|| REVIEW || Hellpoint (PC)
Developed By : Cradle Games Published By : tinyBuild
Category : Action, RPG, Souls-Like
Release Date : July 30, 2020
A handful of years ago, I wouldn't have been caught dead attempting a Dark Souls game or anything that could be compared to them. So it's still a huge surprise, even to myself, when I'm not only playing them, not only am I going out of the way to try and play games like them, I'm enjoying it.
Combine that with the fact that I have been lucky enough to work with tinyBuild and play a lot of the games they've put out over the last few years, that I've come to expect a certain level of...cartoon-ness from titles with their names stamped on. Things like Hello Neighbor and Totally Reliable Delivery Service compared to their other titles like Graveyard Keeper, Mr. Shifty, and Party Hard the genres are kind of all over the place. Visually though they're kind of light, and fluffy. Except maybe Party Hard where you're, you know...murdering people at house parties...but I digress.
So when I heard they had a Souls-like title coming out, I was instantly intrigued. One thing is for certain right off the bat though, the visual style on Hellpoint from it's developers Cradle Games is vastly different than the other developers tinyBuild has worked with. That's in no way a bad thing, but it was definitely a shock-inducing slap to the face when I saw the first images from this game. It was dark, it was gorey, it was detailed...and it was beautiful. More than that, it had my attention before it even had a release date.
You find yourself on the derelict space station, Irid Novo, summoned by an unknown presence to come and find them. Initially armed with absolutely nothing, you must navigate your way around eventually finding your way to a terminal to have a brief discussion with the author. It turns out, they are the author of you. You've been organically printed and inserted upon the spaceship specifically so you can explore every corner to try and find out exactly went wrong.
The ship is loaded with constant enemies and threats around every corner, so be prepared to meet your doom...at least semi-frequently. They come in very many different shapes and sizes, offering varying levels of challenge to take them out. Some enemies won't have a weapon at all, just attacking you with their bare hands like a rabid animal. Others will have weapons, shields, firearms and even "magical" type abilities, so everything will get thrown your way.
Everything that the enemies can utilize can be handled and equipped by you. In typical Souls fashion though, just because an enemy has a weapon doesn't mean it will drop for you to pickup when you kill them. Some items are dropped when an enemy is killed, and others can be found in various locations throughout the game. Once obtained, simply equip it and you'll have yourself a new weapon, or an outfit giving you armor defense.
But, we all know what the big pull is in games like this. Okay well maybe there's two, one of them being the lore and depth of the world you're exploring which is ever present in Hellpoint. I'm talking, though, about the big boy bosses standing in your way of expanding that lore and exploration. Prepare to be put to the test against these guys, their health bars are screen wide and their attacks are devastating.
You'll have various other items at your disposal too, such as a healing injector which replenishes your health. To refill it, you'll need to attack enemies with each one giving you a slight percentage of the bar back towards your next health needs. There's also a chip you can get inserted into you that grants you other abilities like being able to transport immediately back to the last rift you were at.
The biggest thing you'll obtain from every enemy you kill are axioms. These are your currency you'll need to collect and horde to dump into your skills. They can also be found in set bundles around the game but these can only be picked up once and must be consumed before they're officially in your bank.
Now, I have a much more limited experience to the Souls-like games than most since I'm so new into experiencing them. But even so, Hellpoint operates just like it should to stand among some of the greats in the genre. The gameplay is incredibly smooth and the world is the one thing you want it to be in a game like this : it's interesting. It's intriguing and it pulls you in the moment you wake up on the space station.
If you're a fan of the genre at all you'll definitely want to experience this title, it won't let you down at all. If you're hesitant in any way, I urge you to push that all aside and dive right into this game. Even if you're not, this one isn't as brutal and you even have the option to increase or lower the difficult in areas, as well as partnering up to waylay enemies with a friend. To make it an even sweeter deal, if you get the game on Steam only one of you needs to have a copy and your second player can utilize the platforms Remote-Play Together feature. All in all, the only reason to avoid this game is if you're not a fan of the super tough games like it, otherwise you'll feel right at home diving into the mystery of the Irid Novo.
Game Rating : 8.5 / 10
Pick up the game HERE on Steam
Also available on Xbox One and Playstation 4
A code for this game was graciously provided
to the site for the purpose of a review.
