Crucible, coming May 20, 2020, is a hero shooter from Relentless Studios and Amazon Games that will require players work together with their teammates to battle their opponents, defeat hostile creatures and capture objectives.
Taking place on a 'rogue planet at the edge of known space,' you'll choose from a range of characters — known as 'hunters' — complete with unique weapons and abilities.
There will be ten hunters available at launch, from the human space trucker Earl to the robot botanist Bugg and champion fighter Summer. These hunters will have distinct playstyles, from tanks, to supports, to straight-up damage dealers.
The aim in Crucible is to collect Essence, a resource that will ramp up your hunter's prowess. As you collect Essence your hunter will level up, leading to increased power and stronger abilities. The fast-paced nature of the game will mean your team will have to adapt on the fly, changing strategies to best suit your opponents. The battlefield will also change as matches go on.
Crucible will come with three game modes at launch: Heart of the Hives, Harvester Command, and Alpha Hunters.
Heart of the Hives sees two teams of four battle Hives, giant bosses that spawn across the world. These Hives contain Hearts, and the win condition is the first team to capture three Hearts. You'll have to balance capturing these Hearts, battling the opposite team, and dealing with the dangerous Hives.
Harvester Command is a capture-the-flag type mode, in which two teams of eight players do battle to seize and hold Harvesters found across the map. Capturing these depletes the enemy team's Essence, with the first team to deplete the opponents' resources declared the victor.
Finally, Alpha Hunters sees eight teams of two hunters do battle in a deathmatch, until the final pair is left standing.
“In Crucible, every match is different, and players’ choices really matter,” said Christoph Hartmann, vice president at Amazon Games. “Every opponent, team, and mode poses unique dangers, and no two matches are the same, so players must constantly adapt to everything the world and the other teams throw at them. We’re excited for players to join the hunt in just a couple of weeks, and we can’t wait to hear what they think of it.”
Crucible is being developed by Relentless Studios, based out of Seattle, Washington, and is part of Amazon Games. The team is led by Westwood Studios (Command & Conquer) co-founder Louis Castle, and includes industry veterans who have worked for Activision Blizzard, ArenaNet, EA and Xbox.
It is the first major release of 2020 for Amazon Games, who will also launch the open-world survival MMO New World in August 2020.
For more information in the run up to the May 20 release date, you can visit the official website.
