Hounds: Free-To-Play, Role-Playing Shooter Announced

There are a ton of MOFPS titles out there; multiplayer shooters with a load of the same guns you've been playing with since the original Counter-Strike, and all the same generic attributes and modes featured in every single other multiplayer shooter out there. Well, Netmarble and CJ Gamelab's Hounds aims to change up the landscape of free-to-play shooters by introducing more role-playing elements, more PvE and more progressive, dynamic environments to traverse.

It's hard to tell exactly what Hounds will be like judging by the announcement trailer. Most of the combat and gameplay is centered around making everything look slightly cinematic and very fast-paced. However, obvious questions arise such as how many players will be able to participate in the player-versus-environment campaigns? How destructible is the environment? And how much customization and role-playing will gamers actually do? You won't find these answers in the debut trailer but you will find a ton of shooting, explosions and zombies. Check it out.



I've never heard of CJ Gamelab so I'm completely in the dark in regards to the quality of their game design methodology and mechanic implementation. In other words, it's anyone's guess as to whether Hounds will be a good game or not. We'll just have to wait to play it to see.

I like the idea behind the promotion of the game: it's not just another MOFPS, it's a role-playing shooter. However, if the role-playing is still taking a major backseat to more fast-paced, twitch-skill shooting then it's basically the same thing as all the other free-to-play shooters that are currently over-saturating the free-to-play space right now like Sudden Attack, Blacklight, Combat Arms, AVA, Operation 7, Mercenary Wars, Crossfire, Mission Against Terror and all the rest.

I'm sure a lot of gamers are at least interested to learn more about the game, as am I, so we'll keep you posted on additional news and information regarding Hounds as it becomes available. For now you can prep yourself for the inevitable beta registration by visiting the Official Netmarble Website.