Everything we know about Hood: Outlaws and Legends

Hood: Outlaws and Legends has almost arrived and with that comes a lot of questions.

Here's everything you need to know ahead of its launch.

Hood: Outlaws and Legends State of Play Premiere

Officially announced in 2020 with an intense premiere trailer, we saw many of the central characters on offer. It showed no gameplay, but did give us a view of the general aesthetic of the game and hint at an overarching story.

That story has you play outlaws fighting against an authoritarian state to steal their precious treasure. Whilst the central group got past the enemies, they were ambushed by another group of players.

This accentuated Hood's central premise. With a PvEvP style, you must combat both the environment and other players to get that precious loot.

What Is Hood: Outlaws and Legends?

In its simplest terms, Hood fits somewhere between Payday and Rainbow Six with a handful of other games thrown in. Maps are split up into a few main objectives where you must retrieve a key, get deeper into the map, sneak past guards and take the loot.

What makes it interesting is the addition of the other team. They could aim to get there quicker but noisier, or they could attempt to sabotage you along the way. They could place a well-timed shot or distraction to get you caught while they make off with all the goods.

Despite what you may be thinking, it's not a wise idea to engage. The first half is set up much like a heist and the second half is set up like a heist gone wrong. You may need to fight your way out or just sprint to the finish.

Confirmed Release Date

In line with recent multiplayer games like The Division 2, Hood has a staggered release date. Those who preorder get the game on the May 7, 2021 digitally but those who want to wait for a physical edition or its official release will be waiting until the May 10.

This will allow Sumo Digital to test the servers before the main player base makes its way in. This will likely mean that reviews are also staggered somewhat as the official release is after when many people will be playing it.

Though we don't have official news about a single player mode, we have some information on it available here. We also have all the current information on crossplay right here

Gameplay

In Hood, you and your team of four infiltrate a castle in order to get to the centre. Members have unique skills that can be used to your advantage. Where some might favour long-range attacks, others might tank some damage.

The game is played in the third person over the shoulder which allows you to more accurately guess where you are and if you can be seen. As stealth is such a huge part of the game, having a good vision helps greatly.

In this gameplay overview trailer, you are taken through parts of the game as players fight enemies, steal the key, and extract a chest. It goes through the characters you can play as and mentions their main weapons and skills.

Hood: Outlaws and Legends' Characters?

• The Ranger is a long rang character with a very powerful bow. They can also equip an explosive to it to deal more damage.
• The Hunter has a crossbow and assassination abilities to kill people instantly from up close. They can temporarily go invisible and smoke bombs are useful to get out of a crowded area.
• The Brawler is used to fight up close, being able to kill some enemies in a single hit. You can also use their wrath ability to tank more hits and do more damage.
• Finally, the Mystic can sense enemies nearby, heal allies and deal AOE damage with their flail.

Is There an Upgrade System?

While we don't know all that much about it yet, Hood does appear to have some upgrade and customization options. The loot you unlock at the end of a level is used to develop your hideout.

You have both a character and player rank and can buy gear to use in upcoming levels. Characters have a difficulty level that might help when starting and you can change how everything looks.

Alongside this, you can also buy perks for your characters as well as new gear and abilities. These could do minor things like take away certain debuffs or change up how you play with entirely new skills.

As of right now, this all we know, but it's worth checking out all the trailers on YouTube and coming back to this page for more information as we learn it