Hellgate: London First Look

Are you an addict?

Take a couple of minutes and ask yourself this question. Hold nothing back, pull no punches, take no prisoners. Are You An Addict?

Aren't you a little chilly? Oh wait, you're undead.

I wouldn't mind getting impaled on a good looking sword like this one.

If you are not sure about your answer to this question, take a long, close look at your hands. No, not there; you're looking at the wrong place, you moron. Who was talking about shooting smack? Jesus, the gaming public gets more stupid every day. Look at your palms and wrists, because therein lies the mark of a true gaming addict, the ultimate freak of nature, the poor asshole who has dedicated his life to exploring and intensifying his virtual identity. If you happen to have a special layer of hardened skin on the base of your palm, as well as a strangely deformed thumb and a never-healed index finger, there is no doubt about your true identity: you are a Diablo fan.

Now go and kill yourself.

I sincerely hope you were not so stupid as to obey me, as this intelligently written article demonstrates to you that there is still hope: Diablo lives. Its spirit hovers above us, inspiring our miserable lives with a glimpse of immortality. OK, enough with the BS. Here's the skinny. The honorable authors of Diablo are back and ready to make our lives worth living once again. Flagship Studios, founded in 2003 by the ex-Blizzard VP Bill Roper, is currently working on its first title which bears a somewhat poetic title, Hellgate: London. Bearing in mind the level of experience that the ex Blizzard North guys bring to the table, we can expect for new deformities to develop and wounds to open on our mouse-clicking palms.

Hellgate: London looks like a first-person shooter, but is in fact a futuristic RPG which takes place five years after the victory of the forces of evil over the humankind. Yes, the evil has won, and there's wild clubbing and free demon-loving on every corner. Well, to be honest, there's not so much loving as there is clubbing, but the sort of clubbing I have in mind must be completely different from what you've envisioned. (Hint: it's being hit on the head with a bat, you moron. Now you know...and knowing is half the battle!) And its not so much demon-LOVING as it is demon-ripping-your-guts-out-as-he-skullf----your-eye-socket-loving. But you probably figured that out.

As for Hellgate: London, its atmosphere is indeed hellish. The humans have fought a terrible war against the demons, but have succumbed to the vastly more powerful demonic army (stupid humans). As a result, London's in ruins and the miserable remnants of the human civilization that had somehow managed to survive the Apocalypse have retreated to the underground. So the game takes place both on the surface and in the complex underground tunel network, known also as the 'tube'. According to the developer, London presents an ideal setting for a game such as this, as it has its own 'natural dungeons' and an already grim atmosphere. Its architecture has obviously proved to be very inspring for Roper and the rest of his team, so they hurried to include some of the famous landmarks of London such as the Buckingham Palace and St. Paul's cathedral in the game. In fact, the combination of real life based and fantasy elements is what will make this title slightly different from the competition - the futuristic settings will have many 'arcane elements' as Roper calls them, while the game's weapons will include both some technologically advanced ones as well as some older, but in no means outdated, tools for killing. In fact, this game will have much in common with the Diablo series in spite of the futuristic elements, which does not mean we are talking about a Diablo clone - Hellgate: London has its own subjects and characters, as well as a style of play.

Although the game is played from a first-person perspective by default, players will have the option of switching to third-person view. It is still unclear, however, to which extent the developers will let you use the third-person view. What is known for sure, is that melee combat will be played out in third-person view, which is only logical if you think about it. Although visuals will be this game's forte, Hellgate: London promises to offer us quite enough food to chew on apart from that. The game does play in a linear fashion, but we are not to expect Diablo-like linearity. You will be forced to follow a certain path, but it's the random sidequests, as well as different monster and loot locations, which will make every single gaming experience differ. Randomly generated landscapes and paths, as in Diablo II, should serve for making the game more interesting and adding to its replay value. Roper insists a great deal of randomization will be included in the game, and while the quests will follow the main storyline or be directly involved in the story they should be complex enough to provide you with a unique experience every time. Choosing specific quests may take you to different paths, leading to different outcomes. Simple quests that will include going from point A to point B in order to fetch something for somebody won't be an option. Too bad, as I've always fancied being a Fed Ex courrier (I have my reasons).

Hookers from hell! NOOOO!!!

Alien vs. Predator. Definitely.

Typical for any RPG, several playable classes will be included and only one of them has been made known as far, and that is the Templar. The Templars were the last bastion of human kind that stood up against the forces of evil. (Yes, they are the ones that screwed up. Thanks a lot, boys.) The level of character customization at the beginning of the game is still to be decided, but the character will make progress in a way typical for the genre, with new skill points for each gained level. This means the skill points can be assigned to abilities specific to your character class. There are in all three types of skills - vengeance, auras and combo moves. The first applies to weapons and spells and is offensive, the second passive, while the combos can be obtained by performing a critical hit. The character development system involves prolification of skills, according to which your sub-class can be determined. Depending on the overall Gear skills and Class talent Tree stats, your character will be more or less successful in dealing damage and defending himself, meaning you can develop your character in a unique manner. Adding the fact the character will be customizable in looks and sex, I can already see quite a lot of heavily armed Amazons running around wasting monsters around London's sewer system.

The game includes a large inventory where you can manage stuff you usally find in RPGs, from different weapons to various amulets and monster-sized condoms. Well yeah, not so sure about the latter, only thought that it would make a good addition, too. As for finding all the mentioned stuff, the developer claims there'll be plenty of it lying around, waiting for you to pick it up (or better yet, waiting for you to kill some incredibly ugly monsters and *then* pick it up). Downed monsters will drop loot, which has been randomized in such a way that you often may stumble upon two identical weapons with slightly different stats (one being slightly better, or slightly more suitable for your character). Some weapons will be further upgradable, meaning you'll be able to enhance them by combining them with a number of other items. There is also a possibility of a Horadric-cube like system, which will allow you to create your own items. Weapon upgrades and enhancements also allow for a unique gaming experience.

Basic weapon models will be different enough, although predominantly futuristic in their nature: we've been made aware of several weapons present in the game as far, such as the Zeus Rifle that fires electrical charge which can oscilate between two enemies, or the Vulcan Bolter, with fireballs that cover a rather large area. There is also the Peacemaker Pistol, with rounds ricocheting off walls. The Tempest Gun shoots off disperse ball lightning, and the Harp weapon has the ability of temporarily stunning the enemy. Of course, as seen in the images provided with this article, the game will feature arcane weapons as well, such as good old-fashion two-handed swords (something that no serious RPG can do without).