HÖLL SPACE 5D6 - Lets plays of this action rpg Diamond in a LOT of rough
4A diamond in the rough BUT has a lot of rough to polish out. Having played this for around an hour I was left with a large measure of both feeling impressed and incredibly frustrated at the same time.
Pros: Story
The ship or whatever we are on in places looks visually impressive. Has some really nice flooring and really helps generate atmosphere by creating an element of horror that an experiment gone wrong has occurred? I'm guessing they have resurrected to many times and turned into the mindless creations we are now facing. Not having any story to work with does utilise your imagination of what is going on. Weird gas that beats us up at least audibly is a first.
Cons: Story
I have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on. It is in dire need of either cut scenes or some lore to at least fill some of the gaps in to why we are there in the first place. With the resurrection portal did we die to begin with like everyone else and get lucky or was it part of the plan? Are the slightly less resurrected looking solders just in a stasis of killing the even less human? Also weird gas that audibly beats us up why?
Graphics
Pros: As a I touched upon the story the ship looks impressive in places with the sun above particularly looking fantastic. They have created a huge sprawling area full of areas. Areas that are well lit really create this sort of dystopian space horror vibe and it shows the game has a LOT of potential. Enemy models look good close up.
Cons:
Its TO DARK!! to the point its impossible to play in places. I understand darkness is used as a scare mechanism but there's a little between using it for atmosphere and making the player unable to traverse hazardous terrain without the opportunity to stay alive. Maybe stick a torch on the gun or make the game significantly brighter, It is very bi-polar in either being extravagantly vibrant to to dingy to want to traverse further. Also the enemies look to similar. This got me killed twice as most of the zombie soldiers went down with one trusty swipe of the knife. I then meet another zombie who went down in 10 and pretty much killed me in one shot. They need to differ so we adjust our threat perception accordingly. Blood looks a bit naff when oozing out of bodies.
Gameplay:
Pros: Character smoothly can cut through zombies with with her knife or with firearms. Area is heavily populated so a lot of combat and you wont get bored or have much time to breathe. Had to traverse a bridge to get a key which felt terrifying to cross(mainly because is was to dark) but created atmosphere. Upgrades available to really boost your character.
Cons:
For a game that has such a big play area it really needs a map or something as getting was was far to easy. Areas look quite samey in pl;aces so was pretty easy to get lost or no plan B in where to go. I collected 2 keys but still didn't have the foggiest idea where I was going. It could have really done with at a minimum stating what color key was needed to progress as it had a lot of locked doors. Knife animation seemed inconsistent and guns aesthetically lacked any oomph. It was nice to have upgrades but didn't really tell us any information what they did. I came to the deduction one was melee strength and health but wasn't clear.
Audio:
Pros: Music in places was very atmospheric and created a sense or horror and unease. Footsteps and creature sounds definitely created the impression you weren't alone.
Cons:Again which seems to be the tone of this game the music was again some of the most bi-polar I've played in a game., You could tell that music was set to cue when you walked over certain trigger plates and you went from something cyberpunk to doom heavy metal to alien synth pop in about 200m of rooms. All of which were great to hear but didn't really mesh well it what atmosphere the game was attempting to replicate.
Overall: I can see a lot of potential in this game in its current form but really lacks an identity of what its trying to achieve. Are we going for dystopian space horror like Hellpoint(which did it well) or a more action space horror like a modern day doom or dead space?. Also was way to dark and confusing on where to progress which limited by desire to push further. Apart from ascetically what does having to resurrect more as an impact.
I wouldn't recommend delving in just yet but would recommend anyone that's a fan of the genre to keep an eye on this one and see how it progresses. Just a few graphical, story and game play frustrations make this one to avoid currently. However really shows a lot of promise and they have something on their hands if they handle it right.
A code was provided for review
#HSpace5D6 #RPG #Horror