5/18/2023 0 Comments Hellpoint bosses![]() ![]() ![]() Enemy sound design is quite unnerving, however, with the grisly shrieking of foes being a hair-raising element of any encounter.Īs players advance, a narrative of sorts begins to reveal itself. Though that’s fine and good, a bit more enemy types would have been welcome, as each area generally features a slim variety and just about each regular boss soon becomes an enemy in regular rotation. Several monster designs fit into that body horror category, such as a large severed hand scurrying along on its fingers. The atmosphere is as fascinating as it is deadly, and it’s further brought to life by sharp visuals that offer an impressive attention to detail and a great sound mix that’s generally dominated by unnerving environmental sounds and a hushed, oppressive silence that really sets the ears on edge. From the Embassy designed to receive visitors, delegates, and other off-station personalities, to the Observation Deck with its grand space vistas, and places like the dilapidated “downtown” district or the crumbling catwalks perilously bolted on beneath the station proper, each area is a labyrinthine maze of twisted passageways that can hide useful items, lethal gear, or bloodthirsty enemies. Luckily, the journey is highly satisfying, as exploring the station is at all times a fascinating experience in and of itself. It doesn’t take long for bosses to reappear as common, if powerful, enemies. The station’s scale is impressively immense, but this becomes a drawback when overlooking a key somewhere along the way, since being able to find it again can be a matter of “needle, haystack”. There are even several copies of keys to find to help keep unfair frustration to a minimum. The station is also highly non-linear, with multiple paths forward presenting themselves to the player at times, some of which which will eventually connect back on each other or peter out into a dead end. Even a singular area can have the player’s head spinning trying to keep track of where to go, where they’ve already gone, where an important landmark was, and so on with no in-game map available whatsoever, players have to rely on their sense of direction to stay oriented. Irid Novo is immense, with myriad pathways, shortcuts, and both locked and hidden doors connecting its individual environments. ![]() Each new enemy type encountered, each boss defeated, and each interdimensional breach stabilized - Hellpoint’s version of bonfire checkpoints - adds on to the running percentage count of data collected.Įven though this percentage total gives players feedback on their progress, the game offers precious little direction to go off. The Author sets players the nebulous task of gathering data, and in terms of goals and motivations, that’s really all the game offers. Interfacing with a computer terminal after proving their worth against the game’s first boss, they make contact with the Author, one of the ship’s AIs, and the one who awakened the Spawn. Taking on the role of a Spawn, a cloned being newly awakened from a cryosleep pod, players are given free reign to explore the station. ![]() The game takes place on the Irid Novo, a derelict space station in close orbit around a black hole somewhere in the deep reaches of space. The end result is a highly entertaining and challenging take on a modern classic, with both innovations and rough edges alike. But do all of those inspirations shine through in satisfying ways? The answer is more yes than no, though the game leans more heavily toward From Software’s well-worn action combat formula than Visceral Games’ brand of sci-fi horror. Any new property that lists games like Dark Souls and Dead Space as its muses and takes pointers from movies like Event Horizon and Hellraiser has my undivided attention. Developer Cradle Games had to go no further than announce its inspirations for action RPG Hellpoint to instantly bring me on board. ![]()
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