Flagship's Hellgate: London

So it appears to be big news that the May issue of PC Gamer has a cover article on Hellgate: London, the new game in development at Flagship Studios (the ex-Blizzard designers and executives including Bill Roper). I'm surprised this has become such a big news topic as I got my copy of PC Gamer earlier in the week.

Oh well, here is the gist of the article (there are some spoilers):

• The game plays from a FPS perspective but many Diablo-style play elements -- paper doll inventory, random level design, tons of unique loot, different classes, single-player and multi-player play options.
• It is set five years after a war against demons has already been lost. London is depicted as a burnt out shell of itself and the demons are in the process of "hellaforming" earth to make it more suitable for their kind. Only a handful of humans have survived.
• The game is expected to ship in 2006, will appear on PCs and Macs, and will be published by Namco.
• Although it looks like a FPS it's actually an RPG since it "is not a twitch-based experience". Also because combat is entirely stat based and not twitch-based. Hits, misses, and damage will depend on the stats of your character and their weapons, and ranged weapons are referred to as "spell delivery systems".
• The game will be played about half below ground, the other half topside. London was primarily chosen as the setting because it has many "natural dungeons" such as subways and aqueducts and authentic London locations will appear in the game.
• Only one character class was revealed, the knight-like Templars. They were said to be the most effective force against the demons during the war (but yet they were still defeated).
• Character customization exists but details were not revealed.
• A third person view will probably exist, for melee fighting and viewing your character (there will be a "vanity mode" so you can view your character and his cool loot).
• Level layouts will be randomly generated (so how will they get the authentic London locations into the levels?). There will be random quests and branching paths, all leading to tons of replay value.
• Quests will be designed to push the story forward, with a minimum of FedEx style missions.
• Most weapons, but not all, will be futuristic with destroyed demons dropping many items and weapons. All weapons will possess unique stats, even those that are essentially identical (such as two Peacemaker Pistols). Weapons will have slots where relics can be affixed that add additional damage (like socketed weapons and gems in Diablo). There's also the possibility of the equivalent of a Horadic Cube.
• Some specific weapons include the Harp weapon, which temporarily stuns monsters; the Vulcan Bolter, which shoots fireballs; the Tempest Gun, which fires a round of ball lightning; the Zeus Rifle, which fires an electrical attack that can arc between multiple enemies; and the Peacemaker Pistol, which fires round that ricochets off walls.
• PC Gamer is guessing there will be a total of 50 levels within the game, many if not all of them randomly generated.
• Leveling up provides skill points that can be spent in three categories: offensive, passive auras, and combo moves. The skill system is still in development, but one possibility being considered is the inclusion of sub-classes.
• Multiplayer will exist and support 16 to 32 players. Co-op gameplay will be emphasized, but deathmatch is a possibility, and you will not be able to play as a demon.
• NPC's will join with your character form time to time, apparently only on a temporary basis, although they may reappear further along in the game.
• PC Gamer speculated that the series will continue in new locations throughout the world, such as Las Vegas and Rome.

Wow, it sounds an awful like a 3D FPS of Diablo, doesn't it?

Posted by Gaming Steve at 5:00 PM | Comments (5) | Posted to PC | Preview |