MMORPG.com Staff Writer Joe Iuliani gives his us his impressions of Hellgate: London.

The gates of Hell have opened in the middle of London, unleashing legions of demons upon the unsuspecting populace. Well mostly unsuspecting, I mean c’mon in every game or movie somebody sees these things coming.

Hellgate London is the post Apocalyptic MMO brought to you by the folks at Flagship Studios.

Hellgate London is not what most gamers typically consider an MMO, although it does meet all of the criteria. It’s Massive (well maybe not massive) Multiplayer (even though you can choose the solo play feature) and it’s Online (um, or not if you choose solo play).

Read it all here.

Problem I had was it didn't feel like London at all, alot of the levels were sooo generic it could have been any city.

I've been playing since release and still enjoy the game.  A 7.0 is a good rating.  Not really a great game but still good fun.

This was a good review. Thanks for posting it.

I am curious about the solo-ability of this game. I assume from the "why bother to play the single-player mode" comment that you can pretty much play it through solo even if you are in multiplayer mode? Is that correct? Or are certain missions/sections/instances completable only with player groups?

The biggest turnoff for this game (for me, that is) is that it looks unremittingly grim, gray, bleak, and depressing. I think that would kind of old for me pretty quickly.

Everything can be soloed though some of the elite nightmare levels and stonehenge areas work better with a group.  I've never been able to successfully solo The Wild.  Or at least not in a way that is worth doing.

The atmosphere is bleak all the time.  If you read the books you'll understand it better.  The demons have destroyed and burned everything.

Originally posted by tmr819

This was a good review. Thanks for posting it.

I am curious about the solo-ability of this game. I assume from the "why bother to play the single-player mode" comment that you can pretty much play it through solo even if you are in multiplayer mode? Is that correct? Or are certain missions/sections/instances completable only with player groups?

The biggest turnoff for this game (for me, that is) is that it looks unremittingly grim, gray, bleak, and depressing. I think that would kind of old for me pretty quickly.

It was my understanding that this was a solo game but with also an online component?

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by tmr819

This was a good review. Thanks for posting it.

I am curious about the solo-ability of this game. I assume from the "why bother to play the single-player mode" comment that you can pretty much play it through solo even if you are in multiplayer mode? Is that correct? Or are certain missions/sections/instances completable only with player groups?

The biggest turnoff for this game (for me, that is) is that it looks unremittingly grim, gray, bleak, and depressing. I think that would kind of old for me pretty quickly.

It was my understanding that this was a solo game but with also an online component?

You don't want to play solo though as the fun part of the game is the multiplayer.

I bought the game at launch. I agree completely with the review except I would have given performance/lag a 3. felt like I was in a beta.

I wanted to love Hellgate, I really did.

I participated in the beta, I purchased the collector's edition, and I paced myself. The game was a blast for a solid 10-12 hours worth of playing and testing, but I slowly found myself feeling the game becoming more shallow and repetitive as I continued to play.

At the end of only a few weeks, I felt as follows:

• Too few tilesets - you can only go through the same subway tunnels and stock city streets so many times before it drives you crazy. Your visits to "hell" don't feel meaningful for the most part, and use the same tilesets as well.
• Too few customization options - Character creator is very weak, leading to minimal visual differentiation besides equipment
• Too few class customization aspects/skillsets - Skills do not scale well, and there was a general lack of depth in terms of skill advancement and use
• Flawed subscription system - too much to mention :)

I've no doubt many of the above deficiencies will be addressed (many probably have been already). I think the last point alienated so many people at launch, as what a subscriber was entitled to changed so many times and never felt well-planned.

The game has a TON of potential; as skilltrees are better developed and additional classes/locations/depth are integrated, I'll certainly come back and play it again down the road.

The game could be turned into something great with enough care.  I agree with the review.  Great write up.

Originally posted by jmd10222

I bought the game at launch. I agree completely with the review except I would have given performance/lag a 3. felt like I was in a beta.

I completely concur.  A 3 at best for performance/lag.  Overall, 6-6.2.  Good write up, but the game pales in comparison to other games with a 7.0

Good review, although I can tell the reviewer didn't get too terribly far into the game otherwise he would have mentioned the lack of tilesets and the monotony that occurs as a result.  Otherwise, the review is pretty much spot on.  As others have said, the game has good potential.  Only time will tell if this potential is realized.

also summoner pet (witch doctor) and so can engi pet can heal other party members, but their is no purely healing class.

good review for a fun game

Seems mmorpg applies to anything now a days huh, anyways this is a laughable review if that is the amount of cons you ended up with.  Repetitive tilesets, crappy skill trees, somehow 10$ a month for updates is a PRO...  Really seems like you played it for 5 minutes and went back to WoW.

It even has its own website devoted to how much it sucks: http://www.flagshipped.com/

I am also surprised that the reviewer did not mention the CTD's or the memory leaks.  Even after being released for quite a time, no one seems to be looking into these issues which plagued the Beta and are continuing through retail.

Nice review and pretty much on the money. Been playing since beta. Many like to point out the problems it had in October but since that time FSS has squashed the majority of the bugs. I have come across many who are coming back to the game saying they are enjoying their experience playing again. Hellgate does something that many games do not do , is that it provides its subscribers with ongoing content. Every quarter subscribers get new content such as more explorable areas, new items, weapons and anything their players suggest FSS tries to fit into the game. Even if you do not sub to Hellgate you can always comback to play for free at anytime when your current hyped mmo turns out to be a hyped WOW clone ;)

They add stuff for non-subs as well like the upcoming rank/perk system.  FSS has stumbled but they have remained involved with the community throughout and continue to improve the game a good pace.

Dear Joe,

Thank you for your review, couple of questions - You mention a day job, is that day job a games reviewer? I ask, because even within the limited word count, your scribblings are not in my opinion a review. How about answering a few basic questions and not assuming that your reader has played Diablo. Is the game point and click or WASD? Are the quest Group or Solo player orientated? What was the AI like? shall i go on Joe?  How large is the playing area? What modes of transport are there? What is the skill system based on and how much freedom to players have?

Do you see how this reviewing lark works? - you answer fundemental questions about gameplay not subjective or assumed knowledge statement like "I had a blast playing Hellgate London" or "Playing Hellgate certainly felt a lot like playing Diablo again".

I know that MMORPG.com only pay in candy bars and cheap booze but please Joe, before i go out and spend my hard earned could you write a review or simply dont bother as a poorly written review is worse than no review at all.

Anyway, i hope your day job is plumbing and that you make a lot of cash from it..

Regards,

Will

What willgar meant:

Joe, thanks for the great review.  You do an excellent job of rating your enthusiasm and summarizing basic aspects of game play.  However, could you also post some specific details of the game?  How is navigation (point/click or WASD)?  Was content more geared toward solo or group?  How smart are the mobs?  Mounts or other transportation?  How much land is covered and how much of it is instanced?  How flexible is the skill system?  Thank you in advance!

Originally posted by Draeghor

I am also surprised that the reviewer did not mention the CTD's or the memory leaks.  Even after being released for quite a time, no one seems to be looking into these issues which plagued the Beta and are continuing through retail.

There were definitely still some memory leaks as of a few months ago (last time I played) but they aren't massive (hardly noticed on my system with 3GB of RAM).  I have never had a CTD in Hellgate (though I didn't start playing until Jan or Feb of this year so I missed the launch bugs).

Originally posted by willgar

1) Is the game point and click or WASD?

2) Are the quest Group or Solo player orientated?

3) What was the AI like?

4) How large is the playing area?

5) What modes of transport are there?

6) What is the skill system based on and how much freedom to players have?

1) Typical FPS controls: W/S are front/back, A/D is strafe left/right, you turn and look up/down with the mouse.

2) Either.  Like all games with lots of instances, the content scales based on who is entering the instance.

3) It was okay.  I never thought "oh wow, this AI is amazing (or terrible)".

4) Fairly large.  There are multiple semi-instanced "bases" (eg new one added when previous one(s) fill up but you can switch between them) with many instanced zones off of each.  There is also Stonehenge and environs (but I'm not a subscriber so I can't go there).

5) You walk/run everywhere at first.  However, you can portal between bases you've previously been to.

6) Skill tree is different for each class.  There are some common skills (though at different levels most times) for each faction (so Engineer/Sniper, Summoner/Evoker, etc).  So far, the skill trees seem decent though I'm not terribly high level yet (only ~15).

Originally posted by Draeghor

I am also surprised that the reviewer did not mention the CTD's or the memory leaks.  Even after being released for quite a time, no one seems to be looking into these issues which plagued the Beta and are continuing through retail.

Most people haven't had a memory leak problem in some time.  Only a small minority still has this problem.  If you had kept up to date on the forums you'd be aware of this.

I got this after Octale and Hordack raved about it on their wow radio show.  After playing it for a couple of days I ended up giving it a collective MEH.