New Steam Game is Bloodborne Meets ARC Raiders, and You Play as a Plague Doctor

Steam has a rapidly growing number of extraction shooters hitting the platform after ARC Raiders expanded the genre to reach a wider audience. In the race to be the next ARC Raiders, upcoming Steam extraction shooters are bending the rules of the genre to iterate and innovate on what past entries like Marathon, Escape from Tarkov, and ARC Raiders have already done. As more unique takes on the extraction shooter formula appear, the lines between genres start to blur as elements of other types of games work their way into new releases.

This is where HUNGER comes into play, as it looks to take the typical extraction shooter gameplay and blend it with a first-person RPG-style of character progression. On the extraction shooter spectrum, HUNGER looks more like Hunt: Showdown 1896 than Marathon, leaning into the brutal Napoleonic Era of European history, only this world has fallen into decay after a savage plague has forced humanity to scavenge for survival. With the aesthetics of Bloodborne and the gameplay of extraction shooters like ARC Raiders, HUNGER could be the next hit entry in the genre.

HUNGER Features at a Glance

• Early Access launches with three large and very different maps, with more to come.
• More than thirty weapons on Early Access launch with more to come.
• Huge variety of gadgets, medicines, and tools with more to come.
• Unique hybrid of shooting and slashing combat.
• Large variety of customization, including characters, bags, and weapons — the majority of which are acquired for free in-game.
• Deep and permanent RPG skill progression.
• Multiplayer hub world — the Chateau — to interact with other players, NPCs, Professions, quest givers and more.
• Enormous build variety, with many viable playstyles.
• In-depth questing and storylines.
• Varied and engaging end-game content, including dungeons and boss encounters.
• No forced wipes.
• Proximity VOIP in Expeditions.
• Gathering and crafting Professions.
• Player-driven marketplace.

Combining the use of both firearms and melee weapons, HUNGER doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to its brutal combat. Like other extraction shooters, the goal of HUNGER is to scavenge any materials that players can find in order to upgrade their gear and craft valuable cosmetics. This leads to a unique feature of HUNGER, which is its player-driven marketplace, where players can sell the goods and materials they’ve crafted to other players within the game’s hub, known as the Chateau. The result sounds like an evolution of ARC Raiders‘s hub of Speranza, adding a layer of social interaction to a tense survival experience.

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The World of HUNGER

HUNGER is set in an alternative version of Napoleonic Europe where not only has war destroyed much of the world, but a new Bacterium has emerged, causing disease and fear to spread throughout the land. Players will take up arms and plague doctor-like protection against this infectious outbreak as they set out into what remains of the World After the End in search of anything they can use to aid other survivors back at the Chateau. Although HUNGER is an extraction shooter, it has a gripping storyline told through in-game quests and interactions with NPCs such as shopkeepers and bounty hunters, much like the quests of ARC Raiders.

The Gameplay of HUNGER

When setting off on an expedition in HUNGER, players will have to choose the right weapon for the horrors they will face. Both enemies afflicted by the plague, known as the Hunger, and other players, known as the Living, will be a threat to their survival, and death means losing out on any gear and weaponry the player has acquired on their run. However, there are permanent upgrades that players can unlock, allowing HUNGER players to craft their ideal build to shake up combat, similar to how Marathon‘s different Runner Shells define its gameplay.

Keeping the best possible gear on their Living will be the key to success in HUNGER, and the game features a wide array of weapon types. Aside from black powder rifles and pistols, players can also use crude semi-automatic firearms and melee weapons like axes and claymores to fend off the deadly Hunger enemies. This combination of firearms and melee weapons is very reminiscent of Bloodborne‘s trick weapons paired with a firearm in the player’s off hand. There are even experimental weapons like glass grenades and hand mortars.

Similar to other extraction shooters like ARC Raiders, both PvP and PvE experiences are featured in HUNGER. However, its endgame loop goes beyond these experiences to include dungeon exploration and intense boss fights. These features add to the crossover between extraction shooter and RPG that HUNGER seeks to create and set it apart from other entries in the genre.

HUNGER’s RPG-Like Progression is Its Secret Weapon

Where HUNGER really finds its depth is in the way it uses permanent skill progression to give the game the feel of a first-person RPG wrapped in an extraction shooter shell. While other extraction shooters like Marathon and ARC Raiders feature permanent skill unlocks, HUNGER goes even deeper with a robust set of unlockable unique Passive, Tactical, and Ultimate abilities. What’s more is that these abilities can be customized using a mastery tree system with over 100 different talents to unlock. The result is a very customizable experience that lends itself to players who like buildcrafting in RPGs as much as they enjoy looting in extraction shooters.