper Scape does plenty of things to make it stand out from other games in the genre.
Let’s take a look.
Hyper Scape
100% Urban Map
Hyper Scape is set in 2054 and the game takes place in the Hyper Scape in Neo-Arcadia. The Hyper Scape is a virtual space in which competitors battle for glory. It’s also a space where people spend their day-to-day lives as a way to escape the drudgery of the real-world.
The map is 100% urban, which Ubisoft says is the first of its kind in the Battle Royale genre. Neo-Arcadia is split into nine districts with eight unique landmarks and the city itself is a mix of European architecture and a futuristic style.
Ubisoft calls Neo-Arcadia an “urban playground” with a mixture of rooves, streets, interiors, plazas and more to do battle in. Each of the districts has a distinct theme and aesthetic so players will be exploring districts that are residential, industrial, business and more. Ubisoft also says Hyper Scape has been designed for verticality.
Creative Director Jean-Christophe Guyot told PowerUp!;
With Hyper Scape, we aim to build a fast-paced, intense and vertical battle royale, full of cat and mouse action and pulse-pounding battles. In addition to the urban setting of Neo-Arcadia that provides verticality and parkour traversal we introduce several new mechanics that streamline the battle royale experience.
Hacks
In Hyper Scape, players take control of Champions. Unlike Apex Legends, these Champions only differ from one another visually. They don’t have special abilities or skills that players activate. Instead, players find Hacks throughout the map.
Hacks provide players with different skills to use and change the way they approach combat and exploration. So far, we know about an Invisibility Hack, a Wall Hack, Teleport Hack, Mine Hack and Heal Hack. Most are self-explanatory but the Wall Hack and Mine Hack need some detail.
When your Champion has the Wall Hack, you can create a virtual wall to trap other players or create a barrier to protect yourself. There are bound to be more uses but for now, that’s what we’ve seen. The Mine Hack will deploy a mine that actively chases enemies down when they get nearby.
Guyot told us, “In addition to weapons, players will be able to pick up Hacks – special abilities that let them be more creative in the way they approach encounters and team synergy.
“Some hacks will help navigate the city like the Teleport hack, some will let players outsmart their opponents like the Mine hack and some will help them survive the encounter and support their squad, like the Heal hack.”
Champions have two Hack slots and two weapon slots and their Hacks and weapons can be improved.
This leads us to upgrades.
Weapon and Hack Upgrades
In Hyper Scape, players need to loot their weapons and Hacks, just like in other Battle Royales. However, instead of hunting for higher tier weapons, players can upgrade their Hacks and guns as they go. When a player picks up a weapon or Hack it will be at a certain power level. Every Hack and weapon has five levels of power.
By collecting the same weapon and Hack, already equipped, players will ‘Fuse’ them and upgrade their power. Once weapons and Hacks reach level five, they’ll gain a bonus power boost that should provide a decent edge over anyone with lower-powered gear.
Not all weapons and Hacks are only worth one power level though. Ubisoft has told PowerUp! that players have a much higher chance of finding fully tiered, level five weapons at each of the eight landmarks. Since the loot is of a higher tier at the landmarks, players should also expect to find many more enemies.
Some of the weapons included in Hyper Scape are;
- Skybreaker – a heavy Energy-based weapon that shoots a single, very powerful projectile. Upon impact with a surface the energy ball bursts, damaging and knocking back all nearby enemies
- Ripper – a classic assault-rifle delivering accurate damage at medium to long ranges
- D-Tap – a small automatic pistol that locks onto a target, dealing a stream of minimal but continuous damage
- Riot One – a deadly single-shot revolver. High damage but requires accuracy, great as a finisher and at medium ranges
- Protocol V Sniper Rifle – ultra-long-range, large damage, lets you dominate from the rooftops
- Mammoth Shotgun – a perfect weapon for close-quarters combat and clearing building interiors
Decay
Decay is Hyper Scape’s take on the shrinking circle. However, in Hyper Scape, instead of a circle gradually shrinking and forcing players closer to one another, Decay slowly deletes sections of the map.
Areas will start to slowly fade and disappear as the Decay takes hold and like the circle in other Battle Royale games, players will need to move out of the Decay to stay alive. Once the Decay has gotten to a certain point, players will take damage by standing in it and will eventually die.
Like other games in the genre, being eliminated isn’t the end of the game. Squads can revive players, provided they can get to a Restore Point.
Revive and Echoes
When playing as a squad, if a team member is eliminated they can be revived as long as the remaining team members can find a Restore Point. However, it’s not just the remaining team members who need to find a Restore Point, the eliminated player needs to find it too.
When players are eliminated in Hyper Scape they don’t simply end up spectating. Instead, they become Echoes. Echoes can explore the map and ping enemies and, best of all, can’t be seen by other players. Even when a team member is down, they’re part of the action and can help their squad.
To be revived, the Echo needs to lock onto a Restore Point and wait until their teammates activate it.
So, where do you find Restore Points?
It’s easy. Anytime a player is eliminated, a Restore Point appears where they died. It doesn’t matter which squad eliminated the player, the Restore Point is up for grabs by everyone. If the Echo locks on and their squad interacts with the Restore Point, they’ll be revived.
Since Echoes are invisible, teams won’t know if other players are trying to get back into the action at the same Restore Point and will need to keep an eye out for enemy squads trying to revive their teammate.
Showdown
Once the Decay has removed all but one section of Neo-Arcadia, the Showdown will begin.
During the Showdown, a Crown will be announced and then spawn into the map. Players will be given the exact location of the Crown 20-seconds before it appears and once it does, there are two ways to win.
Players can either defeat all other enemies or collect the Crown and hold onto it for long enough to win. Ubisoft says players can win Hyper Scape without ever firing a bullet if they’re sneaky and fast enough.
Crowncast
Ubisoft has worked closely with Twitch to develop the Crowncast system. This allows players to have a real-time impact on the battles they’re watching by voting on ‘game-changing events’ that affect all players.
Players who watch Hyper Scape on Twitch will also progress their Battle Pass by doing so. So, players will unlock Battle Pass tiers by playing Hyper Scape and by watching it on Twitch.
A list of the game-changing effects available by voting hasn’t been released as yet but what we’ve seen suggests;
- Additional Health
- Infinite Ammo
- Faster Movement Speed
- Reveal all players
Guyot also told PowerUp! that Moon Gravity is another effect voters will be able to choose. Finally, those players streaming Hyper Scape will be able to invite their viewers into the squad.
Champions
At launch, there will be eight starting Champions for players to choose from. Guyot told us new Champions will be added every season in addition to evolving old Champions. The mysteries of the Hyper Scape will unfold over the course of the seasons and will be told through the eyes of the Champions.
Each Champion has a backstory, voice and reasons for taking part in the competition, which will be explored over time.
Once Hyper Scape has launched, new skins for all of the Champions will be added regularly, however, Ubisoft could not confirm the costs of skins or the Battle Pass at this stage.
Release Date and Platforms
Hyper Scape is heading to PC first for a Technical Test; in Europe and North America only. Once Ubisoft believes the game is stable, Hyper Scape will be released on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Cross-play will not be available at launch, instead, Ubisoft will allow for Cross-Progression.
Anything unlocked on one platform will be available on all other platforms. Guyot told PowerUp!;
We know how important cross-play is and plan to release it for an upcoming season
A release date has not yet been announced, however, Ubisoft has given a window of Winter 2020 (southern hemisphere) Summer 2020 (northern hemisphere).
We asked Ubisoft if Hyper Scape will be released on Switch, PS5 or Xbox Series X but we didn’t receive a response.
Hyper Scape is coming to PC, PS4 and Xbox One in 2020.
