Before its May release, Hood: Outlaws and Legends was promoted as a unique PvPvE experience in which players could live out their Robin Hood fantasies by joining a heist team and fighting an opposing team and AI guards for treasure. Though reviews of Hood: Outlaws and Legends generally recognized the success of its PvPvE format and praised its tactical gameplay, various online issues since launch have kept it from taking off. Focus Home Interactive hopes to fix this with an update featuring a new game mode to entice players into returning.
Hood: Outlaws and Legends' new mode is called "State Heist" and it will be a different experience than the competitive heist gameplay. While standard play may focus on teams taking capture points and fighting to end up with the treasure chest, State Heist is a purely PvE experience. Team cooperation is still key to success, though the new mode's emphasis on stealth may end up favoring some of Hood: Outlaws and Legends' heroes over the others.
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State Heist ramps up the pressure of stealing the treasure in Hood: Outlaws and Legends in nearly every aspect. A timer will keep players on the move, and dying over and over isn't an option. Each time a player dies, they'll drop a talisman. To be revived, a teammate must pick up that talisman and take it to a capture point. If all players die, the heist ends. Teams that manage to get chests to an extraction point will have to fight off the full force of deadlier State guards to win, though an automatic winching system in this mode will make it so that players can focus on combat and not spinning a lever.
There's also the threat of the Sheriff, who in standard play basically one-shot kills any player he touches. In State Heist, players will have to find ways to delay the Sheriff's approach to the extraction zone and avoid getting hit. If he smashes the winching system, it's game over. State Heist is a mode for players who really want test their communication skills playing with friends in Hood: Outlaws and Legends. Focus Home Interactive is rewarding players who make it through a round without dying with a new Shadow Lords costume for the character they used during the round.
The developer also promises more content coming soon as part of Hood: Outlaws and Legends' year one DLC. This will include a new character/class in Eidaa, new costumes and weapons, and other things yet to be announced. These additions will transition the game into its first season, Samhain, which could add new maps and even more characters.
Hood: Outlaws and Legends is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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