Hellgate: London Preview

Essentially, the Hunter class was designed to appeal to FPS fans. Even though, players are able change to third-person perspective at any time, playing with a marksman or engineer (both Hunter classes) largely feels like a first-person shooter. Still, it won't be a typical FPS, since a lot of the game relies heavily on standard RPG elements. In other words, how you aim and shoot at foes depends on the stats of your avatar, as opposed to how well you use the mouse and keyboard (which is crucial in any other ordinary FPS). Things were kept out of the FPS framework, so you won't encounter things like area-specific damage, headshots and the like. Everything depends on how much you've advanced your character.

I wish I knew what's going on in this screenshot...

Die! Spawns from hell!

In addition to the Engineer, Hellgate: London features classes such as the Blademaster, who specializes in a variety of melee attacks. As we understand it, once you step into the shoes of a Blademaster, the game assumes a classic hack'n'slash ambiance, as players chop their way through masses of foes with numerous types of blades and other melee weapons. Special attacks are the key here, as well as the effective use of healing items. Various melee weapons can also be charged up to increase damage, which is also a welcomed moment in the game.

In case you are worried about content, you should know that Flagship really went all out. As far as the single-player is concerned, gamers can expect to go through as much as 200 side-quests, along with the main quest related to the storyline. As far as we know, Bill Roper, the Flagship CEO, promised around 30-40 hours of gameplay in the single-player campaign. The developers also emphasize the inclusion of so-called Chance Quests that are going to be extremely rare. Players will have to keep their eyes peeled for these quests, since they won't come very often. In the end, however, Chance Quests should be well worth your time, as they involve rare loot.

When we look at the bigger picture, it's obvious Flagship is gearing the game towards a wider audience. Hellgate: London will have something for both RPG and FPS fans. They are also working hard to make a highly immersive online multiplayer mode, spicing things up with an additional co-op. During the E3, Flagship also kept explaining that the team is doing its best to bring on as many innovative and "unusual" quests as possible, all of which should appeal to a broad spectrum of gamers. They also hinted a few quests that are going to feature real-time strategy elements. I must admit, I'm curious to see how that turns out.

In the end, we assume the makers of Diablo 2 should be able to bring forth a satisfying action-flavored RPG. We're anxious to see how the full version turns out and we'll bring you more information and media in the meantime.