The iconic games released by FromSoftware have sparked a number of imitators that want to be the next Dark Souls, Bloodborne, or Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The latest game that wants to try to win the hardcore action RPG audience is Hellpoint, which wears its inspirations proudly on its sleeve. There have been other attempts at a science fiction Souls title in the past, but few games have managed to capture the tight gameplay and haunting aesthetics in the same way that Hellpoint has.
Hellpoint is set aboard a space station called Irid Novo, which is circling a massive black hole. The main character is spat out of a 3D printer by a mysterious figure known as the Author, who wants the player to investigate what happened aboard the station. It doesn’t take long for the player to realize that Irid Novo has been overrun by a number of different factions, composed of demonic aberrations, bizarre aliens, and heartless machines.
Filing Off The Serial Numbers
It’s the player’s job to explore Irid Novo, which means fighting enemies and slowly building up an arsenal of weapons and special abilities. The familiar elements from the Souls series are here: the game’s equivalent to souls are Axions and they are dropped when the player dies, but can be reclaimed if they are picked up again before dying. The player has a stamina meter that is drained whenever they are attacked or block a hit. The player has access to numerous melee weapons and armor (as well as an equipment load stat), with guns acting as the ranged weapons and “catalysts” acting as the magic. The player uses Axions as both experience points and the resource for upgrading equipment, along with crafting material that they find in the game world.
So, what makes this game different from the Souls series? Hellpoint has much better jumping mechanics and the player character can leap around like Mario, which is something that the FromSoftware games always had trouble with. The Estus Flask equivalent can be refilled by attacking enemies, encouraging a more aggressive playstyle. Enemies don’t automatically raise from the dead when killed, but are on a timer. The weapons that the player can find have their own experience bars that unlock abilities over time. There is co-op option from the start and it’s a lot easier to drop in and out of games with friends. The distance between the space station and the black hole can trigger random events, so the player can experience different things when going through old areas.
So, those are all of the similarities and differences in a nutshell. The question now is does it all come together?
Beyond Dark Souls
The preview build of Hellpoint was only a couple of hours long, but we had an absolute blast exploring Irid Novo. There are a few caveats that come with this, but the brief time we spent playing the game has convinced us that Hellpoint could be one of the most exciting games of 2020.
Hellpoint is an absolutely gorgeous game, with some stunning moments that highlight the wonders of the space station and terrifying structures that can be found within it. The soundtrack is also equal parts chilling and majestic, depending on what is happening in the story. The combat is fast-paced and feels satisfying. The slow drip-feed of new gear and abilities made us want to keep going a little further when exploring the station. The jumping mechanics add an extra element to combat when approaching enemies and it becomes an essential tool when facing opponents who use guns. We only had a couple of hours to experience Hellpoint, but the preview build has left us hungry for more. Exploring Irid Novo and slowly unlocking all of the different paths was just as fun as cutting down groups of enemies, while the changes to the Souls formula keep things fresh enough to stop things from growing too familiar.
We mentioned caveats earlier and there are a few notable issues with Hellpoint that needed to be brought up. The people who have been keeping up with the numerous video game delays over the past few months will likely be familiar with the concept of games needing more polish and this is very much the case with Hellpoint. The aesthetics of the game are all in place, but there are major issues involving hit detection that need to be fixed. These issues mostly came up during boss encounters, as hit detection (from both the player character and the boss) was all over the place, to the point where it felt as if the battle had been won at random. They also cropped up during regular encounters, especially when trying to strike enemies from behind, but they were most notable when fighting bosses. A Souls style game lives or dies by its fair challenge and Hellpoint will need to have these issues fixed on day one if it’s going to have any hope of making its mark in the marketplace.
There are a lot of fans who are disappointed with the direction that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice took, due to its focus on stealth and parrying. This led to many hardcore Souls fans turning their attention to games like Nioh and The Surge 2, but Hellpoint could be the game that satisfies their need for a dark action RPG. Hellpoint has a few technical issues that need to be ironed out before launch, but it could be the Dark Souls meets System Shock 2 game that fans never knew they needed before.
