Hell is Us Review

Player(s): 1
Extra Features: N/A

I usually know a bit about the games I’m going to review before going into them, but with Hell Is Us, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew it was an action RPG that played a bit like Dark Souls but that was about it. The game is developed by Rogue Factor and published by Nacon. For this game to be done by an indie developer, it is quite amazing what we have here. The game feels like it was developed by a AAA studio with its overall quality. Hell is Us is like a mix of many different action RPG games. It has the core gameplay of a Dark Souls game, the enemies of a game like Control and the overall interaction and side quests of a Fallout game.

We assume control of soldier named Remi. You get to learn very little about him as the game starts. The game pretty much thrusts you into an unknown world with only the purpose of finding Remi’s parents. Remi goes to the country of Hadea and discovers that the area is infested by supernatural beings after the results of the “Calamity”. After meeting up with characters that help him in his quest, he eventually runs into Hollow Walkers (the game’s main enemy type) and gains a weapon that can hurt them.

Hell Is Us is described as “semi-open world” by the developers. The way I’d describe it is “open-world enough”. Remi goes to different areas in an armored vehicle. Each area is often a big landscape with usually some sort of town and big open area complete with dungeons (or caves to explore). The overall landscapes look fantastic. The water effects are really nice. When Remi steps through puddles you can see the water slosh as his feet land in the puddle. Lighting effects area really good as well. The open-world areas are not as big and on-going as a Dark Souls game, but I’d say they are good enough to get lost in for a few hours.

Remi is dressed in a poncho with a cap. You can change his looks a bit later on in the game. He can equip different blade-type of weapons, such as a sword, twin axes, great sword, short axe, etc. Each weapon has its own unique combo and charge attack. The overall fighting engine is similar to a Dark Souls. You can guard and deflect attacks. Unlike Dark Souls, you are not punished for dying. You can save your game at manual save icons and you’ll instantly respawn at those save icons if you happen to lose all your health. You still keep all experience and items if you die.

Instead of Remi gaining experience, his weapons level up as you use them to defeat enemies. Weapons can go up to a certain level and you can raise them to higher levels by upgrading them at a blacksmith. While defeating enemies, you can get your health back by hitting them enough to where an aura appears around you – this will restore health depending on how aggressive you are. You can also get your drone to help out in battles by sending the drone forward to attack enemies.

Combat is only a fraction of the game though. A good chunk of the game is spent exploring the landscape and engaging in conversations with other characters. Sort of like a Fallout, you can question key characters on a number of subjects and gain information for your journal. Your journal gives you reminders as to what your main objectives are. This game does not hold your hand when it comes to finding objectives however. It has no target markers to show you where to go and it has no map to show you the landscape. You are given a compass and often characters will describe a certain area and maybe give you a direction and that is what you have to go on.

The game has several fetch quests to take part in. Usually I can’t stand fetch quests, but I do feel that this game not holding your hand with them makes them more interesting. You have to keep in mind what each person requests or you have to keep in mind what you have when a person asks for something. The game also has a good share of puzzles as well. Manipulating object and trying to figure out door codes are the vast majority of puzzles. There are also many locked doors and areas that you’ll have to find keys for. Just like a Dark Souls, you open up shortcuts throughout each area.

Just because you leave one area doesn’t mean you are through with that area. You’ll find some items needed for past areas in newer areas so you have to backtrack every now and then. At certain points of the story, you’ll unlock new areas and have to go there to continue your investigation. The game has a pretty good story and overall lore to it. The lore is told through items, notes, character conversations and there are many cgi cutscenes during big story moments as well. This game is quite dark in tone and very atmospheric. I’m a fan of Bloodborne and this game drew me in with its overall dark feel just like Bloodborne did.

The battles in this game can get very intense. The Hallow Walker enemies that you face off against look very much like enemies from Control. If you’ve played that game, you’ll likely remember the surreal enemies. The Hallow Walkers in Hell is Us are similar. All Hallow Walkers are solid white and have a hole in their head. They all fade in and out as they attack much like a ghost. The Hallow Walkers only have a few different forms, but there are also elemental-type of enemies that attach to them as well. Whenever an elemental is attached, the Hallow Walker will glow. Once in combat, you must defeat the attached elemental before you can damage the actual Hallow Walker.

Fights with many Hallow Walkers that are attached to an elemental can get quite frantic with how you have to keep targeting different enemies. Thankfully, the controls for combat are quite solid. My only real problem with this game is that your current HP and stamina are linked. So as you lose HP, your stamina lowers to that same point. If you get to where you only have about 10 percent health left, you only have 10 percent stamina left as well. This makes it to where it is HARD to make a comeback in battles without using consumables if you happen to get really low in health. Not even the game’s health recover through attacking mechanic can help out in those situations. The game balances itself out with problems such as this by being forgiving upon death however – you lose nothing when you die. A problem such as this would ruin a true Dark Souls clone however, which thankfully, Hell is Us is not.

If you’re looking for a new type of action rpg that has a good mix of many other games, Hell Is Us is a good choice to try out. The game has a lot to explore and it’s not just about combat. It has much exploring, puzzle solving and character interaction throughout its gameplay. Fans of Dark Souls that want a “Dark Souls” type of challenge, should look elsewhere, because this game only has the core mechanics of Dark Souls and it basically ends there. Hell is Us has a very fresh feel to it overall and I highly recommend it to players that want a dark story mixed with various RPG elements taken from different games.

The Good:
+ Fantastic looking game
+ Overall fun mix of different types of gameplay from various RPG games
+ Good atmosphere

The Bad:
- The main character often comes across as boring
- Why is current stamina linked to how much health you have?