Hellgate: London
| Hellgate: London | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Studio |
Flagship Studios Redbana US Studios |
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| Publisher |
Electronic Arts Namco Bandai Games HanbitSoft |
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| Erstveröffent- lichung |
 October 30, 2007 October 31, 2007 November 1, 2007 October 31, 2007   |
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| platform | Windows | ||
| genre | Hack & Slay , action RPG | ||
| Subject | Science fantasy | ||
| Game mode |
Single player multiplayer only over the Internet |
||
| control | Mouse , keyboard | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
|
||
| medium | 1 DVD-ROM | ||
| language |
German (screen text: German ) |
||
| Current version | 1.2 | ||
| Age rating |
|
||
| information | German version cut | ||
Hellgate: London (English for "Hell Gate: London") is a computer game developed by Flagship Studios , the fictional plot of which is set in a post-apocalyptic and demon-ravaged London in 2038. Hellgate: London is a Hack & Slay that combines the elements of a computer role-playing game with elements of a first-person shooter . It bears unmistakable similarities to the Diablo series . The focus of the gameplay is on character development, which is driven by the fact that the player is asked to solve tasks and, above all, following the typical hack & slay principle of role-playing games, has to kill monsters and demons from hell. In return, the character receives experience points and a variety of different items - weapons, armor, palladium coins as a means of payment and much more. In contrast to classic MMORPGs , Hellgate: London does not consist of a single game world, but of instances (see Guild Wars ). In addition, the plot is divided into five acts and there is a final boss for each act .
On October 24, 2008, Namco Bandai Games announced in the official forum that they would be shutting down the multiplayer online server on January 31, 2009. This shutdown was completed on February 1, 2009. A multiplayer online mode is no longer possible in North America and Europe.
On March 4, 2009, the Korean publisher HanbitSoft announced that it owns and wants to develop all rights for Hellgate: London for South Korea, some parts of Asia, but not Japan. The Redbana US Studio is named as the commissioned developer . In the countries mentioned there is a multiplayer online mode for Hellgate: London and further support.
On January 18, 2010, HanbitSoft announced that Hellgate: London - Resurrection is coming to Europe this year.
action
The plot mixes real locations, people and groups with elements from fantasy . In 2020 demons from hell attacked the world, the war has already lasted 18 years. Few of the famous Templars , who according to legend are the only ones who have the knowledge of how to fight the demons successfully, were able to escape with others to the London Underground , which was once built by the Freemasons as a bulwark against demons and have been fighting the evil from hell from there ever since. It is the year 2038. Hellfire, a process that has been going on for a decade, is turning the earth into hell. In order to ensure the survival of mankind, evil must be fought, the demons pushed back into hell and the gates of hell locked.
The player himself starts in a backyard-like area in which he receives a radio transmission that says that he should save "Murmur" (in German: whisper). Murmur was with a Templar convoy looking for usable items when they were attacked. After the player is sent by the last, dying Templar together with Murmur to the Holborn station, Murmur provides him again and again with decisive, action-promoting quests and can be found in every station, so is a constant companion who supports the player. The player travels from station to station and after a short time receives an important task: he has to find the five truths, or the five seers, from an ancient tradition. These seers reveal to the player that he must find a seal and a savior. He finds the Savior in the form of Emmera, a Kabbalist who has preserved her humanity. After finding the seal, the player must complete the five exams of the five seers in order to have the power to activate all wisdom. When they want to activate the last wisdom, Sydonai, the leader of the demon army, appears and kills Murmur. This sacrifice gives them enough time to activate the ultimate wisdom and make Sydonai vulnerable. The player and Emmera enter hell together and defeat Sydonai. In the last video sequence Murmur appears, who is still in full health despite his enormous injuries and it turns out that Murmur was just as powerful a demon as Sydonai and only helped the player because he got through Sydonai's destruction had hoped for an army of demons of their own. Murmur sends the player back through a portal.
Gameplay
The major technical difference game to Diablo II that only the isometric perspective knows is that the players in Hellgate: London between the third-person perspective or firearms in the first-person view can change. The choice depends on the player and the chosen hero class. The control is mainly done via the keyboard, direction, target and actions (e.g. shooting) are controlled with the mouse. All ballistic weapons, including energy balls, do not pursue the enemy, but fly in the direction of fire. In contrast to auto-aiming, in which the weapon and projectile find their target independently, the player has to shoot with crosshairs in the direction of the enemy, the number of hits and the damage depend on the ballistic abilities of the hero class and the weapon; This form of aiming is called self-aiming in computer gamer jargon . Since the radius of the damage effect of most weapons can be improved, in many cases one can also speak of soft-aiming, so it is usually sufficient, in contrast to a first-person shooter, to simply point the weapon towards the target, around the target to hit and destroy. There is no reloading, as is usual in first-person shooters. The developers wanted to achieve long-term playability in Hellgate: London by offering the player a large number of attractive items ( loot ) and changing the landscapes, monsters, demons and the items to be found on first entry according to a random system, so that the impression is always new Game worlds emerge.
Hero classes
As usual in role-playing games, there are different hero classes in Hellgate: London . Three factions split into two classes each. Each class has its own skills.
- The "Templars" are more of a hand-to-hand combatant. The classes that can be selected are the “sword master”, whose skills are geared towards handling two swords, and the “guardian” who fights with sword and shield.
- The “Kabbalists” represent a kind of magician. The “battle mage” is the master of spells in combat and, as the “conjurer”, the Kabbalist summons servants and companions to support him in the fight.
- The "hunters" are specialists in handling firearms and machines. Similar to the summoners, the "engineer" builds drones and bots to use against his enemies. The "sniper" is the typical first-person shooter figure whose skills are particularly in the use of firearms.
Locations
The setting of the game is the city of London in 2038. The game consists of 5 acts. The London Underground stations , for example Covent Garden Station (Act 1), serve as central bases for the players as a meeting point and marketplace at the same time. This is where the heroes gather to fight together (multiplayer), buy, sell and exchange items or receive new tasks from so-called NPCs . The battlefields include the streets of London, the tube system of the London Underground or the fictional London tunnel and canal system.
Objects
Items can be found during combat or purchased from certain NPCs in London Underground stations . In addition, the player has the opportunity to upgrade and change items on the machines provided for this purpose. The number of items is determined by a random system that adds various attributes to the basic classes, such as armor, shields and weapons, such as a higher damage or defense value, slots for magazines or battery packs. The number of attributes depends on the rarity of the item. The normal items are gray and often found. The rare items are green, the legendary items are orange. The unique items are yellow, these can only be owned once. The rarity and the attributes determine the value of an item. Valuable items are crucial for the advancement and strength of a hero and are therefore very important to players.
weapons
The main distinction between weapons is their range. On the one hand, there is the class of melee weapons, such as swords and clubs, some of which allow additional modifications in order to increase their basic damage, for example through poison. The other class are ranged weapons, such as pistols and rifles, which can be varied in range and effect with a multitude of modifications. The most common types of damage are: physical damage, fire damage, poison damage, electric shock, and spectral damage. In addition, a targeted expansion of certain skills of a hero increases the damage effects of the corresponding weapon class.
monster
During the course of the game, the player encounters a multitude of different monsters, zombies and demons, such as necromancers, ghosts and beasts, which differ not only in appearance, but above all in their skills; As in Diablo II , the higher the monster level, the higher the life and defense points and the damage caused by the monsters. In addition, there are a number of special and random quest monsters, the so-called Super-Uniques, which have to be defeated in order to gain experience and obtain attractive items or to advance in the game.
Quests
The game distinguishes between three different types of quests.
- Mandatory Quests: These storyline quests are mandatory; the players must complete these tasks in order to develop their heroes further.
- Side Quests: Simple quests of eight basic types: collect, explore, guide, pest, hunt, travel, talk and use objects. The side quests are voluntary and can be solved alongside the story mission in order to receive money and items as a reward.
- Random quests: General quests are generated randomly; the NPCs and the corresponding targets appear randomly in the game world. Completing these quests increases the reputation of those involved, reveals new special quests, new products and, among other things, opens up new levels of talent. Some tasks are harder to find than others.
Multiplayer
In addition to the single-player mode, there was a free multiplayer online mode and a paid multiplayer online mode that offered extended functions. In July 2008, the paid multiplayer online mode was discontinued and on February 1, 2009 the online network to Hellgate London managed by Namco Bandai Games was switched off. Since playing via a local area network is not possible, the game no longer has a multiplayer mode for Europe and North America.
development
Hellgate: London is one of the first games to support DirectX 10 , but requires the appropriate hardware and Windows Vista . The music was created by Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan , who previously created music for various first-person shooters and stealth shooters (such as Splinter Cell ).
Several patches have been released over time. For the single player the most important is the final version of the patch 1.2 and for the multiplayer it was the patch 1.0, The Stonehenge Chronicles, which was followed by other smaller patches. Patch 2.0, The Abyss Chronicles, was discontinued in beta status shortly after the flagship studios were closed and the associated test center was closed. On July 4, 2009, a private group from Hellgate: London fans released a revival patch for single player mode.
reception
Reviews
Single player reviews:
- Computer Picture Games : Satisfactory
- Games Current : 82%
- PC Games : 79%
- PC Action : 81%
- GameStar : 80%
Multiplayer reviews:
- PC Games: 75%
- PC Action: 75%
Privacy controversy
A passage in the End User License Agreement (EULA) for Hellgate: London (Content to Use of Data), which is already included in the EULA of the demo version, aroused considerable displeasure among data protectionists and concerned gamers. Those responsible responded with a statement on the official website; there is no reason to be concerned. In the Eula it says among other things: Electronic Arts reserves the right to save the IP addresses of the users for the placement of advertisements and also to save other, allegedly anonymous data on PC and installed software. The stored information should be available to EA, affiliated companies and persons closely related to the company ("related parties"). According to Flagship Studios, however, this was a standard formulation. The search is only for cheat programs and unauthorized modifications to the game files.
Fiction
comics
- Hellgate: London , (The Official Game Comic) by Ian Edginton and Steve Pugh , Panini Verlag , 2007, ISBN 3-8660-7479-4
- Hellgate: London , Volume 1 by Arvid Nelson and Lee Tae-Hang , Tokyopop Verlag, 2008, ISBN 3-8671-9400-9
Novels
- Hellgate: London - Exodus , Volume 1 by Mel Odom , Panini Verlag, 2007, ISBN 3-8332-1646-8
- Hellgate: London - Goetia , Volume 2 by Mel Odom, Panini Verlag, 2008, ISBN 3-8332-1746-4
- Hellgate: London - Alliance , Volume 3 by Mel Odom, Panini Verlag, 2009, ISBN 3-8332-1784-7
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ "HanbitSoft has any and all rights to distribute and service Hellgate: London in South Korea and certain part of Asia excluding Japan." (Accessed on May 15, 2009)
- ↑ Interview on ign.com ( memento of October 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on November 4, 2007
- ↑ Revival Patch on hellgate-london-game.de , accessed on November 4, 2009
- ↑ Evaluation of the ComputerBild games ( memento of the original dated November 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (November 2007, Hellgatelondon.de)
- ↑ Rating of the PC Games (October 2007)
- ↑ Evaluation of the PC Action ( Memento of the original from November 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (October 2007, Hellgatelondon.de)
- ↑ Rating of the Gamestar ( Memento of the original from November 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (October 2007, Hellgatelondon.de)
- ↑ Multiplayer rating of PC games (November 2007)
- ↑ Multiplayer rating of the PC Action ( Memento of the original from November 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (November 2007, Hellgatelondon.de)
- ^ "EULA Explanation: There's no reason to be concerned." ( Memento from January 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
