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Gaming Hellgate: London

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Tim S, 2 Nov 2007.

  1. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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    http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2007/11/02/hellgate_london/1

    From the maker of Diablo comes Hellgate: London, a new demon-filled action RPG with a fun multiplayer side and which is set in, you guessed it, London. We take a look at this heavily antcipated game and see whether it can live up to all the hype.

    :idea:
     
  2. Guest-23315

    Guest-23315 Guest

    I though it was supposed to be an FPS, like F.E.A.R. or S.T.A.L.K.E.R....
     
  3. quack

    quack Minimodder

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    It's an Action-RPG.

    I played the demo and just wasn't that blown away like I was supposed to be after the years of hyping it up.
     
  4. Cupboard

    Cupboard I'm not a modder.

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  5. [USRF]Obiwan

    [USRF]Obiwan What's a Dremel?

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    The most impressive thing of HGL is the CG trailer...
     
  6. UncertainGod

    UncertainGod Minimodder

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    Just played it for a hour or so, big disappointment.
     
  7. Carnival

    Carnival Dremel a WHAT?!

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    I think I'll still get this, but not bother to try and play it religiously like I did with Diablo II. Use it as a light entertainment if you will lol
     
  8. pendragon

    pendragon I pickle they

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    that's too bad, I was hoping this would be something awesome, akin to Diablo II.. ah well
     
  9. metarinka

    metarinka What's a Dremel?

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    gameplay wise I think it's better than d2 especially once you get past level 10 or so, it's more like an mmo in that fashion as the first few levels you have maybe 1 or 2 attacks and very bad armour, but once you start getting interesting armour and modding it (which is a very interesting and in depth feature of the game) you can have some crazy builds.
    if you liked this game give it a chance, after an hour or so I was hooked, and I played through the beta and got the game on launch, nothing beats cutting down endless hordes of demons with my friends, or playing my hardcore guardian and worrying about dying around every corner. this game really does have the spirit of D2

    and while the graphics aren't especially impressive, they weren't nightmarishly bad in any sense, with dynamic lighting and 3 people in a room full of zombies things light up quite nice.
     
  10. WireFrame

    WireFrame <b>PermaBanned</b>

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    sounds like the worst thing evar.
     
  11. tuteja1986

    tuteja1986 What's a Dremel?

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    Been playing the beta and i love to death :)

    1st game to get me off WOW in a long time.
     
  12. willyolio

    willyolio What's a Dremel?

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    nuts, i say. i was really looking forward to this game, but it certainly looks like it lacks polish. or heck, even sanding. i still wish flagship the best, i won't be buying it, but hopefully it'll be relatively successful and Hellgate II will be much better. as in Diablo II vs Diablo I better.
     
  13. DarkLord7854

    DarkLord7854 What's a Dremel?

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    Kinda found the review to be somewhat innacurate, specially bout the subscription, if you bothered reading the site it does say subscription people get first access to new extra content but the game stays more or less the same for everyone. There is no "second" tier.. the entire story-line spanning 5 acts and worth about 30 to 40 hours of gameplay is available to all.

    You also did not comment on the mini-games like the RTS mission mini-game where you command a squad of NPCs in a top-down view and must get all 4 of them through a level alive.

    Also, you didn't even mention the awesome weapon/equipment upgrade and crafting system. Which is pretty cool in itself, you can upgrade damages/armor/shield points by brekaing down other items and using the scraps of metals and stuff to add into other items, you can add stats as well for different fee levels, you can add modifications to weapons which can give a large varierty of bonuses, including skill unlocks when wielding/wearing that item.
    The crafting system does not require you to have special skills, you need a blueprint and gather the necessary materials.
    Item dyeing was left out too, where you can make your entire equipment the same color as one pieces, or you can have dye kits which are an equip.

    Pvp was also left out, how you can duel people 1 on 1 or do an FFA where it's everyone for themselves. Guild system was left out as well

    And from looking at your screenshot.. it leaves me wondering why yours look that bad.. Mine's set to High and it certainly looks slightly better then that, and it's on DX9 as well.

    Rather disappointing that you didn't talk about the different classes nor how well-balanced they are, where there's no "likomgwtffbbqtotallypwnage" class. The party system was barely even mentioned, and the fact that levels dynamically adjust to your level and the size of your party also got left out, and yes, a level which has already been created and has a party in it will adjust the monster levels and amounts of monsters if more people are added to the party who come into the map. Which points to something else totally left out, the portal system. How you can open a portal to other party members where-ever they are (unless they are at or past a station you haven't gotten to just yet), you can also open a recall portal to your last station, or create a "2-way single use" portal for making a quick trip to a station to drop off loot and then portal back to where you left.

    In all I find your review to be really lacking in quality and depth, in fact, I see it more as a comparison to other games and just dismissing this one entirely. I'm not exactly sure how long you played it, but it's pretty clear little effort was given in finding all the features of the game, especially story-wise, as the story is pretty entertaining and it's quite fun to play through with some rather varied NPC character types (and yes, NPC are transparent, but monsters are quite solid and you cannot walk through them).

    Oh yes, one last thing, you totally did not mention the main point of the game, Hell. You can go into Hell. Through Hellrifts, you travel into a connection point between Earth and Hell and usually find a butt-load of demons there, and sometimes you can find another portal going into a bigger hell-world.

    This review was really quite disappointing, especially in terms of quality.
     
  14. Woodstock

    Woodstock So Say We All

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    im a bit split on this game, think ill get it in a month or two as theres stuff id rather play now
     
  15. CardJoe

    CardJoe Freelance Journalist

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    Sorry you felt that way. However, there is a balance to bear in mind - I mentioned everything I could but still spilled out onto six pages. I know full well about the minigames, including the secret one indicated in the bottom right corner for getting treasure boosts, but I didn't focus on them for several reasons. Firstly and mainly they don't constitute a major part of the game (MINIgame) and secondly, I didn't want to give spoilers.

    I went in to hell and, tbh, I found it quite dissappointing. It's tidier than London is and its all very red. Gee, imaginative.

    The balancing is something which I naturally didn't mention in singleplayer, other than to say that none of the six classes stood out, but in multiplayer I do agree more emphasis could have been put on this. However, Hellgate suffers IMO from not clearly having a focus on single or multiplayer.

    As for the GFX, I have no idea why yours is looking better, but post a screenshot and we'll compared. My screenshots are in DX9 too except where stated and running all on very high with a new 8800 GT and the latest set of drivers available - Tim even checked to find if Nvidia had new beta drivers, but they didn't.

    As for the modification system, I do mention it though I'm sorry if you feel that I didn't put enough emphasis on it. I give it praise at several points, noting how you can strip redundant equipment for it. It's a nice touch, but it hardly makes up for the other areas IMO.

    The balancing is pretty good between classes, but I quickly found that the weapons were not. As a marksman its easy to run backwards shooting your duel rocket pistols/single rocket launcher (and no reloading and inf. ammo detracts any threat in that measure), while the sword fighters can just use a grapple gun to single out members in a crowd.

    I don't think Hellgate is a bad game, but I do think it is a let down after all the hype and so on. It's nothing new which hasn't been done before and just feels like a re-skin of KOTOR in many regards, with a few extra touches (such as multiplayer and the modding system) and a few American-interpretted 'wacky' british touches. I swear I've never seen so many red telephone boxes.

    The multiplayer stuff is *not* level. Subscribers ATM get a few extras, such as storage space in the tube stations, and EA has assured me there'll be extra content on the way which will be aimed more firmly at the subscribers - PVP is one of the things I've heard mentioned.

    Still, if you really disagree with the review then its something I'm always open to and like to discuss with readers. Writers can never get enough critiscism and readers opinions, so feel free to PM or email me and we can talk further. :thumb:
     
  16. DarkLord7854

    DarkLord7854 What's a Dremel?

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  17. CardJoe

    CardJoe Freelance Journalist

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    The graphics themselves actually look about the same to me - I think it's mostly to do with the fact that you've got screens with more going on in them and bigger battles.
     
  18. Bursar

    Bursar What's a Dremel?

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    The one thing that hacks me off about this game is the constant crashing and freezing (playing online). Mostly it's just the game and I can switch out and end task it. But every now and then it locks up the whole PC. The Beta wasn't this unstable, and none of my other games cause any problems, so I don't reckon it's my hardware.

    I could almost live the with the crashes if you didn't then have to go and fight your way back through the areas that you'd cleared moments before the crash. Grrr.
     
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