Where to get it

Steam

2007 · Flagship Studios · Action role-playing · Dark fantasy

Hellgate: London

Hellgate: London combines the depth of role-playing games and action of first-person titles, while offering infinite playability with randomly created levels, items and events. The player creates a heroic character, completes quests and battles through innumerable hordes of demons to advance through experience levels and branching skill paths. A robust, flexible skill and spell system, highly customizable appearances and a massive variety of randomly generated equipment allow players to create their own unique hero.

Released: 31 October 2007
Platforms: Windows
Genres: Action role-playing Dark fantasy First-person shooter Post-apocalyptic Role-playing Shooter
Developers: Flagship Studios
Publishers: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Modes: Co-op Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: First person Third person
Themes: Action Science fiction Horror Survival
Country: United States
Age ratings: PEGI 18 ESRB M GRAC 15+
Languages: English
Time to beat: 32hmain story49hcompletionist
Composers: Cris Velasco

About

Hellgate: London is a dark fantasy themed action role-playing game originally developed by Flagship Studios, released on October 31, 2007. It was developed by a team led by former Blizzard Entertainment employees, some of whom had overseen the creation of the Diablo series. The original release of the game was co-published by Namco Bandai Games and Electronic Arts.

Set in a post-apocalyptic London in the year 2038, Hellgate: London is a fast-paced action role-playing hack and slash game. It includes random elements from roguelikes such as weapon and armor attributes, item drops, mob spawns, and level composition. The game featured both single-player and online multiplayer support when it was released, although North American and European online support has been discontinued. The single-player version features a five-act story questline. When completed, the player is eligible to restart the storyline again in a higher difficulty and create new characters in an elite mode.

›Story

Hellgate: London takes place in 2038, 18 years after the start of a war: London has been invaded by demons from Hell. These particular hellions are a tireless lot, and have been looking for a way into our universe for a long time. Up until recently, humans have had many champions looking to hold back the flood. Various real-world events are referenced in the background of the Hellgate story as averted crossover attempts.

The Crusades were actually undertaken to fight back the minions of Hell, as was the charring of London in the great fire to wipe out the Plague. According to the story line, the famous Knights Templar were the keepers of knowledge on how to battle these demonic forces. Unfortunately, these heroes underwent a charring of their own at the hands of a jealous King Phillip IV, who hated the power they held in the world at large. While the Knights Templar survived as an organization, their numbers were severely diminished and were forced to remain in hiding to stay alive.

Players say

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The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Hellgate: London is an action role-playing game that builds upon the core design of roguelikes by using random generation of maps, monsters, and loot to allow for replayability. The game can be played in either third person perspective or first person perspective.

Hellgate: London can be played offline or online without a fee. Players can pay a monthly fee to gain additional content over time, including new areas, weapons, monsters, classes, quests, events, titles, game modes, and other content. The game consists of six acts to unify the areas a player travels through on a greater scale. All acts account for approximately 25–40 hours of single-player gameplay.

Development

In March 2005, following months of teasing concept art for an unknown game, Flagship Studios' first title named Hellgate: London was announced via an exclusive article in the computer magazine PC Gamer. It was formally released October 31, 2007 as an action role-playing game (RPG) in the same vein as the Diablo games, but with the twist of being played in 3D, primarily from a first-person perspective. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic demon-infested London, following a great battle between demons and humans. g.

random quests, and where a character's combat efficiency is more determined by statistics than player reflexes. In addition, the game features random levels, uncommon in games of similar perspective and scale. The game received mixed reviews, and complaints by many gamers that the game was released in an unfinished state, which was later admitted by CEO Bill Roper. The company no longer owns the intellectual property rights to the game.

Reception

The game received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. The game sold almost one million copies.

Positive aspects of the game commented on by reviewers include its story, and the overall look of the game. Other aspects of the game received mixed reception. For instance, some reviewers called the combat enjoyable, with varied classes, and praised the loot and customisation aspects, while other reviewers described combat as underdeveloped and monotonous, with quest repetition and locked progression choices. Similarly, the game's technology received mixed reviews. The multiplayer component was both praised and criticised, with some bugs, slowdowns and crashes mentioned.