Hellgate: London Is Back On Steam… As A Single-Player Asian MMO?
Hellgate: London is back on Steam, but it's not what you expect it to be. It's a single-player game in the vein of Asian MMOs.
Over a decade ago, gamers all across the world, and in London (probably) were anticipating the launch of Hellgate: London. The action role-playing game (ARPG, and yes, I will use the term) was seen as a herald of great things to come for the genre. Many expected it to be the next Diablo or a cross between that and Doom. After all, it was going to be in full 3D and would be akin to an FPS/RPG hybrid. All of that hype led to disappointment when the game released with a number of bugs. Likewise, its repetitive combat and narrative structure were criticized. It disappeared for a time when developer Flagship Studios shut down. It would resurface every now and then until today — it’s finally back on Steam… as a single-player title? From Korean publisher HanbitSoft? What the hell just happened to Hellgate: London?
Gimme A Hell Yeah… Or Not?
That’s the gameplay you can expect from Hellgate: London courtesy of YouTuber TheBlueDragon. To be more precise, this isn’t necessarily the Hellgate: London you might’ve remembered. It’s the Korean MMO counterpart. Yes, there have actually been attempts to keep the Hellgate franchise going after the servers originally shut down in 2009.
Korean publisher HanbitSoft acquired the rights to the game. First, it was released as a free-to-play game in South Korea titled Hellgate London: Resurrection. Later, Hellgate: Tokyo came out as well. That was followed by Hellgate Global popping up on the Steam Greenlight page. We did say back then that it looked like a “cash grab.” There’s also the rumored VR game set in the same universe.
Fast forward to the present and it looks as though Hellgate: London’s re-release (or rather, Hellgate Global’s) is fairly tame if unspectacular. There will be no microtransactions; everything can be obtained in-game. As we’ve seen, the game will be easier as well with faster leveling and decreased difficulty. It’s also been mentioned that the game will have 60 quests for its main storyline and 300 sidequests with rewards. Also, thousands of items are apparently available.
Sadly, it remains to be seen if these will offer any variety or if they’d hook new players. Remember, this is a single-player game. You’re all by your lonesome as you quest and explore in a game that looks like an MMO from the early-2000s (DX10 support isn’t even available). We might as well call it an MSORPG — a minuscule single-player online RPG, right?
If ever you feel like checking it out, you can visit the Steam store page here.
