Hellgate: London Preview

FiringSquad took a demonic tour of London with the beta version of Flagship’s upcoming action RPG. They have mixed feelings about it.

So what’s playing the game like so far in the current beta? At the moment its about what you would would expect from the makers of the Diable games. Players enter into zones after going through a portal (with some loading time) and see usually a ton of enemies on screen at one time, from human zombies that charge at you to rat like creatures that jump up high to attack you from above to imps that fire both magical and high tech weapons. At times you cross over into the demon’s dimension (and that’s actually rather seemless with no load times) which is even worse that London’s destruction with red skies and gothic architecture. There’s no doubt that the game’s art design is first rate with some pretty amazing looking creatures to look at and fight. Some creatures have a mystical shield that you have to break through in order to kill them. However the AI for Hellgate London’s creatures is mixed with many just charging in without thinking. One time while fighting a mini-boss in the beta we cornered him and was able to keep firing at him while the beast just stood there, with no attacks or movement. Ouch. If you die (and you will likely die a lot in the game) you have three choices; go back to the Underground Station hub; reappear at the state of the level as a ghost and move to where you died last to be resurrected or pay up some money to be restored to life right where you died.