Attending E3 nets you lots of free giveaways, often known as “swag” to those in the know (or those who have access to a computer, message boards, or basic reading comprehension). This year’s score was a mixed bag, but I did receive some rad stuff from from Dead Island developer Techland. Among the mixed bag was a literal bag (quite a nice one with black straps, actually), and a small, metalloid USB drive in the shape of a bloody hatchet. Both are emblazoned with the Hellraid logo, and both are sitting at the side of my desk wondering if they’ll be kept around or posted to eBay. I’m currently wondering the same thing myself.
Regardless, Hellraid is Techland’s first next-gen-only game, and they’ve gone the self-publishing route this time in lieu of outside support from the folks at Deep Silver. Though there are indeed zombies present in Hellraid, this is no Dead Island; skeletons, ghouls, and other creatures of the deep (read: Hell) only scratch the surface of the horrors you’ll find. The guided E3 demo showed off a number of dungeon-like locales, various weapons and spells, and, of course, ample gore and destruction. In other words, the bloody hatchet USB stick was no exaggeration.
One of Hellraid’s more notable features is randomly generated content; not levels or floorplans, necessarily, but loot and enemy placement. The game’s foes will spawn at varying points each and every time you enter, and this spans minibosses and more powered-up creatures as well as your run-of-the-mill mummies and possessed skeletons. The Techland developer playing the game had a pretty easy time bashing his way through most of what was shown, but I was assured that Hellraid features extra-challenging additional modes for players with a knack for punishment. As a relative newbie, I’ll probably stick with normal difficulty at first.
Another touted feature of Hellraid is the wide selection of weapons and equipment, and this far and away grabbed my interest the most during the game’s E3 showing. In particular, certain weapons are so heavy that they take up to twice as long to swing, leaving the player completely vulnerable for a short while. Though obviously a risk, the payoff is phenomenal; crushing a massive steel mallet down on the skulls of multiple enemies at once looked immensely satisfying, and the smile on the Techland dev’s face pretty much confirmed my suspicion. He also outright stated that it was satisfying, but I like to pretend I’m perceptive.
A big part of Hellraid is collecting treasure, and loot is another component of the game’s random generation feature I mentioned earlier. In addition to enemies popping up in new places, so will the location of valuable loot — meaning you can’t just head straight for the hot-points of each area once you memorize them. Personally I like the idea, as it encourages exploration and excuses the obsessive floor-combing I’d probably already perform regardless of ever-changing loot locations. With random generation, I’ll feel that my thoroughness could prove worthwhile at any moment, and that glorious bit of treasure-hunting has potential to make Hellraid an experience that keeps on giving. One bloody, haunted horror after the next.
It may be a bit of a stretch to call the replayability of the single player endless, but lucky for me, the demo included mention of the game’s four-player co-op offering. Most of the aforementioned features will remain intact for co-op, and if you consider the implications of random generation, multiply them by four, and switch on the game’s super-hard mode (for which I don’t recall the name), it’s not difficult to imagine the sort of chaos that would soon unfold. I can’t say if this mode will be universally enjoyable (mainly because I didn’t have a chance to physically play), but it certainly sounds appealing.
The last thing I ought to note is that Hellraid is unabashedly a for-fun hack n’ slasher. Don’t expect deep and engrossing plot or narrative here. There are guiding objectives, though, and if you can imagine on-rails zombie or haunted dungeon arcade slashers, except with free movement and far better visuals, then you’ve already got a solid idea of what Hellraid is all about. I unfortunately forgot to ask if the hatchet USB or stylish totebag will be included as pre-order bonuses, but if you really want one then get in touch with me. I’ll keep them safe until you’re ready.
