On Tuesday, October 30, Flagship Studios released Hellgate: London to the public. This has been a long-anticipated release. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic London where demons have entered the world; bent on its destruction. Unfortunately, the demons did not expect the 'soft' humans to put up such a fight. Thus the story ensues…
For those who do not know the history of Flagship Studios, allow me to inform you. Flagship started off as a famous division of a company known as Blizzard North. Blizzard North put out the game Diablo and its very popular sequel, Diablo 2. Ever since the production of Diablo 2, fans have eagerly awaited for news about Diablo 3. Eventually, that news came in the form of a Blizzard announcement. They announced that they would be shutting down the Blizzard North division and thus crushing fans' hopes for a third installment of Diablo. Eventually, the people of Blizzard North went on to form the company known as Flagship Studios and went on to work on their first game: Hellgate: London. Because of this, Hellgate: London is referred to as the spiritual successor to Diablo 2.
Hellgate: London is a great game. The graphics are clear and crisp, the game play is smooth and easy to learn, and the sound is fantastic. This is the first game where I have ever noticed the music. From the beginning of this game, you will get sucked in and not want to let go. The game will have you fighting undead and demons from the get-go and you will not want to stop; even when it is 2 o'clock in the morning and your significant other is screaming at you to go to bed.
Hellgate is a combination of a third person hack and slash adventure, FPS (first person shooter), and a MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game. The game consists of three playable factions; each with two playable classes. The Templars have the Guardian and Blademaster class, the Hunters have a Marksman and Engineer class, and the Cabalists have the Evoker and Summoner class. With the Templars, you play in the third person view and cut your way through enemies. As a Hunter, especially a Marksman, you use the first person view and play the game like a typical FPS. And as a Cabalist, you cast spells frequently in the third person and use magical weapons, like the Wasp rifle or the Blaze pistol.
Each class has their own weapons and armor. Even the beginning armor will make you look badass as opposed to many other games where the beginning armor makes you look about as tough as a little girl. This game is like an MMO because the entire single player world can be played online with thousands of other players. As in Diablo 2, each level, other than the 'safe points,' is randomly generated for each group, making each level a new experience. Despite the fact that there is a group feature, every level can be soloed by any class. Hellgate: London is what every MMO should be like and isn't full of all the needless grinding.
This game is a lot of fun and I recommend it highly. So go out to your local video game store and pick it up.
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