It's been a long time coming. Diablo II is still being played worldwide because it's an addictive time-waster with a surprisingly large amount of depth buried under all the seemingly mindless clicking. And fans who have been playing ever since the release so many years ago have probably tried a number of "Diablo killers" over the years, from FATE to Titan Quest to the recent Loki. None have stood up to the Blizzard juggernaut because they all lack a certain hard-to-pin-down quality that just doesn't addict you like the Diablo games did. But who else could reproduce that than the top talent that actually made the Diablo games? It was quite a while back that 17 key Blizzard developers left the company to become Flagship Studios. Now they are their own bosses and they are making their own game, Hellgate: London, which is set for a release this coming Halloween.
I got the chance to play around in the beta for Hellgate and I'll say right now that while this game starts out feeling a bit too much like a shallow first- or third-person shooter, that ends pretty quickly and it's not long before those addictive qualities that made Diablo consume players start becoming apparent here. The setting for Hellgate is a post-apocalyptic version of the streets and tunnels of London where you fight the forces of Hell that have already conquered the world. Life has changed a lot for the few mortals left, and the same demonic power that conquered Earth has come into the hands of humans. Others fight with technology, others with sheer will power and spirit. You'll choose one of three factions, each of which includes two classes, and blast, swing, and cast your way through the demonic hordes to try and put the world right again.
The Classes
Most of my time spent in the beta so far has been with the Marksman, part of the Hunter faction, and the Summoner, part of the Cabalist faction. While I spent a lot of time firing guns on both characters, that's pretty much where the similarities end. The Marksman relies on using stances to boost gun damage to ridiculous levels and tossing out special attacks and grenades for extra damage. While there are plenty of weapons in this game that can do burst damage, area effect fire, toxic splash, you name it, some of the Marksman's most powerful abilities are best used when you've got something a little closer to a sniper rifle. The Summoner's weaponry plays more of a finish-the-monsters-off support role, as you get to bring up quite a few pets to roll with you and take on the hordes. Most of these pets are of the elemental variety, although a couple of demons are thrown in for good measure. By adding skill points in, you can improve your pets' abilities and add new summons to cover multiple types of damage simultaneously.
There are two melee classes: the Templar Blademaster can wield a pair of swords and works out as a damage-dealing melee class (although some guns are still available), while the Templar Guardian is a defensive melee class with a shield who usually does best when totally surrounded by the enemy. There's also the Hunter Engineer who builds robots and equips them with weapons that have been crafted, bought, or looted from monsters, and finally, the Cabalist Evoker, who is the closest thing to a Mage in this game. If, of course, we're talking about Mages with guns.
Lots of guns, and lots of mods
Yes, guns. Every player in Hellgate gets access to guns, although some will depend on them more than others. You'll need to hone your action game skills here, as you'll need to aim pretty much all of your guns - depending on the type of weapon and your Accuracy statistic, the spread of your shots can be pinpoint-precise or totally wild. There are a ton of guns in this game with all kinds of unique and cool attributes, some of which are better for some classes than others. Some are just plain rocket launchers and grenade launchers, but the more interesting stuff comes when you start firing out fields of toxic gas or spill fire onto the floor, hold demons in place for your buddies to kill, pull them toward you if you would like to get up close, or even control the minds of enemies. Even these descriptions barely scratch the surface, though, as Hellgate's sheer variety of weaponry and modification systems really makes for infinite combinations.
If you thought that tossing gems or runes into your weapons in Diablo II to be a lot of fun and got to the point where your fighting strategy revolved around your socket choices, then you're going to love Hellgate. Many weapons come with multiple modification slots - Relic, Battery, Fuel, and Ammo, maybe even multiples - and some weapons have up to seven spots to fill with mods (all of which are actually visible on your weapon when you hold it). As you wade through the demonic forces, you'll find these mods of varying qualities that you can install into your weapons to not only add damage, but also to add unique properties that often can stack up to dish out some real pain.
