Home
Downloads     
Articles Previews Blogs Popular Hardware Price & Performance Forum Get Toolbar
YouGamers.com Reviews Hellgate: London

Hellgate: London


User Rating: Log in to rate this game!
ESRB rating: Mature ESRB: Blood and Gore,Language - Mild,Violence
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Genre(s): Action, Role Playing Game
Home Page: http://www.hellgatelondon.com/
 











 
 
By: Jarno Kokko Nov 08, 2007

Hell on Earth

So, London - filled with zombies, demons and other hellish trash. Not sure should you consider it an improvement or not when comparing it to the real thing, but in any case there are hostile buggers crawling everywhere, straight from hell, ready to burst into a shower of shiny loot for you to collect. Vast majority of the smaller enemies are generally dispatched in one hit, and there is plenty to go around. The monotony of wading through the endless sea of demonic trash occasionally interrupted by special "rare" versions of more common monsters with improved loot, and most maps have their own special "named" monsters, often acting as objectives for quests and doubling as loot pinatas to be cracked open (which sounds remarkably like the real London's markets - cheeky Ed).

Discussing the ownership of some loot with a boss.

Pop... Phat Lewt!

The map is laid out around London's underground stations (that's British for subways), with the monster-filled levels set as routes between the stations. Stations act as "towns" - you can offload excess loot, use crafting services and store goodies to a stash, accessible from every station. NPCs also hang out at stations, giving out your usual variety of simple quests involving killing X monsters or looting Y items, with rewards consisting of experience, money and/or items. A special storyline quest series is also present, and needs to be followed so you can gain access to additional areas. It all feels a bit tacked-on, and the storyline can be best described as "weak".

Map of the connections between different areas.

So, I understand you have a quest for me...

You can recall back to the last station you visited, and each one has a teleporter that allows you to reach any previously visited station, so there is no need to wade in monsters just to reach a previously visited area again.

Beyond Hack'n'Slash

The overall game is mostly about whacking or shooting endless piles of hellish monsters, and laughing all the way to the merchant with the loot, but there are few additional objectives to aim for. You can improve your gear: mods that can be inserted and removed, assuming the equipment piece has the correct type of slot available. Crafting stations can also be used to improve and build items, using crafting materials available by dismantling excess loot. In general, all the low grade trash gets dismantled and only the best items are worth using or carrying back for sale at a station.

Knee deep in the usual trash demons.

Plenty of statistics to compare for the loot junkies.

Hellgate also tries to give a reason for gathering multiple weapon sets with a "minigame" - a bunch of symbols visible on screen at all times. This feature rewards you with some extra loot for killing specific type of monsters with specific type of damage. This is easy enough to fulfill with either weapons modded to deal multiple types of damage, or with a collection of different weapon types, switched to use as required by the minigame. This feature is apparently a very late addition to the game, as the documentation makes no mention of it, so if you are interested in some extra loot, better read up about it online.




 

Related Stuff

 Games: Hellgate: London
 News: Hellgate Founder's Offer Ends Jan31st   Jan 22, 2008
 News: New Mirror's Edge Screenshots   Jan 18, 2008
 News: Dead Space Headed To The PC   Jan 17, 2008
 Reviews: Need For Speed ProStreet   Jan 02, 2008
 Reviews: Rail Simulator   Dec 28, 2007
 Reviews: SimCity Societies   Nov 21, 2007
 Reviews: Crysis   Nov 17, 2007
 Previews: Crysis   Oct 10, 2007
 Previews: Need For Speed: Pro Street   Oct 04, 2007
 Articles: Hellgate: London Tech Interview   Sep 26, 2007
 Reviews: Medal of Honor: Airborne   Sep 17, 2007
 Previews: SimCity Societies   Sep 06, 2007
 Previews: Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix   Jun 29, 2007
 Articles: Assembly Winter 2007 Game Festival   May 11, 2007

Tags




  About Us     Privacy and Legal     Game-o-Meter FAQ     Contact Us     Advertise With Us     Jobs     Futuremark