Amazon’s free shooter Crucible is out now on Steam

Amazon Game Studios has released its first big game today. Crucible is out now on Steam, a free-to-play, team-based shooter where you pick from a starting roster of 10 hunters and battle it out in a wild and dangerous planet. If it sounds a lot like Yager's The Cycle, that's because it is, and not even the addition of a couple of different game modes (Heart of the Hives, Harvester Command) can hide the fact that it is at heart a battle royale game, as seen in the Alpha Hunters mode. However, matches are limited to a maximum of 16 hunters, a player count that is far below what you get in some competitors.

Today's Crucible launch is live on Steam for North America only, with other regions across the world getting the game “soon.” There seems to be an issue with players being unable to login, but hopefully that should be solved as we type these words. If you log in before 11:59 p.m. PST on June 2 you can get an early adopter's gift, which equals to 1,000 free in-game Credits.

Having played the Crucible alpha, I can say that it's a fun but familiar shooter. It's unclear if it will gain any traction due to the crowded market and strong competition, but Amazon seems to be trying to convince some streamers to pick it up and spread the word. The hunters are diverse enough and the secret lies in the combination between two of them and how they work as a team. It can be challenging and interesting to experiment with them and their loadouts, but the gameplay isn't groundbreaking. Check our Crucible hunter list to know which characters you get to pick.

Are you planning on giving Crucible a go or are you sick of team-based shooters?