Metal: Hellsinger can hardly be called original. Rhythm shooters existed before it – two years ago BPM: BULLETS PER MINUTE was released with similar gameplay. And there are even more shooters about killing demons from hell – just remember DOOM . However, the new product is still catchy, despite the obvious borrowings. And perhaps it is thanks to them.
Without a voice, but with guns
Once upon a time, a new soul appeared in hell, which arrived not just to boil in a cauldron, but to find an old enemy and regain its stolen voice. The demons didn’t come up with a name for her, so they called her Nameless. The Lady of the Underworld (who is more often called the Judge) did not like the Nameless One, so she imprisoned her for a long time. With outside help, the heroine got out of captivity and set off to crush demons and look for a way to find her voice again.
At first, only a sword is available to the player, but already with it you can understand how the gameplay works. We find ourselves in a linear location, which is a set of arenas, and must kill every demon we meet, otherwise the doors to the next “rooms” will not open. But mindlessly swinging your sword is not recommended – it’s better to keep in time with the music playing in the background. Therefore, before starting the passage, it is proposed to undergo calibration, which determines whether the game will respond to your clicks with a delay.
The plot lacks stars from the sky, so I paid almost no attention to it in the review. Just a series of cute videos that allow you to relax between levels.
A sense of rhythm is also important when using firearms. At first it is a skull that shoots bolts of energy (analogous to a pistol), then a shotgun, a crossbow and other specimens appear. The arsenal is not the richest, but it is enough. Guns behave completely differently – a crossbow, for example, fires exploding bolts.
Methodically and in a timely manner
Whatever weapon you choose, you can’t escape the need to use it to the beat of the music. When you shoot or swing your sword at the right time, you deal several times more damage to the enemy. In battles with skinny demons, this is not so important, but if you encounter more dangerous creatures, it is advisable to catch the rhythm – otherwise you will run in circles for a long time and will probably lose your health.
The game constantly throws up new monsters: there are jumping swordsmen, and shooting shield bearers, and flying seraphs that shoot with lasers, and similar insects that spit acid. In many situations, the dash saves you, allowing you to quickly move to a safe place. It is especially useful against enemies that fire several projectiles towards the player at once or create a blast wave – in the second half Metal: Hellsinger you meet people like this more and more often.
But not only do you need to shoot on time. Half of the guns require reloading after the clip is empty. It happens relatively quickly, but it can be sped up by again pressing the button at the right moment. Arrows moving towards the sight tell you when to press – one of them turns yellow.
The jerk can also be done to https://wickedjackpotscasino.co.uk/ the beat of the music, but I could not understand whether this affects anything. Doesn’t increase rage, doesn’t change combos.
And you also need to finish off your opponents on the beat. Here the developers are completely shamelessly copying the latest DOOM — weakened enemies blink, and the player needs to quickly eliminate them by pressing the stick. For this you restore health, which otherwise can only be replenished with the help of green crystals on the wall, and their number is limited. Moreover, if you can shoot and reload at any time, then you need to finish off only in time – otherwise the animation will not start, and the demon will come to his senses faster. IN DOOM it was necessary to get close to the enemy, but here finishing moves can be activated at a fairly large distance – after all, we are not playing as an infantryman in heavy armor.
At first, the sense of rhythm may let you down, but over time you use the mechanics better and better. Yes, Hellsinger really reminds me DOOM — and the design of locations, and the behavior of some opponents, and cruelty. And since DOOM – an excellent game, even its imitators are capable of arousing interest. However, here the developers have made more than just a shooter about shooting demons and force the player to move in an unusual manner, pausing and eliminating targets one by one. If in DOOM the faster you kill the demons, the cooler it looks, but here haste does not always lead to good results.
Red crystals explode when fired and injure not only opponents, but also the protagonist. Greens allow you to quickly restore health.
Hell’s Song
First of all, playing to the beat of the music is necessary to maintain the rage multiplier. When you just start passing a level, the soundtrack is almost inaudible – only drums sound. Each time the rage increases, more instruments are added, and at 16x the vocal track is turned on:
This is also not a new idea – just remember Devil May Cry 5, where, for the sake of the chorus of the Devil Trigger song, I wanted to maintain the S rank during battles. However, the unoriginality of the mechanics does not make the soundtrack worse – here, too, you try not to lose the multiplier, since with vocals the songs become even more catchy. Whether it’s the growl of the vocalist of the band Soilwork or the wonderful voice Alyssa White-Glaz (Alissa White-Gluz) from Arch Enemy – when the singing starts, you feel at the peak of your form and as if you even start playing better.
All these mechanics are combined in such a way that over time you stop thinking about borrowing and just enjoy the process. The main thing is to figure out which weapon you like best. Double revolvers? Powerful shotgun? Ravens of the underworld, representing something like two boomerangs? But each gun also has an alternative fire mode, when you accumulate charge by killing demons. Boomerangs begin to spin around the character, the skull-pistol freezes targets, and they then simultaneously explode when one of them is eliminated..
Don’t get tired of it
There are eight levels in total, each of which lasts about 20 minutes, so after more than two hours the story campaign will be completed. Not enough, but enough to make you want more and not get tired of the game. However, this is not all the available content – in addition to completing the story at different difficulty levels, you can take on bonus challenges that are launched through the level selection menu.
In some “challenges” you start with 10 seconds and must kill opponents in time – only then time is added to the timer. In some cases, only eliminations using an alternative fire mode count – simple kills do not earn points. There are tests where after defeating each enemy the weapon changes, so you try to use powerful guns against strong demons, otherwise you won’t have time to pass. Of course, I would like to compare this with runic tests from DOOM, but here at least you don’t need to look for them – they open after completing each level.
Rewards for victories in “challenges” are sigils, passive abilities that can be taken with you on story missions. One prevents rage from falling below a certain level, the other increases damage dealt when health is low. Some sigils affect the hit streak bonus – if you shoot accurately (and on time) and don’t take damage, you get more points at the end of the level.
In general, those who like to improve their results and fight for places in the record tables will definitely love Metal: Hellsinger. The final score here depends on many indicators: hits and kills per beat, the length of a series of hits, the speed of completing the level, headshots and finishing moves, mass kills and damage received are taken into account. Although I’m rarely interested in hunting for high scores, here I decided to replay several levels to improve my score – when you know what awaits you and unlock useful sigils and all types of weapons, you feel more confident.
What’s disappointing about the gameplay is the bosses at the end of each level. The developers seem to have saved money and made them look identical – these are bony birds flying above the ground, which periodically teleport and summon packs of enemies. Their abilities are different, as well as the dangers in the arenas – sometimes fire traps get in the way, sometimes the floor disappears. But the external similarity of the bosses blurs the impression. But the final boss is oh so good – both in terms of mechanics, and in terms of musical accompaniment, and in terms of design.
You can only find out what level the boss in the screenshot is from thanks to the location – it’s impossible to tell by his appearance.
The authors of Metal: Hellsinger seemed to not care about the claims of those who would accuse them of copying ideas. They wanted to make a rhythm shooter in the spirit of DOOM – they did it. It turned out great: the “trick” of shooting in time with the music works, and the soundtrack consists entirely of beautiful heavy rock, which you’ll want to listen to separately from the game. At the same time, you will better grasp the rhythm – it will certainly help when you return to the old levels to go through all the circles of hell again and win high places in the leaderboard.
Pros: exciting "meat" gameplay in the spirit DOOM, only with rhythm shooter mechanics; various levels; a sufficient number of weapons and enemies so that it doesn’t get boring; excellent soundtrack that gets better and better as you achieve success in battle; additional entertainment outside the story campaign.
Cons: there are not enough of our own ideas – we have already seen them all somewhere; bosses look the same (but their abilities are different).