Hammerfight

 PC
User Score
5.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 53 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 53
  3. Negative: 25 out of 53

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  1. genoforprez
    Jul 27, 2011
    5
    I picked up Hammerfight as part of Humble Indie Bundle 3, having never heard of it before, and my reaction to it is bittersweet, but sadly a little more on the bitter side. The game deserves points for inventing a simple but interesting gameplay mechanic that's extremely satisfying when it works. (Emphasis: when it works.) The idea is that your mouse controls a robot with a weapon hangingI picked up Hammerfight as part of Humble Indie Bundle 3, having never heard of it before, and my reaction to it is bittersweet, but sadly a little more on the bitter side. The game deserves points for inventing a simple but interesting gameplay mechanic that's extremely satisfying when it works. (Emphasis: when it works.) The idea is that your mouse controls a robot with a weapon hanging from the bottom. By sweeping your mouse in circular motions, you simulate centripetal force, which causes the weapon to whirl around your little robot. Once you get the weapon in motion, you need to bring it crashing into an enemy to deal damage. I can honestly say that it is extremely satisfying to get your weapon whirling at an incredible speed and slam it into an enemy with such force that it sends them crashing into the wall or floor, damaging the environment and leaving the enemy stunned.

    So what's the problem? There are actually several. The first is that the game tries too hard to be more than what it is. It tries to have characters, an epic story spanning across multiple chapters (which are really just encounters), and challenges. In some games, this isn't a bad idea, but when the core mechanic of your game boils down to sweeping your mouse to smash stuff with a hammer and not much else, the "epic" characters and story feel like they're trying too hard and just end up frustrating you as you click like crazy to skip through them in order to smash more things with a hammer. Honestly, this game would have been one hundred times greater if it was nothing more than you and a friend or AI-opponent trying to smash each other with hammers in stand-alone versus matches or in multi-robot elimination matches. But that's not what happens here. The "challenges" are another issue...

    Generally, putting challenges in a game is a great idea. But the idea of a challenge is that it is a CHALLENGE that you give the player once they have either mastered or grasped the general principles of your game. Hammerfight gives you one tutorial match (one enemy), then a real match (one enemy), then a battle (multiple enemies plus allies), and then it immediately starts giving you challenges. For example, you are chained to the center of the screen without a weapon and must dodge an enemy with an incredibly powerful weapon for a set period of time. Why am I doing stuff like this already? I barely have the hammer-swinging principles down, and now I'm doing frustrating challenges that have nothing to do with fighting things with hammers. In short, these "challenges" come annoyingly, frustratingly early and make you feel like the real game is lying forgotten in a previous chapter somewhere.

    Lastly, sadly, the hammer-swinging mechanic, which is such a fun idea and has such potential, just ends up not being used very well. When you start the game, immediately all you want to do is swing heavy objects around and smash things with them. But your enemies spend---literally---half of any battle flying off the screen where you can't reach them. When they are on screen, they move with incredible finesse and maneuver their weapons with precision. Or it at least seems that way, since your robot controls like a brick with a drinking problem. I discovered that controlling the robot is slightly less annoying if you don't let the game automatically calibrate your mouse and instead manually set the mouse sensitivity extremely high, but that unfortunately doesn't fix all the problems. (e.g., the game not informing you that you're not allowed to even *graze* walls or floors without taking damage or that you will still take damage from an enemy's hammer, even if--realistically--it's not moving fast enough to hurt a giant steel robot. But whatever.)

    So, in short, it's a really brilliant idea, and you're sure to enjoy the game you will no doubt *think* it is going to be, but like me, you'll probably end up disappointed in what the game actually is: a great idea for a mechanic put to poor use, and a casual smash-fest trying too hard to sell itself as an adventure game.

    For the curious, I would recommend trying it if it's on sale for cheap, but definitely don't pay $10 for it.    … Expand
  2. alex77456
    Feb 28, 2013
    9
    Once you get used to the controls, it gives incomparable experience; difficulty becomes not as insane as seemed on the first sight.
    It's a unique game, even with it's own flaws. There's nothing else that will give you same experience, that will make you keep moving the mouse in circular motion even after you exit the game.
  3. Kibernetik
    Aug 3, 2011
    8
    The game has its flaws, that's sure. It can be frustratingly difficult, use cheap tricks to enrage the player and has a fistful of bugs. Still the gameplay is quite new and original, the controls aren't stiff and are quite genuine and the story, even it is hard to figure it in first, is deep and huge, big enough to hold many sequels. Game is quite big and long (mainly due to the insaneThe game has its flaws, that's sure. It can be frustratingly difficult, use cheap tricks to enrage the player and has a fistful of bugs. Still the gameplay is quite new and original, the controls aren't stiff and are quite genuine and the story, even it is hard to figure it in first, is deep and huge, big enough to hold many sequels. Game is quite big and long (mainly due to the insane difficulty). The game itself is extremely fun and original, well worth the 10$ value.… Expand
  4. badkarma
    Aug 2, 2011
    6
    In Hammerfight you control a very small helicopter-like machine in a steampunk-setting that has hammers, swords, maces and so on attached to it. You usually fight against similar opponents. The interesting part about it is, that you directly control your machine with the mouse and the weapons swing, when you swing your hand aswell. It is really fun to smash the other helicopters with yourIn Hammerfight you control a very small helicopter-like machine in a steampunk-setting that has hammers, swords, maces and so on attached to it. You usually fight against similar opponents. The interesting part about it is, that you directly control your machine with the mouse and the weapons swing, when you swing your hand aswell. It is really fun to smash the other helicopters with your weapons, as you see them breaking to parts. Overall the actual gameplay is very good, the sound is nice and the visuals are fine (though the resolution is a bit too low for current standards). It's a pity that there are still too many downsides concerning the rest of the game. First of all the story-mode is really annoying. Similar to older asian roleplaying games you have to click through a hell lot of uninteresting dialogue. And this dialogue is really unnecessary. It would have been far better to reduce the plot to few cutscenes and a mission-briefing. Especially when you take the second problem under concern: The difficulty of the game is quite random, but overall hard. When you start an arena-mission, your opponents have a random set of weapons so they are sometimes extremely hard to defeat (especially when fighting 2 at once and one has a TNT-barrel). You may frustratingly often restart that mission (and click through all that annoying dialogue) only to hit a random chance, that the one opponent is equipped with a spear instead of the TNT-barrel (which makes him less of a problem). Apart from that there are also several minor cosmetic problems: a) you have to to play the campaign to access the arena mode; b) the game will customize the appearance of your heli (including colour, flags and symbol) on a regular basis (it would be better, if the player could choose at least his own colour and symbol); c) the arena mode cannot be setup, it just gets harder, once you won a wave - easier waves can not be played again, once you've won them; d) the HUD is really BIG, that makes attacks from other helicopters or worms from the left bottom of the screen really difficult to avoid - there are even some missions that make this effect worse (for example there is a mission with a cliff taking up a third of the right screen reducing the visible AND playable area to a minimum); Conclusion: This game has a great potential when you are actually playing it. Unfortunately it suffers alot from its setup. If there will be a sequel, it could be great, if the story-telling mode is reduced to a simple set of mission-briefings (without any clicks) and a better setup for the arena mode (e.g. setting up the waves or having a knockout-tournament mode). A multiplayer mode would be a great addition aswell as some visual customization.… Expand
  5. ratapwnz
    Sep 9, 2013
    10
    One of the best indie games i ever seen.
    Important: before checking metascore make sure u get that THIS IS NOT CASUAL GAME. Its all about TRYHARDS with strange contols and so on. Its great, but not for retard cauals. Deal with it.
  6. JonesR
    Mar 7, 2012
    3
    It's actually a very clever concept for a PC game--just poor execution. They've tried to create a game where the mouse acts like a Wiimote and you use it to directly control a flail attached to a flying machine. It kind of works, but a mouse is really too clumsy to be whipping around in continuous circular motions--it just feels unnatural.
  7. Elc1247
    Aug 24, 2011
    2
    Given that the game was included in the humble indie bundle, I expected a half decent game. however i was sorely disappointed. it may be an original idea, and is different from pretty much anything else out there, but it does not mean that it actually pulls it off well. the controls are the main point that really turned me off, Its nice that you use the mouse to move around, but given thatGiven that the game was included in the humble indie bundle, I expected a half decent game. however i was sorely disappointed. it may be an original idea, and is different from pretty much anything else out there, but it does not mean that it actually pulls it off well. the controls are the main point that really turned me off, Its nice that you use the mouse to move around, but given that I failed the very first level (non-tutorial level) at the very least 10 times, it says something. thankfully I have a mouse where i can change the DPI, so i set my DPI to 500 for the calibration, then played the game at 3200DPI. at that point, I could actually play and move around. it seems like the game was made for people that use their ENTIRE desk as the mousepad, so if you want to play and be able to actually be able to WIN easily, clear off your entire desk, and start with your mouse in the middle, at the maximum DPI you can possibly set it as, then you can actually PLAY the game. the controls are not the only problem, the visuals are also a problem. There are levels where its somewhat hard to tell where the walls are, and if you smack into a wall, you take damage and get stunned, not only that, but sometimes theres just so much going on in the screen that you can barely make out where your character is, ive lost track of where my flying machine was after getting hit and dragged into a mess more than a couple times.

    The game is buggy, the controls are just horribly done wrong, and the difficulty makes ATLUS games cry in shame. Its an interesting idea that is executed very poorly. I guess they never got anyone to really test the game and give feedback. If I had the option of separately buying this game from the HIB3, I would not even consider paying for it.    … Expand
  8. Vauhn
    Feb 19, 2012
    9
    A challenging, exciting experience. Out of all the humble bundle games, this was by far the best. Its hard to get used to and there are a few bugs, nothing game breaking though. I don't understand all these horrible reviews, this game was great.
  9. TotalNyan
    Jul 22, 2012
    3
    I tried to like this game, I really did. I liked the story; it was fairly engaging (if a bit confused) and the game world was somewhat intriguing. However, the gameplay was just overly frustrating and tedious. The mouse controls never seem to work like they should and just feel clumsy. The AI doesn't help as they frequently seem too perfect, making the game feel completely unfair. Its aI tried to like this game, I really did. I liked the story; it was fairly engaging (if a bit confused) and the game world was somewhat intriguing. However, the gameplay was just overly frustrating and tedious. The mouse controls never seem to work like they should and just feel clumsy. The AI doesn't help as they frequently seem too perfect, making the game feel completely unfair. Its a shame because the concept was impressive.… Expand
  10. FatalExcursion
    Aug 12, 2011
    6
    Not by any means a bad idea, but the fact that gameplay is somewhat marred with bugs and huge curves in adjustment to new weapons, enemies, etc. pushes me away from reaching the core of Hammerfight. It does provide a nice atmosphere, something definitely drawn from steam-punk roots, but with a flawed mouse (utilizing limited physics) mechanic backing it up, being that its the only way forNot by any means a bad idea, but the fact that gameplay is somewhat marred with bugs and huge curves in adjustment to new weapons, enemies, etc. pushes me away from reaching the core of Hammerfight. It does provide a nice atmosphere, something definitely drawn from steam-punk roots, but with a flawed mouse (utilizing limited physics) mechanic backing it up, being that its the only way for movement, I can't help but not favoring Hammerfight by any means.… Expand
  11. badrain
    Dec 1, 2011
    2
    The main idea behind the game is decent.. but not everything works as it should be. Hammerfight is a part of Humble Bundle #3 and is surely the worst game in this pack. The goal is to control some kind of a flying machine and deal damage to your foes by swinging its .. hammer, as the title suggests. There's nothing compeling in this game, it's difficult but not rewarding, the controlsThe main idea behind the game is decent.. but not everything works as it should be. Hammerfight is a part of Humble Bundle #3 and is surely the worst game in this pack. The goal is to control some kind of a flying machine and deal damage to your foes by swinging its .. hammer, as the title suggests. There's nothing compeling in this game, it's difficult but not rewarding, the controls respond lousy and most important - Hammerfight is just plain boring and poorly made. Two points for trying.… Expand
  12. madattak
    May 10, 2014
    9
    Fun once you get the hang of it!

    I think this game suffers from bad reviews because it is hard. Admittedly I had an advantage, I remember this game being up as a flash game a very, very long time ago and so had an idea of how to play already, but once you learn how to play and accept that it's challenging - not all games are hilariously easy - it is a very entertaining, unique, game.
  13. tech-noir
    May 24, 2012
    3
    Hammerfight's setting seems to be a variation of cyberpunk with a hint of light fantasy. The music is fitting, and somewhat interesting, but quite repetitive. The graphical presentation is reminiscent of PC games from the 1990s, even though the ship animations could be considered fluid. What is most unique (and incredibly problematic) about the game is the attack mechanic. This involvesHammerfight's setting seems to be a variation of cyberpunk with a hint of light fantasy. The music is fitting, and somewhat interesting, but quite repetitive. The graphical presentation is reminiscent of PC games from the 1990s, even though the ship animations could be considered fluid. What is most unique (and incredibly problematic) about the game is the attack mechanic. This involves using the mouse to create inertia and physics based weighted action, which is more complicated than it sounds. There isn't much of a tutorial, nor any kind of instruction for the player besides minimal between mission briefings, and much of the game play is discovered by plenty of trial and error. Meaning that you will have to repeat the majority of the levels a multitude of times until victory is achieved. Upgrades to your ship are obtained as you earn money and purchase items from the shop. The plot appears to be involved, but ends up being a disorganized and fuddled mess, leaving the player with not much care as to what is actually happening. Hammerfight also seems to be prone to crashing at random times, for no apparent reason whatsoever; with an emphasis on when you quit to the desktop. Even though the idea for the game is unique, the implementation for its most important mechanic is a complete and utter failure. Hammerfight has the absolute worst controls and mechanics since Gish. Controlling your ship is the most imprecise experience I can think of, and manages to be generally worse than Gish in all comparable ways. There are various gauges and panels that mysteriously appear and disappear on the screen during battles, and there is never anything explained as to what they mean, what they do, or what they are supposed to be. The mechanic of circling your mouse around continuously and inconsequentially gets boring and tiring extremely fast, as your arm, wrist, and hand will feel like quitting minutes into the game, besides feeling like an idiot for performing such a task. Then, when you realize that your attempts at attacking your enemies are mostly frivolous and ineffective, you will have even less reasons to continue. Hammerfight is yet another good example of a good premise going to waste due to achingly poor and limited design and execution. It has some of the worst controls and mechanics I have ever experienced.… Expand
  14. Tarkus
    Sep 9, 2011
    3
    This game is extremely frustrating, the tutorial is great and all, but the missions, AI, and controls are so difficult to deal with, that even with all of it's innovation, it is quite a waste of money.
  15. agalloch
    Jan 24, 2013
    2
    Yeah, sorry, this doesn't cut it. I tried the game with an open mind and it's not compelling whatsoever. I played for 20 minutes and couldn't wati to get out of the gam.e
  16. R3VEIWR
    Aug 17, 2013
    0
    It is something different, but poor execution, poor visuals, and very frustrating at times. Its full of cheap tricks and shots that will enrage you. That is on top of the poor controls.
  17. suneater
    Dec 13, 2012
    1
    This game is genuinely awful. The controls are practically waggle garbage with how you have to maneuver your mouse to attack. Very unfun over-active simulated physics (rage inducing "physics" like in Cortex Command) and poor, mouse-only controls round out this terrible flash game. I got this in the Humble Indie Bundle #3 and I am appalled that this poor excuse for a game costs $10This game is genuinely awful. The controls are practically waggle garbage with how you have to maneuver your mouse to attack. Very unfun over-active simulated physics (rage inducing "physics" like in Cortex Command) and poor, mouse-only controls round out this terrible flash game. I got this in the Humble Indie Bundle #3 and I am appalled that this poor excuse for a game costs $10 normally. Do not bother with this tripe even if it's free because there are "better" bad games out there to play for a joke.… Expand
  18. muchenik
    Apr 7, 2018
    6
    This is a game that has a nearly two hour long tutorial that is punishing. The game has an amazing physics engine and decent graphics. The UI is consistently hiding things from you and there is pop up and chat that serves to just distract you. This is a game that actively fights you.

    You have a fun game if you can get past the first 90 minutes of gameplay. It is about flying pods in a    This is a game that has a nearly two hour long tutorial that is punishing. The game has an amazing physics engine and decent graphics. The UI is consistently hiding things from you and there is pop up and chat that serves to just distract you. This is a game that actively fights you.

    You have a fun game if you can get past the first 90 minutes of gameplay. It is about flying pods in a steampunk world that swing weapons around them. You get to learn to thread the needled of how to spin your weapon while avoiding other weapons. The theme is rich with flying roman gladiatorial style combat where many times you are fighting against unknown odds. It is worth picking up if you can get on sale.    … Expand
  19. HwoDragon
    Sep 13, 2013
    10
    This game is fantastic. You have to ignore the negative reviews because this is the best game I have played in a long long time. While the concept of magical steampunk helicopters slamming rocks into each other sounds like the dumbest idea ever, I was amazed at just how much fun I was having. The graphics are beautiful, especially for an indie game, with an almost fully destructibleThis game is fantastic. You have to ignore the negative reviews because this is the best game I have played in a long long time. While the concept of magical steampunk helicopters slamming rocks into each other sounds like the dumbest idea ever, I was amazed at just how much fun I was having. The graphics are beautiful, especially for an indie game, with an almost fully destructible environment, surprisingly good physics, and neat music. While many criticize the plot as trying to be more than it is, I think it's perfect. It's interesting enough that I wanted to pay attention to it, but not so major that it disrupts the game. The addition of magical gems you can add to your weapons adds a fun side mission where you beat the snot out of worms and it is just wonderful.

    My one and only criticism of the game is that it's not nice to new players. When I first started playing, the game's default mouse sensitivity was way too low. Then I was having trouble with the harder levels. The inventory management system is confusing if you're not used to it. But once I got the hang of the game it was unbelievably fun!

    In conclusion: Best indie game I've ever played. Buy it, play it, pay close attention to the tutorial, die, pay closer attention to the tutorial, and enjoy the most entertaining physics-based combat game you will ever play.    … Expand
  20. vpm
    Nov 1, 2013
    7
    One of the most amusing games, for a buck! Coming with one of the earlier Humble Bundles, I was a little turned down at first, because the settings were quite vague. Then, after altering the mouse sensitivity to the lowest (ikr?), I was flailing spikes like a 12th century Mongol (or something like that...)!
    The arena fights are amusing, really. You just have to open up to the game. If    One of the most amusing games, for a buck! Coming with one of the earlier Humble Bundles, I was a little turned down at first, because the settings were quite vague. Then, after altering the mouse sensitivity to the lowest (ikr?), I was flailing spikes like a 12th century Mongol (or something like that...)!
    The arena fights are amusing, really. You just have to open up to the game. If throwing rocks at people is not your cup of tea, then I guess this won't work for you.
    For the money, once the settings are right, this game is great fun.    … Expand
  21. donhelio
    Nov 6, 2013
    7
    Seriously underrated game. There are a fair number of negative reviews, and I imagine these are for one of two reasons: the controls are clunky at first blush, and the game has a few serious bugs.

    Set your DPI lower than the game recommends, and spend a couple of minutes looking at the Steam forums for bug fixes. The gameplay is very unique, and with the proper settings destroying    Seriously underrated game. There are a fair number of negative reviews, and I imagine these are for one of two reasons: the controls are clunky at first blush, and the game has a few serious bugs.

    Set your DPI lower than the game recommends, and spend a couple of minutes looking at the Steam forums for bug fixes. The gameplay is very unique, and with the proper settings destroying someone with your steampunk-flail-copter machine is intensely satisfying. Definitely worth the hiccup that you'll probably have on your first playthrough.

    The game boasts considerable depth for its price, and has a variety of different modes favoring different playstyles. There's a pretty substantial campaign mode, which is all over the place in terms of difficulty and sometimes incoherent story-wise. Lots of mission variety, and the occasional nigh-unbeatable situational level. Luckily, there's a mechanic that lets you skip these.

    I loved the gameplay, and that's where Hammerfight shines. Not immaculately balanced, but there are enough weapon configurations to accommodate different play styles and the act of whaling on people with your mouse is an art in itself. Knock the mallet out of your enemy's hand and listen to their cries for mercy... or not. Marvel as you land the perfect blow and everything goes all slo-mo for a second. Gain titles and epithets as your fame increases, with the gaudy back-banners to match. There's a lot of detail paid to small game elements. You can even play a polo-type game about halfway through the campaign which becomes a separate unlockable mode.

    The dialogue clearly suffers from translation issues (my personal favorite is when the arena announcer simply shouts "IT HAPPENED" after a successful kill), but the sound and textures are excellent.

    In short, a really fun time-killer that is almost guaranteed to be a new experience. You can usually get it for around $10, and its worth that. If you stick around long enough to get past the one or two bugs and the initial awkwardness of the controls, you'll find yourself enjoying it.

    I'd personally love to give this game a 9, as it's one of my favorite indie games. However, it's just frankly not there due to some production/implementation issues that made it to the final game (i.e. translation/bugs.)    … Expand
  22. Overvulture
    Nov 9, 2015
    0
    A game about flailing your mouse around until a rock at the end of a chain hits something. Wonky physics air combat thing. It sucks. All of it sucks. You suck. I suck. This review sucks. Life sucks. I hate everything that ever was a thing or ever will be.
  23. shabooya13666
    Sep 15, 2017
    5
    It's refreshing to see a team create a new core mechanic for a game, and this one (physics-based gameplay involving swinging a weight on a chain around a central point in order to smash that weight into enemies) is engaging enough. Unfortunately the mechanic is never given a chance to shine as the rest of the game is bogged down with annoyances.

    The limited space on the screen (there is    It's refreshing to see a team create a new core mechanic for a game, and this one (physics-based gameplay involving swinging a weight on a chain around a central point in order to smash that weight into enemies) is engaging enough. Unfortunately the mechanic is never given a chance to shine as the rest of the game is bogged down with annoyances.

    The limited space on the screen (there is no menu option to increase resolution) is often taken up with unnecessary distractions that obscure your view. These range from small frustrations such as flames and smoke to large sections being blocked by your health meter or characters faces talking to you. With a competently coded camera focus these could possibly be overlooked, but enemies often fly off the screen, only to come screaming back into view in the middle of attacking you. This often gives you no time to avoid attacks, which is especially egregious when they use faster weapons like guns and missiles.

    All of these flaws make the game an exercise in frustration more than fun. It hearkens back to the days of "Nintendo hard", where games were characterized by cheap deaths. It's unfortunate, because the if the game could have just gotten out of its own way and let its mechanic shine it could have been a lot of fun.    … Expand
  24. gamelog
    Jan 12, 2018
    4
    Lost my email access from my former account, so I'm reposting this review from Sep 15, 2017:

    It's refreshing to see a team create a new core mechanic for a game, and this one (physics-based gameplay involving swinging a weight on a chain around a central point in order to smash that weight into enemies) is engaging enough. Unfortunately the mechanic is never given a chance to shine as    Lost my email access from my former account, so I'm reposting this review from Sep 15, 2017:

    It's refreshing to see a team create a new core mechanic for a game, and this one (physics-based gameplay involving swinging a weight on a chain around a central point in order to smash that weight into enemies) is engaging enough. Unfortunately the mechanic is never given a chance to shine as the rest of the game is bogged down with annoyances.

    The limited space on the screen (there is no menu option to increase resolution) is often taken up with unnecessary distractions that obscure your view. These range from small frustrations such as flames and smoke to large sections being blocked by your health meter or characters faces talking to you. With a competently coded camera focus these could possibly be overlooked, but enemies often fly off the screen, only to come screaming back into view in the middle of attacking you. This often gives you no time to avoid attacks, which is especially egregious when they use faster weapons like guns and missiles.

    All of these flaws make the game an exercise in frustration more than fun. It hearkens back to the days of "Nintendo hard", where games were characterized by cheap deaths. It's unfortunate, because the if the game could have just gotten out of its own way and let its mechanic shine it could have been a lot of fun.    … Expand
  25. Tabbou
    Apr 3, 2023
    4
    acheté pour très peu cher je suis quand même déçu, que ce soit pour les controles ou simplement le gameplay c'est très moyen
  26. cptgersh
    Oct 24, 2022
    10
    **** phenomenal game, but it's good for the same reason dark souls is good, it will chew you up and spit you out, all the complaints about the difficulty are real. There is a steep learning curve and you will want to tear your fingers off but figuring out the system and cleaving people in two with a fancy axe is incredibly rewarding.