Quite literally, this game is Diablo 3.
Flagship Studios was established by the creators of Diablo, and they have brought back their traditional hack-and-slash custom. But this time, they’ve added one hell of a lot more features. Overview: The story takes place in a futuristic London, England. In 2018, a horde of demons and monsters emerged from various Hellrifts and the Hell Portal in London, rampaging through the city, and eventually leaving the world a desolate inferno of scorched bodies and burning wastelands. The survivors of the demonic invasion were forced underground into small settlements where they quietly wage war against the hellish horde. Classes: In the game, there are six classes; Blademaster, Guardian, Marksman, Engineer, Summoner and Evoker. The Blademaster and Guardian are the basic melee classes the Blademaster focuses on his weapons, and to kill the enemy before it can hurt him, and the Guardians are the tanks of the game, relying on shielding spells, and auras to protect himself against hostile mobs. I’ve tried both Blademaster and Guardian, and they’re both extremely well balanced classes, although I personally like the Guardian best. The Marksman and Engineer are the classes using all the heavy guns in Hellgate: London. The Marksman (my favourite) can either run into a group of mobs, guns flaring, throwing grenades and napalm strikes in every direction, or else quietly pick them off one by one from a distance, using the Sniper Stance skill to vastly improve range and damage. While the Marksman mainly uses machine guns and snipers, the Engineer is diversely well equipped with a range of weapons, from explosive pistols, to summonable flying turrets, the engineer is all about blowing things up. The last two classes are two I actually know very little about; the Summoner and Evoker. As in other fantasy games, think of the Summoner as the traditional warlock, summoning demons and beasts to do the player’s bidding. The Evoker is the average mage, using powerful spells, to cause damage to huge groups of mobs, the Evoker, though fragile, guarantees his success by vanquishing all mobs before the player can get hurt.
First Person Shooter: One of the most successful, and pleasing facts that differentiates Hellgate: London from other Hack and Slash games is the First Person Shooter and aiming side of the game. Most will remember from Diablo how to attack a monster; the player is forced to repeatedly click on the mob. But by incorporating First Person Shooter to the game, instead of repeatedly clicking, the character must in fact aim with the mouse. In addition, Flagship Studios has nicely shaped this feature in with the abilities. At the start of the game, you’ll notice that your character’s aim is… well, it just sucks. But as you advance in level, you can add points to Accuracy, which improves the chance that your character actually shoots where you are aiming. Also, it is incredibly easy to switch from first person, to third person view by a simple scroll of the mouse wheel. I’ve read a few articles that discuss how little skill it takes to play Mmorpgs, compared to first person shooters, however, Flagship Studios has done a good job creating an mmo and first person shooter mix. Maps: For those that like a changing map, such as in Diablo, the levels dynamically change whenever you enter an instance (and all the fight zones are instances). Every time to go to a certain zone, the map (viewable by pressing ‘tab’) is always random. Also, throughout the game, there are well-known landmarks, through the beta, I’ve already fought through several landmarks, including the British Museum. I wouldn’t mind however if Flagship Studios could create more diverse terrains. Graphics: The graphics for Hellgate: London are amazing, I have a ‘decent’ computer, and this game works great. For those with the next-generation computers, Hellgate is completely compatible with DX10. There’s lots of destructible environments such as crates, wooden structures, and explosives canisters. Sound: The music for Hellgate is amazing, helping the player actually feel like the game is Hell on Earth. The sound is well integrated with the spectacular game play. You can vastly improve your strategic skills for using the sound to tell the most opportune moments to defend.