Metal af

Heavy Metal music has always been a bit of an enigma to me. I have heard lots of bands, and songs and even found a few that I could dig but for the most part I only prefer to listen to this music when I am destroying hordes of demons or other monsters that need slaying. Enter Metal: Hellsinger; which takes the atmosphere and mile a minute demon killing from the latest Doom releases and smashes it up with the patience and timing of a rhythm game.

In Metal: Hellsinger players take on the role of a lost soul simply known as “The Unknown” and she is on a quest to retrieve her stolen voice by facing the ruler of Hell, The Red Judge. Early on in her quest she comes across a sentient skull whose name is Paz, and he functions as the game’s narrator as well as one of the weapons that the Unknown will use to destroy her enemies. There isn’t a lot of real depth to Metal: Hellsinger’s narrative, its decent enough and moves along the plot but the draw here is the demon killing, not some gothic epic tale but for what its worth, Paz is funny which helps bring some levity to the ‘doom and gloom’. (pun intended)

MSRP: $39.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $39.99

Let’s talk about demon killing, as I said Metal: Hellsinger is also a rhythm game, which means that before I could even fire off a shot I needed to calibrate my TV to ensure my buttons were synched correctly. Our editor had some issues and was unable to get set up correctly, so make sure you take the time to check this out. As players move through the level they will notice the beat in the center of the screen. The goal is to time shots to be in sync with the beat, the moment the arrows touch. If successful not only will players deal extra damage, but they will notice the music starts to swell as more instruments and bass is added with each successful shot of the beat. In order to keep the momentum players can keep the beat going by performing other actions such as dashing or reloading to the beat.

One of the cooler aspects of the game is that keeping the beat of the song high will be represented in the environment, there will be fire animations and explosions and things that occur around the level this is referred to as “the natural rhythm of the universe” in game and its pretty freaking cool to see. Of course, if you receive any damage from enemies this will stop your beat, and the music will start to grow quiet, luckily players will never “fail” a level for not maintaining a beat like in Guitar Hero or Rock Band and a game over screen is only met if they run out of health, which players can find around the walls of levels as green crystals.

It wasn’t all ‘Guns N Roses’ though, speaking of my time with Hellsinger. For one the game is quite short, with 9 levels of hell to fight through for the main story. There are side missions that players can take on that will help to upgrade their abilities as well, these are known as Torrents and they work similar to the trial missions from Doom that would reward players with a rune to upgrade Doomguy. These add to the playtime but are not necessarily needed to enjoy or even finish the game. The first few bosses were fun and different, but they quickly become repetitive, not in design but approach. Granted there is only so many ways to shoot a demon but by the end of the game I was bored of the boss fights.

Metal: Hellsinger is a raw, old-school style of FPS, which a kick ass soundtrack that showcases a new rhythm mechanic (using original music from the team) while including lots of things from the recent versions of the Doom franchise. ‘Glory Kills’, air dashing and more are all here but even with those elements the developers have done enough to make Metal: Hellsinger feel different and unique all on its own. Its inclusion of the rhythm mechanics and even the ‘bullet hell’ aspects of some fights that have players dodging bullets and enemies around an arena is one of those things. This might not be the best example of a demon slaying game done right, but this is a fantastic tribute to those that have come before and a great example of thinking outside the box and taking a change on something different in a sea of sameness.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.