Sir, You Are Being Hunted

Sir, You Are Being Hunted (alternatively titled Madam, You Are Being Hunted)[1] is an open world survival horror stealth video game developed by Big Robot for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. An alpha version of the game was made available on 19 August 2013. After years of no updates, in September 2021 the game was updated to version 1.5 by the external Dutch game development studio Den of Thieves Games.[2]

Sir, You Are Being Hunted
Developer(s)Big Robot
Designer(s)Jim Rossignol
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
Release2 May 2014
Genre(s)Survival horror, stealth
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay
The player hides from robots patrolling a town, watching them from afar using binoculars.

In Sir, You Are Being Hunted, players have to survive from 'Hunters' (robots dressed as Victorian gentlemen) who are trying to track down and kill them, whilst attempting to escape from an island. Players are required to scavenge towns and villages for items such as food and weapons to help them survive whilst collecting parts of an exploded machine in order to escape the island. If the robots find a part, they set up sentries around it to defend it from the player.[3] The game's enemies utilise dogs and balloons in order to find the player.[4]

The island played on is procedurally generated, meaning that every playthrough will generate a different landscape.[5] It is populated with villages, towns and other areas where the player can find essential supplies.[4]

Robots

As of "The February update", nine AI robot models are in-game; the upper-class Hunter, middle-class Squire, lower-class Poacher, along with the Dogs, Scarecrows, Bog Monster, Balloons, Riders, mechanical-horse riding fox-hunters, and the Landowner, a huge, aristocratic robot.

Development

After Sir, You Are Being Hunted had been in development for six months, a Kickstarter campaign was launched in November 2012 to crowd fund the game, with a £40,000 goal. Funding ended in December, with a total of £92,551 raised towards game development.[6][7] This amount fell short of the £100,000 that would allow character creation and customization, but Big Robot stated that they would "endeavour to get some aspects of it into the game."[8]

Big Robot founder Jim Rossignol said that the development team wanted to make a game that was "desperate and scary, but without being straight-faced,"[9] and "kitschy but with a genuine underlying threat."[3] Jim stated that the team "had a vision to take what was kind of bleak and frightening about the British landscape and put it into a game", going on to say that they had focused heavily on audio in the game, describing it as "one of those differences that people won't really notice explicitly while they are playing but they will get a lot back from it."[3]

In May 2013 new gameplay videos showcased mountain biomes which had recently been added. These biomes are remote mountainous and rocky areas away from lootable buildings.[10]

On September 1 2021, Big Robot announced they had been collaborating with Dutch game development studio Den of Thieves Games B.V. to update Sir, You Are Being Hunted to version 1.5 bringing various bug fixes, engine upgrades, and a revival of the multiplayer mode which until that point had been broken. [2]

Marketing and release

In April 2013, two gameplay videos were released, showing a developer playing an early version of the game.[11]

Kickstarter backers were allowed to play an alpha version of the game before the full release,[12][13] with it being reported that around 900 players had early access.[3]

On 19 August 2013, the alpha version was made available for Kickstarter backers and purchase through Steam or the Humble Store.[14]

On 1 May 2014, chap hop artist Professor Elemental released the song "Being Hunted" as a cross-promotion with the game's release date on the following day.[15]

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[16]

References
  1. BR (7 November 2012). "Update #4 - What Funding Means, Where Stretch Goals Can Take Us". Kickstarter. Kickstarter, PBC. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  2. "Sir, You Are Being Hunted: 1.5 Update, And Some Big News!". Steam. Valve Corporation. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  3. Pitcher, Jenna (17 July 2013). "The horror of being hunted by chattering, gentrified robots". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  4. Dean, Paul (17 July 2013). "On the Run from Robots in Tweed". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  5. Hinkle, David (20 November 2012). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted by Stealthy Alpha Footage". Engadget (Joystiq). Yahoo. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  6. "Sir, You Are Being Hunted". Kickstarter. Kickstarter, PBC. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  7. Wilde, Tyler (17 April 2013). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted pre-orders earn early access this summer". PC Gamer UK. Future plc. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  8. Conditt, Jessica (2 December 2012). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted Kickstarter closes with a bang". Engadget (Joystiq). Yahoo. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  9. Stuart, Keith (7 November 2012). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted – the world's first tweedy robot stealth game?". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  10. Birnbaum, Ian (24 May 2013). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted video shows off new fog-shrouded mountain biome". PC Gamer UK. Future plc. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  11. Rossignol, Jim (19 April 2013). "Sir, You Are Being Revealed In A New Video Series". Rock Paper Shotgun. Gamer Network. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  12. Rossignol, Jim (24 May 2013). "Sir, You Are Hiking In The Mountains". Rock Paper Shotgun. Gamer Network. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  13. Pitcher, Jenna (16 April 2013). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted available for $20 pre-order". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  14. Conditt, Jessica (12 August 2013). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted lines up on Steam, Humble Store on Aug. 19". Engadget (Joystiq). Yahoo. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  15. iammoog (1 May 2014). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted - Professor Elemental - Dir: Moog". YouTube. Alphabet Inc.
  16. "Sir, You Are Being Hunted for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  17. Krosta, Michael (8 May 2014). "Test: Sir, You Are Being Hunted". 4Players (in German). 4Players GmbH. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  18. Duncan, Alasdair (2 July 2014). "Review: Sir, You Are Being Hunted". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  19. Edge staff (29 May 2014). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted review". Edge. Future plc. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  20. Whitehead, Dan (12 May 2014). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted review". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  21. "Sir, You Are Being Hunted". GamesMaster. Future plc. August 2014. p. 79.
  22. Capozzoli, Nick (14 May 2014). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted Review". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  23. "Sir, You Are Being Hunted". GamesTM. No. 149. Future plc. July 2014. p. 116.
  24. Stapleton, Dan (1 May 2014). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  25. Griffin, Ben (16 May 2014). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted review". PC Gamer UK. Future plc. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  26. Peel, Jeremy (9 June 2014). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted review". PCGamesN. Network N. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  27. Hargreaves, Roger (13 May 2014). "Sir, You Are Being Hunted review - the most dangerous game". Metro. DMG Media. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
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