Warhammer 40K shooter Necromunda: Hired Gun trailer revealed

News from Necromunda: hired gunman, a first-person shooter set in one of Warhammer 40,000’s most beloved sub-franchises, leaked into the Microsoft store on Wednesday. We now have our first suitable trailer, which we have incorporated above. Fans can wait Necromunda: hired gunman to arrive on June 1 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, developer Streum On Studio and publisher Focus Home Interactive announced on Thursday.

For the uninitiated, it all comes down to lots of shots and gore. But for fans of this brave little town in the gloomy darkness of the distant future, there is a lot to unpack here. Let’s dive.

Necromunda is a forged world, which means that in the 41st millennium it is where the Empire of Humanity makes the tanks, weapons, giant mechs and other war implements that keep its alien enemies at bay. Several beehive cities dot its surface, rising high above the pollution that spreads through the soil. A strict totalitarian regime divides the people of Necromunda into a kind of caste system, with the rich literally at the top and the poor kidnapped at the bottom.

Image: Streum On Studio / Focus Home Interactive

Only the lowest of the lows live below the surface of Necromunda, beneath the watery pits and among the ancient man-made structures that date back tens of thousands of years. That’s when the table game restarts in 2017, Necromunda: Underhive, takes place. And, it seems, that’s where a lot of the action in Rented gun it also occurs.

The chic lady in the image above is an Escher, a member of a predominantly female gangster group – this is slang for outlaw militants in the 41st millennium. Escher’s stock and trade is the increase in chemicals. You can find them with a bottle of harmful chemicals on their hips, used to pump their own systems full of stimulants that increase their performance on the battlefield.

Our blond friend is also holding a brand-new plasma gun. For someone who lives on the edge of society, this is the unpleasant part of the kit. He throws overheated material across the battlefield, turning metal into slag and piercing the armor like butter. It also has a habit of backfiring and killing the user.

Image: Streum On Studio / Focus Home Interactive

This is a Goliath, a member of another group of gangsters fighting for control of Necromunda’s bowels. Goliath warriors are grown in vats and are often considered a little dense. They use furnace plates and other pieces of industrial equipment for armor and tend to drop explosives around with abandon. They excel in hand-to-hand combat, for obvious reasons, and also tend to favor “stubbers” – reused rivet guns that fire dense metal shells. On an industrial planet like Necromunda, it is simply a variation of a farmer taking a pitchfork into battle.

Image: Streum On Studio / Focus Home Interactive

The individual in the center of the picture above is a member of the Orlock gang, also known as the Iron House. This group comes from the miners and smelters who manage the many refineries and factories in Necromunda, called manufactures in the vernacular of 40K. The hot metal that rains from above is not just a touch. Your work product is likely to go to waste.

In the lower left corner you can see an Ogryn, a common type of slave found in Necromunda. In the 40K world, they are called abhumans, mutant creatures that are treated like pack animals. You will find them fighting on the front lines of conflicts that span the entire galaxy with the Imperial Guard and lifting iron billets in forged worlds. Here, they seem to be throwing huge explosives at the player.

Image: Games Workshop

Finally, we have another scene of a creature exclusive to Necromunda. It is called Ambot. They are robots built to imitate Ambull, a huge humanoid alien creature common in the arid lands of the planet. Ambots are commonly used for mining and excavation. This is shown in the deep subsoil inside a circular tunnel, with stalactites and stalagmites clumping in the picture. It’s a scenario that hasn’t been seen in the modern board game yet, and I’m curious to find out how it fits into the overall narrative of the game.

Finally, let’s take a quick look at the weapons shown in the trailer. We touched the plasma gun above, but there are a few other curiosities that are worth mentioning as well.

First, the main character’s autogun: it looks a lot like a modern assault rifle, and it could very well be something very similar. Autoguns fire solid ammunition, just like today’s firearms. You can also see a shotgun in another frame. Conspicuously absent from the trailer, however, is a firearm. Also known as a bolter, these weapons do not fire solid projectiles; they launch tiny missiles that explode on impact. They are the favorite weapons for space marines. They are common in Necromunda and I am curious to know why we have not yet seen them in use.

Also making an appearance in this trailer is what appears to be a handheld flamer. It’s exactly what it sounds like – a portable flamethrower. There is also a huge shoulder-mounted weapon that launches a giant green orb across the map. It is difficult to tell by the impact of the projectile, but it can be a Grav-Gun. Another weapon preferred by the Space Marines is a relic that dates back at least 10,000 years. Nobody alive in the 41st millennium knows how to manufacture them, much less how they work.

Expect to find more relics like this as you advance through the buildings under the beehive cities of Necromunda.

While you are here, know that the mercenary’s work is also quite common in this particular forge world. If you would like to read about one of Necromunda’s most famous bounty hunters, take a look Kal Jerico: the bus. While paperback copies cost hundreds of dollars on eBay and Amazon, this e-book brings together some of your best stories in one place.