Reviews List for Hellgate: London (updated Mon 19)

[:1]90 - 100%

None

80 - 90%

PCGamer (US) - 89%

It doesn't redefine the action RPG, but in a genre laden with derivative games, Hellgate is a refreshing concoction that's likely to have enduring appeal. [Dec 2007, p.48]

NZGamer - 86%

Hellgate: London presents a wonderful story set against an artfully designed world but never goes that extra mile to separate it from the masses. It's unlikely this game will appeal to everyone but it is sure to find a strong cult following. Sure, it's more enjoyable than the demo, but it's worth a try before you commit yourself to another time-sinking adventure.

Pelit - 84%

Hellgate: London takes the elements that made the Diablo series classic, and puts them in new, invigorating setting of demonic threat, dark magic and high technology. The fresh world of Hellgate: London is its greatest asset, but sadly the game fails in capitalizing it properly, with quite shoddy plot and generic missions outside the main story. Nevertheless, Hellgate: London is a good action RPG with plenty to enjoy. How the multiplayer system works when the game hits stores will ultimately determine the staying power of the game. [Nov 2007]

70 - 80%

Play - 79%

If Hellgate: London had appeared on shelves with no hype and no known links to past gaming glories then we'd probably be sat here at the end of the review chatting about how it was a bit of an undiscovered gem that fused FPS sensibilities with Diablo-esque loot collection and character customisation to provide a thoroughly enjoyable, if slightly unpolished, experience. Unfortunately we don't have that luxury and the game's high profile throws niggles like the repetitive level design, the often dull quests and the stability issues into harsh relief. If all you want is a Diablo clone wrapped up in FPS clothes with some MMO features then you'll undoubtedly be satisfied. However, those looking for, or expecting, some kind of new dawn for the action RPG genre will be left wondering what all the fuss was about.

Atomic Gamer - 79%

I enjoyed Hellgate immensely. You have a ton of items to find, lots of fun monsters to kill in the randomized levels and fun bosses to face off with. If you're looking to scratch that pack-rat itch and can put up with the bugs, I'd highly recommend Hellgate.

Action Trip - 75%

Sure Hellgate: London has many features that are found in the Diablo series but they have not made a Diablo clone. The games could be called kissing cousins but for all its downsides, HG:L can be an addicting experience. FlagShip Studios has an uncertain road ahead of them. It remain to be seen whether they will prove to players that paying $9.95 a month is worth it by delivering some good content. If not, that one item may be the holy water that banishes Hellgate: London.

PCZone UK - 74%

Hellgate's done itself a disservice, because it's hidden some decent fun underneath a dated, linear and difficult-to-love veneer.

PCGamer (UK) - 73% [Dec 2007, p.52]

Hellgate: London hooked me, and I think it'll do the same to a lot of other players. But no matter how much I adore its juicy roleplaying sub-systems, I can't get past its wobbly core game.

Eurogamer - 70%

Hellgate: London is filled with gorgeous artwork and dripping with atmosphere; it's got a delicious sense of humour and finely tuned combat systems that will be keeping action RPG nuts happy for a long time. Despite this, we've got vast reservations about key aspects of the game; the randomly generated levels feel increasingly hollow, pointless and gimmicky as you progress, the user interface is clunky in some important areas, and there are clearly some hefty bugs here that need patching.

Gamedaily - 70%

With all its features and the charm from its wicked sense of humor, Hellgate makes for a very entertaining game, but it needs more depth.

Gamespot - 70%

Pros

Gameplay can be supremely addictive because of the way it lets you collect tons of items and upgrade your gear

Good-looking graphics, especially on DirectX 10 machines.

Cons

Most ranged weapons really lack "oomph"

Plenty of technical glitches can get in the way

Story is clumsy and not written or conveyed very well.

Strategy Informer - 70%

All in all, Hellgate is a success in the more revolutionary areas of its gameplay, though more attention could have been paid to the typical action RPG elements that seem to have been taken for granted. There�s a lot to this game, and hardcore players will enjoy sinking their teeth into something with so much meat, but casual gamers won�t have anywhere near enough patience to milk the fun elements from the gameplay. The story�s not over until we see how the integral replay aspects pan out, and initial reactions suggest they could go either way.

60 - 70%

You Gamers - 68%

In summary, Hellgate: London promised to be a lot more than it actually manages to deliver, and while I must admit that the game does grow on you over time, it's a rough road. If you can stay interested past the poor initial experience, and you enjoy the genre, you might end up liking it over time, but I must say it failed to keep me interested.

To be honest, Hellgate: London is a disappointment. Unfinished, unpolished, monotonous and offering poor value for money with the subscription scheme. Yet it kind of grows on you over time. If you like the Diablo-style item hunt across randomly generated maps, by all means do check out the demo - just dial down your expectations.



IGN - 68%

An experience that is fun for a few hours but quickly grows repetitive. The stat-driven combat takes the player one step away from the action and the modular levels and peripheral nature of the story keeps players from investing in the world.

Gameplayer - 60%

The game features randomly generated areas that can get real boring real fast, despite the rather gripping intro cinematic and story involving demons invading the world. Sure, this introductory mood is very engrossing, but the repetitive nature of random environments really does hurt the game�s longevity and, ultimately, its coherence. It becomes difficult to engage with a game world that could simply be called Hellgate: Somewhere (rather than an unrecognisable London) mainly because loot, monsters and important quest items are all random. Things become very haphazard, to the point where the game just comes across as a bit too bland and generic. It doesn�t really feel at all like a war-torn London, despite the odd iconic prop.

GameSpy - 60%

If the development team had poured half the creativity and personality into the setting, character, content or story as they did into the fighting and looting, the game might have become a modern-day classic. Instead, what comes out of this Hellgate often feels a little underwhelming.

GamePro - 60%

You might get sucked into the online world of competing slayers and level grinding for a while, but the tedium will kill you far quicker than any member of Hell's vast.

0 - 60%

1UP - 40%

Dear Hellgate: London,

You should have been a no-brainer. An action-RPG from an independent developer founded by the original creators of Diablo? A sci-fi postapocalyptic setting mixed with the supernatural? A 3D engine of randomized levels built around London's ruined landmarks? Demons and zombies and gnarled fleshy things called Hellmeats? Sign me up! Even the confused announcements about your special content for subscribers were intriguing. After all, with so much competition for online dollars, surely a publisher like EA and a group of veteran developers like the guys at Flagship Studios understand they must rise to the occasion. Surely they know that World of WarCraft is waiting on my desktop, just a few icons over. Surely, Hellgate, you'd be up to the task.

But you and I both know that you weren't ready.|||this game (as it stands) doesn't deserve to be in the same league with d2

(maybe that's what you get for jumping in bed with ea)

Newcomers and Lurkers Introduction Thread

[:1]Spurred by this post, here's the semi-official welcome to the community thread. If you're new to Hellgate, or you've been lurking for months and are just now joining in the conversation, welcome. Introduce yourselves and have a look around. There's a useful forum navigation bar with links to the screenshots, movies, and tons of wiki info.

As for info: currently there's an NDA in place that prevents us from updating the wiki or making forum posts with all the new stuff we know from the alpha test. So if you were wondering why people are being vague and evasive about specific details, that's it. Once the NDA ends you will see tons of new info on everything, so look forward to that.|||Good Idea!

I thought you were starting a Starcraft thread because I saw the word "Lurkers"|||*puts hands up as a lurker*

lol hi

well basically i just came on about a few days ago to post info about how Aussies most likely won't get CE coz EA stuffed up hehe.

my gaming back ground streams from playing CS in my very early days and branching out into MMORPG with Raganarok Online(Ro), then moving into Lineage 2, WoW, Guild wars, back to WoW and then finally ending up as a Lord of the Rings Online lifetimer. All the while playing Day of Defeat Source for my FPS rush.

what drew my attention to hellgate was after watching the E3 06 trailer then seeing the E3 05 trailer and thought "is this a trailer for a movie?" lol, then ya been following the info ever since =)|||I'll say hi as well. Been following Hellgate pretty closely for many months now, but can't always find the time to post. I usually get spurred into engaging in conversation after I get a taste of the game, and since it's right around the corner (and I got into the alpha :D ) I'll hop on board and say hi ;)|||Guess I'll come out of hiding and say what's up to all the forum goers. I've been lurking in this forum since it's creation and generally lurking on anything HG:L since I heard who was making it. I was around the diabloii forums for a long time and I really like what Flux and others have done with this place. (I thought Flux and 'fluxing' in D2 were related for a long time...) Nice to see Elly and Rush are still around too.

Some background: My roommate several years ago said "You gotta try this Diablo game..." and that was it. I got hooked. I remember doing endless shop 'runs' for plates of the whale... took so long with no real running. Then I pre-ordered the D2 collector's and remember how awesomely addicting the single player was. It was my first real online game community experience. Then I started in hardcore (USWest) after putting one character through normal mode. That was it.... hardcore forever. Lag was bad back then, especially for a paladin named Slaidius, who charged with two handed axes and mauls. Not a pk... maybe a pkk if the opportunity arose. Ahhh the days of gambling SoJs and imbuing executioner swords... good times. Good helpful community back then.

So... longer post than I intended.... but I have high hopes for this game. I hope it's dark like D1 more than D2. I hope its different than Diablo, but that I still can't put it down. I look forward to the beta... hopefully it's valid in Canada and then I'll see you other hardcore founders in the underground of London, eh?|||Been following the game for a while now. Just joined and started posting with the beta drawing nearer and all the preorder buzz going on. Was a long time D2 player when I finally started running out of time to play that got out of pc gaming really. Really looking forward to this game and hoping my grades don't slip to much when this comes out.|||Been keeping my eye on HGL since the first trailer came out back in 05. Stumbled on this site and with beta about to go live figured I'd join the fun. Gamed in WoW for 1-1/2 years then switched gears to GW for about 2 and change. Played all of the Blizzard offerings going back to Warcraft and Diablo and cant see what crazyness they have in store for us. Just hope they have learned from other Devs and their mistakes.|||Hello all. Like many others who are/will be joining these forums, I am a big D2 fan.... and I have been playing WoW and D2 while waiting for HGL.

I "lurked" the D2 website you guys have (for years), I figured I would actually participate with the new HGL community.|||*waves*

Know Incgamers from the SPF D2.net and from WWN. I have a WoW mod hosted by Rushster.

Used to be a wow addict, weaned myself. Gave it another six months when the expansion came out, but am over it now.

Looking forward to HG:L, but will need a better PC I think.

DM|||Hey all..

Was a D2 junkie for the longest time.. and frequented dii.net forums / marketplace for a while. Also was at once point part of that Isle of Misfits group for a while (in its beginning) which I'm sure you've seen if you went onto the HC forums.

Anyways.. looking forward to this game and hope Oct 31st comes soon!

Where in Grod's name is... An alphabetical list.

[:1]During the last few days, in Syd's chat-1 channel, several people asked where the hell they could find [X] on the map. Not surprising, since it's a big-ass map after all. I suggested that someone should make an alphabetical list of locations and the stations connected to them. Unsurprisingly, everyone appointed me as volunteer, so here it is. I hope you find it useful. At least it kept me off the streets for a while.


Code:

Abandoned Tunnels:............Liverpool Street Station -> Liverpool Tunnels -> Abandoned Tunnels
Angel Passage:................Monument Station -> Angel Passage
Angel Pasasge:................Temple Station -> Mansion House -> Cannon Street -> Angel Passage
Aldgate:......................Monument Station -> Fenchurch -> Trinity Square -> Aldgate
Aldwych:......................Temple Station -> Aldwych
Barge House:..................Temple Station -> Waterloo -> Upper Ground -> Barge House
Bell Yard:....................Templar Base -> Bell Yard
Bishop's Court:...............Templar Base -> Kingsway -> Stonecutter -> Bishop's Court
Bishopsgate:..................Liverpool Street Station -> Bishopsgate
Blackfriars:..................Temple Station -> The Strand -> Blackfriars
Bloomsbury:...................Covent Garden Station -> Bloomsbury
British Museum:...............Covent Garden Station -> Bloomsbury -> British Museum
Cannon Street:................Monument Station -> Angel Passage -> Cannon Street
Cannon Street:................Temple Station -> Mansion House -> Cannon Street
Cannon Street Rail:...........Monument Station -> King William Street -> Threadneedle -> Cannon Street Rail
Charing Cross Approach:.......Charing Cross Station -> Charing Cross Approach
Charing Cross Approach:.......Covent Garden Station -> Leicester Square -> St. Martins -> Charing Cross Approach
Cheapside:....................St. Paul's Station -> Cheapside
Chocolate Park:...............Charing Cross Station -> Admiralty Arch -> Chocolate Park
Church Yard:..................St. Paul's Station -> Churchyard
Covent Garden Approach:.......Covent Garden Station -> Covent Garden Approach
Covent Garden Approach:.......Holborn Station -> Covent Garden Approach
Covent Garden Market:.........Covent Garden Station -> Covent Garden Market
Covent Garden Steam Tunnels:..Covent Garden Station -> Covent Garden Steam Tunnels
Covent Garden Train Depot:....Covent Garden Station -> Covent Garden Train Depot
Craven Street:................Charing Cross Station -> Craven Street
Crown Office Row:.............Templar Base -> Crown Office Row
Death's City:.................Green Park Station -> Death's City
Death's Sewers:...............Green Park Station -> Death's Sewers
Death's Tunnels:..............Green Park Station -> Death's Tunnels
Devonshire Square:............Liverpool Street Station -> Devonshire Square
Downing Street:...............Charing Cross Station -> Whitehall -> Downing Street
Eastcheap:....................Monument Station -> Eastcheap
Eastcheap:....................Templar Base -> Temple Place -> Tudor Street -> Eastcheap
Embankment Approach:..........Charing Cross Station -> Craven Street -> Embankment Approach
Embankment Redoubt:...........Charing Cross Station -> Craven Street -> Embankment Approach -> Embankment Redoubt
Fenchurch:....................Monument Station -> Fenchurch
Finsbury Circus:..............Liverpool Street Station -> Finsbury Square -> Finsbury Circus
Finsbury Market:..............Liverpool Street Station -> Finsbury Square -> Finsbury Market
Finsbury Square:..............Liverpool Street Station -> Finsbury Square
Fleet Street:.................Templar Base -> Bell Yard -> Fleet Street
Green Park Approach:..........Charing Cross Station -> Green Park Approach
Green Park Approach:..........Green Park Station -> Green Park Approach
Guildhall:....................St. Paul's Station -> St. Paul's Approach -> Guildhall
Guildhall:....................Liverpool Street Station -> Guildhall
Holborn Access Shafts:........Holborn Station -> Holborn Access Shafts
Houndsditch:..................Liverpool Street Station -> Devonshire Square -> Houndsditch
Kingsway:.....................Templar Base -> Kingsway
Lamb's Passage:...............Liverpool Street Station -> Finsbury Square -> Lamb's Passage
Liverpool Tunnels:............Liverpool Street Station -> Liverpool Tunnels
Leicester Square:.............Covent Garden Station -> Leicester Square
Leicester Square:.............Charing Cross Station -> Charing Cross Approach -> St.Martin's -> Leicester Square
Little Britain:...............St. Paul's Station -> Cheapside -> Little Britain
Liverpool Approach:...........Liverpool Street Station -> Liverpool Approach
Liverpool Approach:...........Monument Station -> Mark Lane Approach -> Mark Lane Station -> Liverpool Approach
London Wall:..................Liverpool Street Station -> Finsbury Square -> Finsbury Circus -> London Wall
Lower Kingsway Sewers:........Covent Garden Station -> Upper Kingsway Sewers -> Lower Kingsway Sewers
Lower Thames:.................Monument Station -> Lower Thames
Ludgate Hill:.................Templar Base -> Bell Yard -> Fleet Street -> Ludgate Hill
Mark Lane Approach:...........Monument Station -> Mark Lane Approach
Mark Lane Approach:...........Liverpool Street Station -> Liverpool Approach -> Mark Lane Station -> Mark Lane Approach
Mark Lane Station:............Liverpool Street Station -> Liverpool Approach -> Mark Lane Station
Mark Lane Station:............Monument Station -> Mark Lane Approach -> Mark Lane Station
Mark Square:..................Liverpool Street Station -> Finsbury Square -> Mark Square
Mansion House:................Temple Station -> Mansion House
Mansion House:................Monument Station -> Angel Passage -> Cannon Street -> Mansion House
Millennium Battle:............Charing Cross Station -> Whitehall -> Downing Street -> Millennium Battle
Monument Crawlway:............Monument Station -> Monument Tunnels -> Monument Crawlway
Monument Tunnels:.............Monument Station -> Monument Tunnels
Moorgate:.....................Liverpool Street Station -> Finsbury Square -> Moorgate
Necropolis:...................Liverpool Street Station -> Primrose -> Shoreditch -> Necropolis
New Bridge:...................Temple Station -> New Bridge
Old Bailey:...................Templar Base -> Kingsway -> Stonecutter -> Bishop's Court -> Old Bailey
Old Street:...................Liverpool Street Station -> Finsbury Square -> Mark Square -> Old Street
Paternoster Row:..............St. Paul's Station -> Churchyard -> Paternoster Row
Piccadilly Approach:..........Charing Cross Station -> Piccadilly Approach
Piccadilly Circus:............Charing Cross Station -> Piccadilly Approach -> Piccadilly Circus
Ploughyard:...................Liverpool Street Station -> Finsbury Square -> Finsbury Market -> Ploughyard
Puddle Dock:..................Temple Station -> The Strand -> Blackfriars -> Puddle Dock
Primrose:.....................Liverpool Street Station -> Primrose
Ropemaker Street:.............Liverpool Street Station -> Finsbury Square -> Moorgate -> Ropemaker Street
Russell Square:...............Starting area (I didn't know this for a while *shames*)
Savile Row:...................Green Park Station -> Savile Row
Savile Row:...................Charing Cross Station -> Savile Row
Savoy:........................Temple Station -> Temple Approach -> Savoy
Savoy:........................Charing Cross Station -> Waterloo Bridge -> Savoy
Shoreditch:...................Liverpool Street Station -> Primrose -> Shoreditch
Stonecutter:..................Templar Base -> Kingsway -> Stonecutter
St. Martin's:.................Charing Cross Station -> Charing Cross Approach -> St.Martin's
St. Martin's:.................Covent Garden Station -> Leicester Square -> St. Martins
St. Paul's Approach:..........St. Paul's Station -> St. Paul's Approach
St. Paul's Approach:..........Liverpool Street Station -> Guildhall -> St. Paul's Approach
St. Paul's Hellgate:..........St. Paul's Station -> St. Paul's Hellgate
Temple Access Ducts:..........Temple Station -> Temple Access Ducts
Temple Approach:..............Temple Station -> Temple Approach
Temple Approach:..............Charing Cross Station -> Waterloo Bridge -> Savoy -> Temple Approach
Temple Forgotten Ducts:.......Temple Station -> Temple Access Ducts -> Temple Forgotten Ducts
Temple Place:.................Templar Base -> Temple Place
Temple Place:.................Monument Station -> Eastcheap -> Tudor Street -> Temple Place
The Big Gundown:..............Temple Station -> New Bridge -> The Big Gundown
The Exospector:...............Temple Station -> The Strand -> Blackfriars -> Puddle Dock -> The Exospector
The Strand:...................Temple Station -> The Strand
Threadneedle:.................Monument Station -> King William Street -> Threadneedle
Tottenham Court:..............Holborn Station -> Tottenham Court
Tower Gateway:................Monument Station -> Lower Thames -> Tower Gateway
Tower Of London:..............Monument Station -> Lower Thames -> Tower Gateway -> Tower Of London
Trinity Square:...............Monument Station -> Fenchurch -> Trinity Square
Tudor Street:.................Monument Station -> Eastcheap -> Tudor Street
Tudor Street:.................Templar Base -> Temple Place -> Tudor Street
Undershaft:...................Liverpool Street Station -> Bishopsgate -> Wormwood -> Undershaft
Upper Ground:.................Temple Station -> Waterloo -> Upper Ground
Upper Kingsway Sewers:........Covent Garden Station -> Upper Kingsway Sewers
Upper Thames:.................Monument Station -> Upper Thames
Waterloo:.....................Temple Station -> Waterloo
Waterloo Bridge:..............Charing Cross Station -> Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge:..............Temple Station -> Temple Approach -> Savoy -> Waterloo Bridge
Waterman's Walk:..............Monument Station -> Upper Thames -> Waterman's Walk
Whitecross:...................Liverpool Street Station -> Finsbury Square -> Lamb's Passage -> Whitecross
Whitehall:....................Charing Cross Station -> Whitehall
Wormwood:.....................Liverpool Street Station -> Bishopsgate -> Wormwood

|||Thank you very much for that. Have you noticed that sometimes you can get a mission for a place that even on the map yet? (I.e. You can only get to that area by going through a section that is currently barred to you, and you need to take on a relevant mission to "unlock" the portal).

That would be good to have to the Wiki/Database. See, more work for you. :D

Jezcentral salutes cfern with respect. ;) .

J|||Blimey, that's 120 areas!

J|||Quote:








Blimey, that 120 areas!




I listed some areas twice, once for each station connected to it.

It's still quite a bunch of areas.

Edit: I also left out the stations themselves.

Sometimes I did get missions for e.g. Paternoster Row which didn't show on the map at the time. Areas like these are the reason why I came up with this list. That, and the broker's near-endless train of quests. I didn't encounter any locked-out places during my missions yet. Maybe it's because I take as much quests as I can along the way.

I'll leave adding this list to the Wiki to someone who knows his/her way around. |||Done.

http://hellgate.incgamers.com/w/index.php/Location_Map

It's also linked to from the Locations category page (part of the main nav bar on the left of the site), so it will hopefully get discovered.

Great listing. Thanks, cfern!|||Quote:








Great listing. Thanks, cfern!




And many thanks to you for making a very nice wiki entry out of it! |||Looks like you have loads of time to waste on this =X

But thanks very much for your effort!|||I never saw the need for that personally, however I certainly have a gripe about quest tracker completely obstructing the world map beneath it :/|||This deserves to be stickied for a while. I am also copying it to the Noob forum. Alll comments can be posted here, as I willl close that one.|||Great job AJK!

I can never find most of the areas in Temple Station, so this will help greatly!