Pragmata's action is saved by its hacking, making it feel like a third-person shooter of old: 'Finding the sweet spot has been one of the main focuses in development'

If I had a nickel for every videogame set in an extraterrestrial location or protagonist who is forced to look after a child NPC, but then slowly comes to rely on them practically and emotionally as both parties form a sort of impromptu kinship with one another I'd have so many nickels I'd probably be able to stop writing about all of them. In walks Pragmata to weigh down my pockets even further.

Pragmata is Capcom's newest game. With no prior series to weigh it down, it's the publisher's chance for a fresh take. While it doesn't have a particularly new setting or character dynamic going for it, it still managed to grab my attention during my hands-on preview, and it's all thanks to its combat.

On the surface Pragmata can seem like your bog standard third person shooter. The main protagonist Hugh is a human kitted out in a high-tech suit with a futuristic gun alongside other sci-fi weapons. But there's a twist. Before you can start dealing any real damage to the AI-controlled robot enemies, you need to utilise the skills of your android companion Diana to hack them into submission.

"The mechanics came first," director Cho Yonghee tells me. "The original concept was, we're going to make a science fiction shooter, but we want to add something extra, something new you haven't seen before, on top of that basic concept. And so the idea of combining hacking mechanics with third person shooting was where we got started."

I played the preview on controller and the demo on mouse and keyboard. Hacking and shooting during combat using a controller is incredibly intuitive. It doesn't feel like just some needless addon. The hacking is more of an extra step in a fight rather than an interruption to it, adding another layer for players to master. However, I found this slightly more finicky on a mouse and keyboard.

Once you focus in on an enemy, a grid comes up which you can navigate either using the D-pad, or by holding down the side mouse button and then just using your mouse. You then select different squares, some of which have special hacking power ups in them, guiding your cursor to the end point on the grid. Once you hit that end point, the hack is complete and you'll start doing huge amounts of damage, killing enemies in a fraction of the time.

I picked hacking up way quicker with a D-pad as you just press whatever button for the direction you want to go in (triangle for up, circle for right and so on). Mouse and keyboard were slightly more difficult, mainly because after pressing the side mouse button and dragging your mouse over the squares I wanted, I'd encounter an unwelcome flick as I transitioned from directing the hacking to directing my point of view.

You're also not able to move your point of view as freely when hacking with a mouse and keyboard which restricts your movement a little bit. It wasn't enough to make me completely fall out of love with hacking, but it is something to keep in mind if you're wondering what to play Pragmata with.

"It was a long process balancing the two elements," Yonghee says. "We have had times during development where actually hacking was even more essential than it is right now. And we've had times where we were more focused on the shooting and hacking felt like a sort of an optional element. We really worked hard on considering what proportion or what frequency of hacking moments within any given action scene or combat sequence was just right.

"We don't want it to be so optional that you just don't bother and you continue shooting, because you can get on without it. But at the same time if it becomes a lot of work and you're forced to do it before you can get to the good bit of the shooting, and then it just becomes a kind of a grind element, that becomes frustrating for players.

"As you can imagine, finding the sweet spot has been one of the main focuses in development. We want there to be a kind of pleasure in mastering this for players, and then they'll feel like it makes absolute sense as a game design element, and doesn't feel like it's been bolted on to a shooter as an afterthought."

I hacked enemies every chance I got. I found it to be a fun way to inflict some damage and a great way to run through lower level enemies without spending too much ammo. Without the hacking Pragmata's action would fall short for me as it would simply be a bog standard third-person shooter. But with the addition of hacking it feels like a shooter of old that has an interesting twist that isn't just necessary but also a joy to use.

Besides the average humanoid robots called Walkers and flying drone-like robots called Watchers there's also something called a Crusher, a huge orb robot that smashes its body into the ground to kill you, a Sector Guard which is like a tank on legs, and a huge beast of a Kaiju that I had to fight right at the end of the preview. You won't take these down quite as fast as smaller enemies, but in cases like these hacking really is the only way to make a dent, at least before a permanent dent is made in you.

You'll need to utilise absolutely everything in your arsenal for these all-out fights. Hacking, primary fire, and all your sidearms. Like the Statis Net which electrocutes enemies within a small radius, and the Charge Piecer, that shoots out a big energy beam, both of which are an absolute must for bigger fights. But character and ability upgrades are also a big part of Pragmata, meaning you can prioritise whatever works for you.

"That balance that we've just discussed, it's not something that's set in stone, because you're able to upgrade your character and your abilities throughout the game," producer Naoto Oyama adds. "You're able to bring hacking as something that helps you defeat enemies or get through these sequences more effectively, but as you start to upgrade your character and their abilities, I think the player has an ability to somewhat customise that balance.

"So if you want to go all in on the more shooter elements and upgrade those parts of your character and focus more on shooting with hacking as a nice side to have, then that's something that players can push towards that direction. Whereas others might focus on having the hacking become more effective and decide that they're going to fall on that side of the line. So it's a balance that you get to help decide as you progress through the game."

But hacking isn't just confined to fights, it also comes in handy when just getting around the map. Opening doors, activating beacons, destroying weird shiny rocks that block your path are all done via Diana's android functions, meaning she's not just put to one side and forgotten between the action.

In case it's not clear yet, I don't think I would've found Pragmata quite as interesting or as fun if it weren't for the hacking. While I'm not sure how long the novelty will last in the full game, the snippet I played was enough to convince me that it's certainly a game worth trying. If only to see what other interesting mechanics the devs could have up their sleeves.