Hey everyone! Pax this year had many games that captured the essence of the games we played in the not too distant past. One of these games happened to be Hellpoint by Cradle Games and Tiny Build. I sat down at the booth with the developers of this game with one of our community members as this game supported two-player action. So after some good old trash talking back and forth and some gameplay I got to see the essence of this game and got to ask many questions at the same time. My main question, because I had never heard of this game was “What is Hellpoint?”. The game is going to be set in space in a colony that is near a black hole. Many different things are happening on the ship and it is your job to figure out what as you explore and attempt to survive the deadly fights. With each death, the game respawns you and randomizes the enemies in the area so each battle, at least with the non-boss enemies, will never be the same. Turning that corner could lead you into the wrong side of a blade that wasn’t there before. When asked what inspired them to make such a game they simply said Dark Souls and Dead Space. And ole boy did it feel like both. The atmosphere gave off was that creepy feeling that you got while playing Dead Space. Dark, Evil, Sinister and you just couldn’t shake as you made your way around the playable area. Then the encounters with mobs… that was unforgiving if you didn’t play the encounters right. With a fighting style that is known to anyone that played the Dark Souls games, and the flow and combat felt, I would say, more like Blood Born. The worst part was my teammate hitting me in the back and getting in the way of my dodge rolls. But felt clean, it felt right, and the weapons while resembled old axes and blades had coloring and odd parts that made it feel that you had an axe of some distant future. I just wonder if gamers will distance themselves enough from Dark Souls and not end up comparing it so much that it ruins their gaming experience with this game. Personally, I enjoyed every moment of it, and the best part was them stating that there would be more of a story that you could follow. Yet you could still do parts in a random order if you felt like it. So, you wouldn’t be guessing like I was on what really was going on by the end of the game. Until I played it the second time and really paid attention. When I questioned more about the two-player modes that they had, they said you would be able to do the full adventure with a friend if you wanted to. As well as you could be invaded or invade someone else’s game just like Dark Souls. Also, it doesn’t have to be local as you may think, with them coming to windows and all major consoles. You will be able to pair up with your friend across the globe. Something that none of their inspired counterparts had that I knew of. Besides summoning in friends for boss fights. That to me is a larger selling point than anything. Cause where I live well, I don’t have many friends nearby. So what about it? You ready for the challenge of Hellpoint? I am and I’m actively looking for my player two to carry me to victory. As I slaughter my way through this game and hopefully not die 200 times. Darktide.
