A review free of the preposterous hate found in a handful of other laughable reviews before it.
First and foremost, Hellgate: London is a fast, exciting and over-all great game. I will go over pros and cons, but above all else this game is worth your money and time. It is great entertainment, which is why we are all here.
Pros and Cons:
Cons first, as they are few but still worth mentioning. The first and major con at the time of this review is that the online play is buggy as hell (no pun intended). Naturally (hopefully?) this will be fixed with patches, and is sadly common in online rpg's at launch, but it is frustrating nonetheless. Freezing, clipping, link-dead and sever lag/delay time are all commonplace. If it’s an online bug then chances are this game has it. Levels do get repetitive, but this is a hack n slash after all, with random generated terrain, so it's not a game breaker. Also, the story and plot (but not the setting!) are dry. These are, in my opinion, the main cons, especially the ragged online play. With a subscription fee this is unacceptable and must be fixed for subscribers (see my final paragraph)
Pros. The list is long and I won't name all the pros but the ones which stand out for me will be mentioned here. The graphics, animations and sound are all extremely well done. The reviewers that whine and complain about lackluster graphics and such need to get a job or save their money and buy a decent gaming PC. This game is great looking, especially armour and weapons! While the story and plot are a little rough, the setting is fresh, new and uncharted. The fact that you get to play (if you choose) as one of the legendary Knights Templar, hacking and slashing through legions of demons is an amazing selling point in it's own right. Say what you want about HG:L, but you have to admit the setting/ premise of the game is unique. Character customization, gear customization and over all character progression is fun and there is little to no grind compared to other online RPG's. The loot is fun! The pros go on and on, but if you like fast, violent, auto-attack-free RPG combat, this is a choice game.
A note on the controversial subscription fee. Some (cheap) players are up in arms about all the premium services offered for a measly 10$ a month. Not only is this fee 1/3 cheaper than other comparable games (DDO is almost the exact same game model, but launched @ 15$ a month) but it is optional and you get an entire single player game out of the deal. If this were a full-on MMO you'd get NO time game unless you paid the 15$ a month. Premium services are nothing new and are a hit in Asia: everyone can play and if you want more, you can have more for a few $$. It's just that simple. It's cheaper than an MMORPG and you can still play online for free which NO sub-based MMORPG will permit beyond the first month. Naturally HG:L (currently) lacks over half of what a standard MMORPG gives you, hence the reduced price. It all makes sense if you’ve played MMORPG’s before. In closing I would like to say this: If it weren’t for the online bugs I would give this game a 10, yes a 10, in a heartbeat. At launch the online bugs are so severe, however, that it gets an 8. Still a great game. Basically if you’re a gamer with patience and can soldier-on past the lack of polish, you’re in for a GREAT time. It can only get better; the game has been out for less than a week and patches are already coming in. If you’re an impatient gamer who tends to react to games like the Angry German Kid on You Tube, you’d best wait a bit. All in all a great game with HUGE potential, just needs some online clean-up. Thanks for reading, enjoy HG:L