Pedigree means a lot, even if a developer is rolling out its first game. This is why expectations are high for Hellgate: London. Its creator is Flagship Studios, whose core is composed of ex-Blizzard employees who were responsible for the development of Diablo, Diablo 2, Warcraft, Starcraft, and World of Warcraft.

The game is heralded as the spiritual successor of Diablo and you’ll notice that once you start playing. Specifically, Hellgate feels like Diablo brought into 3D, with a few modifications. Gone is the point-and-click movement scheme, replaced by the familiar WASD prevalent in shooters.

The level design is also very Diablo-like, and you’ll notice that when you switch between the small and large maps while playing. Perspectives may have changed from isometric 2D to behind-the-back (or first-person) 3D, but the overall feel of the levels are reminiscent of Diablo.

You’ll see the difference between Diablo and Hellgate when you try out the Blade Master. Hellgate mixes things up by letting you make different swings as you combine attacks with the directional keys. You can swing your sword repeatedly at an enemy, but if you consider timing and distance, you can be more effective.

Blade Masters can use projectile weapons, but not elaborate rifles like Marksmen. One interesting combo I used with mine was a grappling hook on the left hand and a sword on the right. You can snatch an enemy with the hook and pull it towards you, but as the beast approaches you must start swinging your sword. When timed correctly, the sword strikes your enemy before it can attack you point blank.

Marksmen change the experience entirely because you can play them in first-person and arm yourself with rifles and guns. Unfortunately, the shooter elements of Hellgate feel substandard. While your crosshair widens when you unload bullets, there’s no recoil and reloading. When you jump in first-person view, the gun doesn’t bob like it’s supposed to. If you want to see your avatar and his/her gun bob, you have to zoom out to third-person.

Note to Flagship: Letting players wield dual pistols do not give Hellgate any semblance to a real shooter, especially with the flaws I’ve mentioned above.

Between the two classes, playing a Marksman was a cakewalk. You can obliterate enemies even before accumulating aggro. If these two were to duel in PvP, the Blade Master could be at a disadvantage—unless the two are fighting in a box. A Blade Master may have better damage, but the shooting mechanics feel a bit overpowered (i.e. no recoil and reloading).

The missions provided by NPCs feel a bit too MMO-like. Kill X number of enemies; gather X number of items. Even the names floating above NPC heads are too WoW-like, especially with the question marks and exclamation points. Sure, these guys may have played a part in making World of Warcraft, but can’t they differentiate themselves from their former employers?

Hellgate is scheduled for release on October 31, but the 1.39GB demo still looks far from completion. Collision detection problems abound—your character passes through other NPCs, parts of dead enemies stick through solid objects, and corpses float in midair. Aside from the technical problems, the game doesn’t look too pretty either. The textures scream 2004 and even earlier.

You’ll be seeing references to Blizzard games like the familiar Warcraft peasant’s voice, Wirt’s leg, the deep Diablo skill tree, spherical health and mana indicators, and such. Despite the nostalgia, one can’t help but be displeased with the unfinished state of the demo, especially when we’re this close to launch day.

Fine, one may reason that the demo was created long ago and that the game is actually in a much better state. On the other hand, demos are supposed to drum up interest for an upcoming game. If Flagship is banking too much on pedigree and nostalgia, then I’m afraid they could be setting themselves up for a huge fall. If there’s one legacy that Blizzard is known for, it’s polish—and polished, Hellgate isn’t.

Mr. Roper, the ball is in your court.

Post from: EveryJoe

Hellgate: London hands-on demo preview

Yes, Dementium: The Ward is shipping for the Nintendo DS on October 31. If you haven’t been paying attention, Dementium is this seemingly very gory, very fluid, and very nice survival horror/FPS where you must escape a decrepit hospital while solving puzzles and shooting zombies.

Escaping decrepit hospitals has always been one of my life goals.

To many, the impending release date may be good news. After all, it’s always nice to hear when a game is shipping, and said date is reasonably close. But when release dates coincide, things start to get a little nasty.

Days ago, I posted news of Hellgate: London hitting store shelves on October 31. I happen to like Hellgate: London and Bill Roper, so a personal copy on launch day is very likely.

This means that my expense this Halloween won’t be limited to candy, a few sacrificial bats, and a nice new costume.

Yes, I know that this year’s Holiday Rush™ is going to be crazier than usual, but due to budget restraints than anything else, I’ve always considered myself not part of the bigger herd that jumps at the next overhyped game.

Two games in one day. It’s not even Christmas yet.

Post from: EveryJoe

Dementium to scare pants off this Halloween

An article/blog entry from Philippines-based GAME! Magazine stated that there seems to be a confusion as to Hellgate: London’s pricing. The question: is the game free to play or not?

You see, IP E-games, an MMO publisher based in the Philippines, previously announced that it has “acquired the rights to Hellgate,” though no other details were revealed.

See, there’s the rub.

IP E-games uses a “free-to-play forever” business model for the MMOs that it publishes. The company’s revenue is primarily generated from the e-points that its patrons purchase. Well, Hellgate isn’t explicitly an MMO because of its single player component, but it does play like one with heavy instancing.

From the looks of things, Hellgate is one of the strangest brews we’ve ever seen. It has a single player campaign that comes complete with a story and missions. Hellgate also has free multiplayer, and that feature is similar to MMOs.

However, Hellgate also has an optional subscription service that would give you access to additional content on an ongoing basis (e.g. quests, character classes, demons, items, etc.). That means that you can still enjoy Hellgate with your friends, but if you want to take advantage of new content and other perks, you have to cough up the money.

I’m just curious though as to how IP E-Games will handle sales. Would the publisher give away copies of Hellgate just like its previous titles, or would it sell each copy?

I’m expecting Hellgate to be worth at least $49 in North America. If IP E-games sells each copy of Hellgate, then it has to ditch its “free-to-play forever” catchphrase and sell the game for over PHP2,000, which is way beyond the budget of its average patron.

I’d also like to know how the publisher would also handle the premium updates. If say my prepaid e-points ran out, would that mean I won’t get any new updates until I purchase more e-points? What if I was in the middle of updating my client?

Stay tuned for more updates on Hellgate. We just might get the answers soon enough.

Post from: EveryJoe

Hellgate’s pricing causes confusion and more questions

Never heard of the game, you say?

Hellgate is primarily an RPG set in a post-apocalyptic London. It looks and plays like an FPS, but there’s number-crunching happening under the hood. Yes, you can level up your character and increase stats too. The best part? You can use high-powered rifles and cannons (i.e. big guns).

You’ll also be able to take the fight online, teaming up with friends to save London in a client-server environment and playing through the entire story-driven campaign for free.

Almost everything seems to be looking good, except for one detail: Flagship is offering an optional subscription service which will give players access to additional content on an ongoing basis (such as quests, character classes, demons, items, etc.).

I could have sworn other games offer the same thing. They’re called patches, and they’re supposed to be free.

Bill Roper justified this by saying: “But we’ll be providing a secure client/server infrastructure, 24/7 customer support, and a live team to balance and fix bugs.”

Bill, you’re a game legend and we love you. You’ve played a key role in Diablo, Warcraft, and Starcraft. You’re like a Shiggy Lite! But isn’t this subscription service milking the cow a little bit too much? After all, the concept’s already been done. It’s called Steam and yes, it’s free.

Post from: EveryJoe

Hellgate: London set to make a Halloween debut