This is a somewhat convoluted story.
Hellgate: London was originally released back in 2007, as an excellent action RPG, like Diablo II or Borderlands.
I played the hell out this game, one of my favorite games of all time.
The game company, Flagship Studios, went bankrupt, and a Korean developer, Handbitsoft, bought the IP. They took the IP, and turned it into an MMO, for mainly S. Korean players. It lasted several years. They nerfed the rate of experience game, added a fifth act, Tokyo, and established a number of pay walls and pay to win items for their MMO.
Their MMO also fell on hard times, and died.
So...Hanbitsoft re-imagined this game back into a single person game, and put it on steam for about $10. Gone are the micro transactions, but there do exist quite a few gameplay enhancements, left over from the time this game spent as an MMO, exept for the last Tokyo act. This last act is still being cleaned up to work in single player.
No multi player mode, no micro transactions for bag space, no top tier bosses hidden behind a pay wall.
I love this game..and wanted to share this with the community.
How does the game hold up graphics wise after all that time?
Quote from: Gusington on November 17, 2018, 01:02:51 PM
How does the game hold up graphics wise after all that time?
Surprising well. It is a DX9 product, so there are some minor issues.
I would suggest looking at a new youtube video from killrob. Killrob has the newest steam version. Most other videos are either from bootleg, older variants, or those associated with the old MMO.
Thanks for posting - I was very interested in this game when it was released originally but never picked it up. If the single player is still solid I may get it this time around.
Quote from: Gusington on November 17, 2018, 01:13:40 PM
Thanks for posting - I was very interested in this game when it was released originally but never picked it up. If the single player is still solid I may get it this time around.
This is a very complex, solid action RPG. Rip up poor quality weapons and armor, to get materials of varying quality to build new gear. Blueprints can be found as loot, as can various types of mods.
Weapons can have mod slots, up to EIGHT of them. A fancy Markmanship's sniper rifle can be decked out to be something that is just ... beastly!
All gear can be trans-mogrified (for a steep price) to be changed from normal to uncommon, or from rare to elite.
All things considered, my favorite ARPG game of all time, and I played all Diablo's, all Torchlights, all Sacred's, and all Borderlands' IP's.
Favorite of all time?? WHAT
How many hours of gameplay are there, if you had to guess?
Quote from: Gusington on November 17, 2018, 05:27:26 PM
Favorite of all time?? WHAT
How many hours of gameplay are there, if you had to guess?
As a guess, perhaps 60 hours per each archetype, 8 of those.
Each type has three skill trees, and having played all of them, with multiple builds, I would say in the several hundreds.
If you have played Titan Quest, it would be comparable. Call it several hundred hours.
Unfortunately I find these games the most fun in a multiplayer setting where you can trade stuff and show off you gear.
I was all over the original game as well. I even uppef my data rate with the ISP for it at the time! The setting was unique and graphically it was superb at the time.
It was a big big dissapointment to see it fail and susequently turned into some Korean P2W grindfest.
Imagine enjoying the original online/subscription game so much that you buy the £100 lifetime subscription, and then they shut shop. Then they reopen shop without your lifetime subscription. And now after beating it senseless and microtransactioning it up on the Korean market, they're stripping it of its multiplayer and trying to sell it to us lot again.
"It was developed by a team led by former Blizzard Entertainment employees, some of whom had overseen the creation of the Diablo series."
It was a pretty good cyberpunk demonic hellscape shoot-a-thon loot-a-matic. It was great. But it was ripped apart and prostituted out, and now its back, to whore itself all over again. Makes me sad.
Some screenshots I took at the time..
(https://i.imgur.com/MDq6smj.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/11g7XzV.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/PVTjR4s.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/a4JySuy.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/X2GSMYe.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/aZH7aWx.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/8FiltL6.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/iBwigsR.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/fPwW0LU.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/UqjLjYj.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/uZyxspR.jpg)
So this is just a cash grab or can I fall in love with it the way DennisS did all those years ago?
Oh man, spelk, I am with you 100% on this! I was a lifetimer as well!
No way they are getting a cent from me anymore.
I guess if you are ok with SP the game could still be fun Gus!
I'm having some fun with this game, but it didn't age that well.
@Spelk, it was originally an SP game. After it failed the first time, it was relaunched as a "MMORPG".
All right, calm down.
The original developers, Flagship, created a brilliant game. Many of these guys were from Blizzard North, that created Diablo II.
They fell on hard times, and sold it to the Korean company, Hanbitsoft. You can't blame them for getting something for their IP.
Now...the South Koreans created a cash cow MMO, with subscriptions, pay to win, micro-transactions, everything. The gameplay was modified to fit an MMO...much, MUCH slower leveling, and of course, multi-player. In addition to all this, a fifth act, Tokyo, was created.
The MMO also fell on hard times, and failed.
I have been a part of other MMO's that failed, notably Pirates of the Burning Sea, which I enjoyed immensely. I am still not happy with that. Naval Action is going that way, as well.
But....this is a GOOD game. GUS - Go for it. $9.74 on Steam. I have wasted four times that much on junk.
IF you liked Titan Quest, Sacred, Torchlight, Diablo 2 or 3, and/or Borderlands, you should enjoy this game a lot. I have thousands of hours in the six games mentioned, and I liked Hellgate: London as much, or more, than any of them.
For those that feel burned by the failure of the MMO, I get it. You don't wish to support Hanbitsoft. I have a few game companies that I refuse to support as well...but it doesn't stop this game from being a blast to play.
I don't think that the graphics are dated at all - that's pretty much what London and Londoners look like these days.
I think this all happens after Brexit. :)
Quote from: Father Ted on November 18, 2018, 01:37:20 PM
I don't think that the graphics are dated at all - that's pretty much what London and Londoners look like these days.
*chuckles*
I think for the gameplay type Grim Dawn would be a much better buy by now.
Hellgate hasn't aged too well (I don't think so at least) and the game probably will remain as poorly supported as it has always been.
Keep an eye on Steam's sales and you'll be able to pick up GD for about the same price as Hellgate.
The memories of the adventures in Hellgate are interesting, but time has caught up and the underground won't be riding anymore. :)
What would be interesting though is if the game ever gets its MP back if my lifetime sub will provide any benefits after all those years. Lol
Btw I would try to get the original game and then go here:
https://london2038.com/
That's probably the best Hellgate has ever been and will ever be.
But you'll need to original game, not Hanbitsoft's version.
^Hahaha!!
You're right Dennis - for ~10.00 and many many hours, I will go for it.
Quote from: DennisS on November 18, 2018, 01:29:35 PM
For those that feel burned by the failure of the MMO, I get it. You don't wish to support Hanbitsoft. I have a few game companies that I refuse to support as well...but it doesn't stop this game from being a blast to play.
The lost lifetime subs was a bitter blow for me..
This was a game I was going to spend a lot of time in.
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It's not the MMO subs that has me gashing and wailing, its the fact that I was a lifetime supporter and dumped a whole lot of my money into this, and was sold down the river. I was a beta tester, and pre-orderer and lifetime subber. Then the Lifetime sub meant nothing.
I haven't seen the game after it was totally buggered about with. And this version, is a doctored Korean version, to function like the SP.
I'd probably pay the £8 or so, just to play it again, and see what they did to it. But this thing isn't going to run on my Linux box without some major work, if at all.
I'll just go play some Borderlands or W40k Inquisitor Martyr instead.
It was good at the time, I loved it. If you're curious, give it a whirl its certainly cheap enough now, but know that it has been buggered about with, and you're not getting the true Bill Roper version.
Quote from: Yskonyn on November 18, 2018, 02:07:00 PM
Quote from: Father Ted on November 18, 2018, 01:37:20 PM
I don't think that the graphics are dated at all - that's pretty much what London and Londoners look like these days.
*chuckles*
I think for the gameplay type Grim Dawn would be a much better buy by now.
Hellgate hasn't aged too well (I don't think so at least) and the game probably will remain as poorly supported as it has always been.
Keep an eye on Steam's sales and you'll be able to pick up GD for about the same price as Hellgate.
The memories of the adventures in Hellgate are interesting, but time has caught up and the underground won't be riding anymore. :)
What would be interesting though is if the game ever gets its MP back if my lifetime sub will provide any benefits after all those years. Lol
grim dawn on sale at humblebundle for 7.50 right now. think i will grab it!
Quote from: spelk on November 18, 2018, 06:27:17 PM
Quote from: DennisS on November 18, 2018, 01:29:35 PM
For those that feel burned by the failure of the MMO, I get it. You don't wish to support Hanbitsoft. I have a few game companies that I refuse to support as well...but it doesn't stop this game from being a blast to play.
The lost lifetime subs was a bitter blow for me..
This was a game I was going to spend a lot of time in.
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It's not the MMO subs that has me gashing and wailing, its the fact that I was a lifetime supporter and dumped a whole lot of my money into this, and was sold down the river. I was a beta tester, and pre-orderer and lifetime subber. Then the Lifetime sub meant nothing.
I haven't seen the game after it was totally buggered about with. And this version, is a doctored Korean version, to function like the SP.
I'd probably pay the £8 or so, just to play it again, and see what they did to it. But this thing isn't going to run on my Linux box without some major work, if at all.
I'll just go play some Borderlands or W40k Inquisitor Martyr instead.
It was good at the time, I loved it. If you're curious, give it a whirl its certainly cheap enough now, but know that it has been buggered about with, and you're not getting the true Bill Roper version.
That sucks, can see why your pissed. Did you get anything for your lifetime sub? Did the company go under, and the main people just reform anther company? I guess integrity isn't a big thing in the gaming cash grab world in some parts.
Nope, the plug was pulled just like that. No reimbursement whatsoever.
Broken game, broken lifetime sub.
Quote from: CptHowdy on November 18, 2018, 11:06:39 PM
grim dawn on sale at humblebundle for 7.50 right now. think i will grab it!
And GD has multiplayer, too.
I enjoyed Hellgate back in the day. The setting was fantastic. I saw where it was going when it went money sink and didn't stick around long. Despite having wanted multiplayer in it after getting the original release. :-\
Also seeing a steady amount of people reporting regular 1 FPS bottom outs in this Steam version.
Probably gonna wait and see if such things get fixed before taking a trip down nostalgia lane.