''Hybrid'' is a downloadable

third-person shooter Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. While 2D shoot 'em ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

released on August 8, 2012 for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

through

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...

. It was developed by Bellevue, Washington-based

5th Cell 5th Cell is an independently owned video game developer founded in 2003 as 5th Cell Media, LLC. led by Jeremiah Slaczka and Marius Falhbusch. The company is most well known for creating the '' Drawn to Life'' and ''Scribblenauts'' series. Overvie ...

. Utilizing the

Source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...

game engine from

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

, this is the first Xbox 360 title from developer 5th Cell.

Plot

In 2032, a catastrophic accident has obliterated

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and sent the world into turmoil. An alien race called the Variants compete with the surviving humans, called the Paladins, to collect a powerful substance known as

dark matter Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not ab ...

Gameplay

Players choose between the Variant faction and the Paladin faction when they begin playing. The five included continents (Australia having been obliterated and

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

excluded) have been broken up into sections in which the two factions compete for dark matter. By playing in a section, a player increases their faction's percentage in that section. When a faction reaches 100% in a section first, that faction will get two pieces of dark matter. If the other faction reaches 100% in that section after that, they will receive 1 piece of dark matter. The two factions race to collect 200 pieces of dark matter before the other. Hybrid is a

game heavily focused on a

cover system A cover system is a video game gameplay mechanic that allows a virtual avatar to hide from and avoid dangers, usually in a three-dimensional world. This method is a digital adaptation of the real-life military tactic of taking cover behind obst ...

. Players use a jetpack to move from cover to cover, and can move around a cover when they reach one. A variety of weapons are available, which are tailored to different play styles. By killing multiple enemies in a row, players can unlock drones to help the player out. Different game modes are available, with differing winning conditions and objectives for each. Players level up as they play and can unlock new guns and equipment.

Development

''Hybrid'' was hinted at for many months, prior to its official announcement. The unnamed XBLA title from 5th Cell was talked about for nearly a year before any real information was released—other than that it was going to be "pretty big". On October 21, 2010, a mysterious 7-day countdown appeared on th
official 5th Cell website
featuring an ashy ground with footprints and a clearly imprinted logo, causing speculation among the gaming community at the seemingly uncharacteristic theme. At the close of the countdown, on Friday, October 29, 2010 at 1:00am EST/PDT an exclusive debut

teaser trailer A teaser (or more specifically teaser trailer) is a mini- trailer and a form of teaser campaign advertising that focuses on film and television programming. It is a videography pre-release move or television show advertisement. Short in length, te ...

was shown on

GameTrailers ''GameTrailers'' (''GT'') was an American video gaming website created by Geoffrey R. Grotz and Brandon Jones in 2002. The website specialized in multimedia content, including trailers and gameplay footage of upcoming and recently released v ...

, revealing the somewhat shocking fact that the game would be a

. At that time,

also launched th
official ''Hybrid'' website
displaying two dog tags linking to two different hubs of information about the game as relayed by the opposing factions.

Reception

''Hybrid'' received "mixed or average" reviews, according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

References

External links

* {{5TH Cell 2012 video games 5th Cell games Cooperative video games Science fiction shooter video games Microsoft games Multiplayer online games Indie video games Post-apocalyptic video games Source (game engine) games Third-person shooters Science fiction video games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in 2032 Xbox 360-only games Xbox 360 games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games