I don’t often buy games on release or at full price, but when I do, it’s Metal: Hellsinger.
(And the full price is $30!)
What’s Metal: Hellsinger?
In short, Hellsinger is an FPS game where rhythm is the key and the theme is all things metal. The soundtrack is tightly interlaced with every aspect of the game and every song is an absolute beast!
For a metalhead + gamer like yours truly, this game is bliss… It’s without a doubt my game of the year. Not that I played many games this year, but still… Anyway, let’s break it down!
The story and the characters
The story is easily the least interesting part of the game. It serves its purpose and adds to the overall atmosphere, but that’s about it. The plot is straightforward, with minimal surprises, and there are like… 3 characters in total.
The cutscenes are motion art and every frame is gorgeous!
That being said, I did find two levels in the game elevated by the narrative. I really liked the ending, as well, and on a conceptual level, it's all good fun!
The gameplay
Hellsinger is just so damn satisfying to play! The goal is to kill demons as you make your way through hell, but to be effective at it, you need to synchronize your actions to the beat of the soundtrack. This primarily means you need to shoot with the rhythm of the song, but the mechanic also applies to other actions such as evading, reloading, activating special attacks and finishers…
Also, the better you are, the harder the song blasts. For example, if you miss the beat or take damage too frequently, you won’t get to hear them sweet, sweet vocals on the soundtrack… Maintaining a good rhythm also nets you a better score at the end of the level, which introduces an arcade-type element to the game.
The game also offers a variety of weapons, where each weapon has a unique style and firing rate to it. Meanwhile, doing optional challenge levels unlocks sigils that give you bonus abilities. Pairing different weapons and sigils is both fun and useful, and once you discover what goes with your tempo, you’ll be blasting through demons like it’s no one’s business!
However, none of these gameplay mechanics would be nearly as effective if not for the glorious music that Hellsinger brings forth.
The soundtrack
To put it in one word: Perfection. The developers of this game composed amazing tunes and brought in some excellent vocalists that the fans of the heavy metal genre will undoubtedly recognize.
Everyone in the music/sound department fucking delivered. The price tag is worth just for the soundtrack alone... We're talking about one hell of an album here! That this record is packaged as a video game, and that it requires you to be good at killing demons to experience it at its fullest, well, that's just a lovely bonus.
Seriously, though, I can go forever on how much I enjoyed the music in Hellsinger. The soundtrack is what brings every element of this game together and enhances its every aspect.
Even the boss fights, which are rather simplistic, become great fun when the music kicks in!
Final notes
At a leisurely pace, it took me under 6 hours to beat the game + the challenges, and another hour to hunt down the achievements that I had missed. I suppose that makes Hellsinger a rather short game, but it is very reasonably priced, and that it isn’t lengthy proved great for my busy schedule (where I only had enough time to clear one level per day). All that being said, I definitely plan to go back and replay every level at least one more time.
The game is just too damn fun to be left alone.
Oh, and props to developers for making the achievements reasonable. With a game like this, it must’ve been tempting to go very specific with the achievements, but the devs showed restraint, and I much appreciate it.
Anyway, I probably spoiled my final rating of Metal: Hellsinger with the intro, but yeah… you’re legit better at this game if you’re headbanging while shooting. So, 10/10! Easy.
Here’s to hoping we get at least two more albums/sequels!
There’s a free demo of Hellsinger on Steam, by the way.
Go play it if you’re on the fence about the game!
