Neromunda Hired Gun is a fast paced, first person shooter set in the Underhive. Unsurprisingly you take on the role of a bounty hunter or hired gun who has to take on various missions throughout the game. You will come against familiar necromunda gangs such as the Eschers, Goliaths and Orlocks as well as large brutes and even ambots!

There are many different bounty hunters to choose from although being a first person shooter with very few cut scenes you don’t get to see much of your character so the choice doesn’t matter too much, this may be why they didn’t go with a character creation system.

So I’ll get the negatives out of the way first, and unfortunately there are a few. Firstly I don’t feel like the gameplay really reflects the tabletop game. Whilst I appreciate bringing and overly accurate representation of the tabletop game to a video game wouldn’t be too exciting I do think there are things that could have been done to feel more like Necromunda. The biggest thing for me is lack of a cover mechanic. The tabletop game focuses heavily on hiding behind barricades and other cover and there’s nothing like that here. You can’t even toggle crouching, it only works when holding down your left thumb stick, making it very difficult to crouch and shoot at the same time. A cover mechanic akin to that found in the gears of war series would have been very welcome. Instead we’re left with a run and gun system where you are blasting enemies out in the open. You can jump around to avoid grenades and gun fire, which can be fun but not very Necromunda in my opinion.

Due to this mechanic you often find yourself losing a lot of health so the developers decided that you replenish health for killing enemies soon after taking any damage. This just feels lazy to me and takes any tactics out of the game. The worst part for me is when you have to reload, you usually find yourself having to do so whilst being shot in the open. You could always run or jump around of course but to me that just isn’t a fun way to play.

The AI isn’t the most fun to play against either. They largely just run towards you whilst shooting you. In certain terrain you can literally just blast them down a corridor with ease. The way they just randomly spawn is quite annoying too. This sometimes make sniper weapons feel a bit useless as an enemy could spawn behind you whilst you’re trying to take a shot at another. Larger enemies are a bit more fun to play against as they can jump or fly around but you are forced to do the same if you wish to avoid their attacks.

At the time of writing this I haven’t completed the main missions but I have read that the game is pretty short. You can reply any missions and do side quests to gain extra credits to spend on equipment and weapons etc. which does help increase play time however. There’s also a ranking system similar to resident Evil so a completionist may want to try and get the best rank on each mission.

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So finally let’s talk about what is good in this game. Personally I think it’s visually pretty stunning and as a wargamer it gives me so much inspiration for terrain and battlefields for Necromunda on the tabletop. It’s nice to see little elements from the tabletop game appear in the setting even though it is to be expected.

The weapons feel nice to use and I like how you can upgrade and customise them with many different options. The autogun and heavy stubber are certainly my favourite weapons from what I’ve played so far, although I do have my eye on a plasma gun!

I like that you pick up lots of loot throughout each mission and then have plenty of storage spaces, making it easier to decide what to keep and what to sell. You can then pick your preferred loadout at the start of each mission. You also have a central hub where you purchase weapons and upgrades etc. You also have a dog! He can help you in battle, although he seems to work better as a distraction, and you can pet him! He too can be upgraded.

The lack of tactical element can be seen a positive also. If you wish to switch your brain off and relax whilst shooting some hive scum then this game gives you that. Certainly one for the more casual gamers like myself for sure.

If video is more your thing then a video review can be found below