Let’s get this one out of the best way: Hell is Us isn’t a soulslike. Nor is it an open-world recreation. As a substitute, it goals to separate itself from different motion adventures by emphasising investigation and discovery, ushering you to get misplaced in its weirdness. That’s precisely what occurred to me throughout my two-hour hands-on with developer Rogue Issue’s newest, an arresting combination of medieval and sci-fi aesthetics set towards a 90s European civil battle backdrop. I loved its strategy to tense melee fight encounters and information-gathering puzzles, however what excites me probably the most is what I don’t know – the place its intriguing story will lead me subsequent.
Hell is Us is one of many bleaker video games I’ve performed shortly. Upon coming into a village surrounded by muddy marshland, I’m greeted by a mass grave, our bodies hanging from a tree, and the yearnful strings of an area’s violins. You’ll grow to be used to such scenes through the early hours of venturing via the fictional European nation of Hadea, circa an alternate Nineteen Nineties. It’s a rustic ravaged by civil battle that has lower itself off from the remainder of the world, and the place that principal character Rémi fled as a toddler. Quick ahead years later and he’s again in his homeland having smuggled himself over the border in quest of the dad and mom who despatched him off for a greater life.
The first step of the thriller brings me to a lonely farmhouse, the basement of which the proprietor now calls residence. By means of dialog about my father and the bigger battle at play, I’m in a position to pull on a thread that ultimately reveals the village of Jova as his final recognized location. Hell is Us needs you to take your time speaking to individuals and investigating each avenue of dialog. Certainly, being a wandering detective seems to be as a lot part of its gameplay as its punishing fight (extra on that in a bit). It forces you to look at its world and the individuals trapped in it. You might be disadvantaged of map markers, waypoints, and – because of that 90s setting – a cell phone. As a substitute of these instruments, you might be reliant on instructions and clues given by mouth or learn on scattered notes.
As a way to attain Jova I’ll want a automobile, and it simply so occurs {that a} army APC is parked close by. Retrieving its engine’s misplaced key seems a easy fetch quest at first, however Hell is Us’ emphasis on investigation means this job shortly reveals itself to be a way more complicated downside. I speak to a wounded soldier who provides me tough instructions via a forest, which in flip leads me to a puzzle the place I must match symbols on a door utilizing a contraption. The gateway unlocked, I then delve deep into the tomb inside. This is the place issues get bizarre.
Throughout a dialog at gamescom 2024, artistic director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête revealed to me the affect that Annihilation performs on Hell is Us. The group has been impressed not simply by the visuals of Alex Garland’s placing 2018 movie, but in addition the general off-kilter tone of Jeff VanderMeer’s trilogy of novels it’s primarily based on. It may be heard within the unsettling rating that soundtracks Hadea, full of droning, stuttering electronics and twinkling otherworldliness, however turns into far more evident whenever you’re face-to-face with enemies.
The primary foes take the type of milky white humanoids that transfer slowly but menacingly, echoing photographs from the finale of Garland’s film. Others are extra developed quadrupeds that possess blades for limbs that slice at you in the event you get too shut – I couldn’t assist however consider the necromorphs that hang-out Lifeless House’s corridors when confronted with them. However the horrors don’t finish there. Actually, they’re hidden round each tight nook and in each open discipline. This is greatest exemplified close to the tip of my demo as I enterprise far too close to an enormous shimmering blob of spiking goo and wavy ribbing. It’s a tough factor to try to describe in phrases, and in flip fairly in contrast to anything I’ve ever seen.
To date all of it sounds very sci-fi horror, however that’s only one facet of Hell is Us’ coin, as a result of the best way you cope with these threats is totally medieval fantasy. I shortly uncover that customary weapons don’t have any impact on them, however fortunately quickly obtain a glowing white sword that’s far more efficient. Alongside an ordinary mixture of dodging and blocking, you possibly can slice at enemies with each customary and charged heavy assaults. At its core it is a comparatively primary melee fight system that I discovered pretty unforgiving at occasions (although by no means unfair,) however extra wrinkles do reveal themselves over time. Restoration objects are scarce, so that you’ll largely be counting on the good “therapeutic pulse” system, which is triggered by hitting the appropriate bumper button when a burst of particles emerges from an enemy after hitting them. It encourages aggression when enjoying, and saved me on the entrance foot when trying to find a well being top-up, simply as a few of my favorite action-heavy video games like Management and Doom Everlasting do.
This doesn’t imply you possibly can go in all blades blazing, nonetheless, because the size of your stamina bar is straight linked to the quantity of well being you may have left. This implies you possibly can solely get a success or two in when close to loss of life earlier than needing to hold again and relaxation a second. Ought to you end up in want of a serving to hand, you possibly can name upon your drone companion who, amongst different skills, can distract enemies when you sneak up on them for a essential hit. This isn’t essentially a stealth recreation, however it’s good to know the choice is there.
Alongside particular assaults, these programs all mix to create a tense dance in every fight encounter that’s a constant thrill to navigate via, particularly when confronted with extra complicated threats. A major instance of such foes are these linked to glowing, pulsating entities which are colour-coded relying on the kind of assault they use. For instance, the crimson ones plow into you, whereas the yellow ones assault from vary. Deal sufficient injury to them they usually’ll retreat into their fleshier counterparts and make them susceptible.
Throughout my playtime, I additionally received my palms on a number of different weapons, too, corresponding to a really cool pair of dual axes that unleashed flurries of charged assaults, and a hulking polearm that delivered gradual however heavy hits. The latter appeared a wholly non-obligatory discover, too, unlocked by accumulating a collection of historical medallions and slotting them right into a facet door hidden within the catacombs. It’s good to see the investigation facet of the sport resulting in new treasures and cleverly built-in into these open zone areas, quite than simply being there to disclose story info.
In fact, this fight is what stands between Rémi and him being reunited along with his father. That connection will stay misplaced in the interim, nonetheless, as upon arriving in Jova it is revealed that he left city with the worldwide peacekeeping forces. The journey continues and the subsequent stage of the investigation is underway as I wander round talking to weary, generally dismissive, villagers. There’s clearly some deeper thriller at play too, as alien languages and arresting sci-fi gothic structure lurk underground, ready to emerge and reveal their secrets and techniques. It’s value noting that Hell is Us is placing all through, no coincidence when you think about Jacques-Belletête was an artwork director of each Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided – two video games which have stood the take a look at of time extremely effectively from a stylistic perspective.
It’s this willingness to only get a bit bizarre that makes me so inspired by what I’ve performed of Hell is Us. Its 90s setting and acceptable lack of contemporary know-how is not solely a automobile to encourage real exploration, but in addition looks like a throwback to a decade the place video games held your hand somewhat extra loosely. I, for one, welcome it, and stay up for seeing the place Hell is Us leads me to subsequent.
Simon Cardy is additionally up for wallowing in bleakness. Comply with him on Twitter at @CardySimon.