That was always my biggest issue. The game is really ugly. Drab environments, busy UI, clunky looking assets. Even the stills on this revamped version using newer Hellgate: Tokyo stuff just looks bad.
I really liked the art and look of the environments, other than how repetitive they became. Best creatures in an action RPG since the original Diablo.
Main thing that was hard to get over, for me, was the poor writing. It’s really, really bad, and just distracting. But the setting was one of the more interesting - the immediate aftermath of an invasion of demons that we lost. Even the comic was written terribly. In part, that lack of quality affected other aspects of the game, as armor/weapons were designed to be consistent with the incoherent fiction. This was the game that made me really realize how important professional writers are, and how the lack of them can ruin even a very good premise with interesting ideas.
\
I really enjoyed this when it came out and was sad to see it go.
Tonight I found my retail copy, and manual and all and installed it along with the 1.2 patch from Fileplanet (no less) and I was good to go. The graphics still hold up in a way, and the game runs without issue on Windows 10 and modern hardware
Was interested in the Steam release, but since there is no multiplayer, not sure what else it might offer that my old retail copy doesn’t.
Well it’s out, and I’m playing an engineer. Drones and bots are SO FUN.
What the heck Steam, I thought you were supposed to email me when my wishlisted games come out? For 10 bucks this might end up being my weekend.
Any other impressions?
Only finished one quest so far, level 3 at the moment. So fun.
Same here. Wtf.
How weird.
Downloading now… we’ll see how memory and reality come together.
Seems like half of the negative reviews are idiots complaining about the game lacking multiplayer… on a game that clearly only says single player on the store page.
Really, I just wish Steam would moderate and remove the most idiotic reviews. I always feel bad for devs getting a worse score than necessary because people cannot even be bothered to read a game description.
How do the graphics hold up? I actually bought this back I the day and have the DVD somewhere…I remember it being kinda fun.
Well… it is a game from 2007 that did not receive any noticeable upgrades since then.
Everything looks low-res (because, by today’s standards, it is).
If that disturbs you or not, only you can know ;)
I’m fine with it, the game was never beautiful to begin with.
I read a few reviews and it seems the original Hellgate had multiplayer and for some reason this re-release does not? I could see being irked buying this game expecting to play with friends, if that’s how you played the game in 2007.
But it’s clear on the page that it is an SP re-release. People are unfairly projecting their anger at the developer instead of their reading comprehension.
That’s what the store page is for.
If people don’t read it, it is their own damn fault, not the game’s. Or the developer’s.
Having read through many of the most helpful negative reviews, I didn’t see any of them criticizing it due to being single player only. While I am sure there may be some, this isn’t the driver for the level of negative reviews.
Oh, I did not mean to imply it is. It is just one source of negative reviews that’s just not valid. It’s not the only thing or game getting hit by that and I am a tad angry that steam won’t do anything about that. But yea, the game has enough other problems too.
Absolutely. It is nowhere near as bug- and issue-free as a 10 year old game should be.
It still has the same framerate-drop bug that plagued the original, even: just suddenly going to 1-5 fps for a prolonged period and then back as if nothing happened. During that time, there is no increased CPU or GPU consumption, either. It is all a big mystery, and I bet it is to the developers, as well.
Must be a “present” from the original devs ;)
There are some other (though minor) issues, too.
Some UI issues, some explanation not being totally clear, etc.
It would be a hard game to judge, for some of its downsides are hardly its fault, given that this is NOT an HD remake, but merely a re-release.
But I think for just 10€, you get a good Diablo 2-clone from first/third person in a “fresh” setting.
It looks like they’re going to patch it, though, so I’m curious what they are going to patch that hasn’t been patched in the Korean version already.
Partially, they’re going to patch in the Hellgate: Tokyo content. It was originally going to launch with it, but they posted a warning about it missing launch a couple of days ago.
The next Braben Elite game will not support joysticks. BUT THAT’S OKAY BECAUSE IT WILL SAY SO ON THE STORE PAGE!
That said – if I remember correctly, the original game was also single player… sort of. It had that weird hybrid launch-single-player or launch-multiplayer version.
And the multiplayer version was the one that would get all the new content, but had a monthly fee, etc. The very obtuse business model really helped kill the company, along with a few other missteps.
Does the SP game work in offline mode? i seem to recall the original had some weird online requirement. Hopefully I am wrong.