Hellgate: London Previews

With Flagship Studios’ Hellgate: London only days from release, a handful of new previews have surfaced on the web. The first is at The New York Times:

As its title suggests, the game is set in London, where a rift to the nether regions has opened. Naturally the players must battle the infernal legions in an effort to save humanity. The year is 2038, yet in addition to laser guns players may wield neo-medieval weaponry like energized swords and shields.

(The real kicker for us is that there really are dungeons in London: the subway, Victorian sewers, plague pits from the Dark Ages, World War II bomb shelters, even alternate underground tunnels for mail delivery that no one knows about,) said Max Schaefer, Flagship’s chief operating officer. (That all provides a very smooth transition from the fantasy to the sci-fi elements.)

The second is at GameZone:

When it comes to the game’s graphics, expect load times and some clipping problems. There were also several instances of lag, particularly toward the end of the beta period. Still, the game did have some very nice details within the environments. The city looked like a Call of Duty game after the shelling. The sound was mostly brooding music and combat-related elements. Some of the NPCs had voices as well, but nothing to get excited about.

The third is at IGN:

Those who purchase the game will automatically have the option to play through the whole story campaign in single player, which according to Roper should take a gamer anywhere from 35-50 hours. Retail purchase will also entitle players to partner up with buddies and kick Hell’s ass up and down Tottenham Court Road without having to open their wallets. Regular players can also expect to get regular patch updates along with some other content updates for the community at large such as auction houses. Normal players will also be able to participate in guilds though only those willing to pay the fee will be able to create and run guilds.

And the fourth is at GamersGlobal:

Evoker and Engineer both use little friends to help them fight. The Evoker, somewhat resembling the druid in Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction, calls minions which he can then buff with up to two additional skills per Minion type. The Engineers (constructs) robot drones or stationary weapons, which hinder the enemies’ movements or shoot them down. Such (familiars) have hitpoints on their own and fight according to their own AI. Because the Inhibitor Drones, to give just one example, visibly focus on monsters, you can use them to spot enemies more easily.