A return to the FPS of the nineties both in its gameplay and in its staging that falls too short in content; we analyze it on PC.
Hellbound, a new first person shooter that recovers the essence of the genre both visually and playable in the middle of 2020, was born years ago as a promising Kickstarter project by Saibot Games, an independent Argentine studio whose employees declare themselves fans of the FPS, titles with which they grew up 25 years ago. Now, and with the promise of bringing the classic experience of Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D and others, a video game comes to Steam that aims to take us back to the mid-nineties through a single motto: bring the most classic gameplay of the genre with a current staging. Does Hellbound really deliver on the promise of its creators? In the strictest sense of the concept, yes, although leaving aside many other aspects that ultimately weigh down such a promising old school experience. Let’s find out all the Hellbound secrets in our PC review.
Shooting, gore and metal music
Broadly speaking, Hellbound recovers the essence of what made the most remembered exponents of the FPS genre great, the authentic forerunners who bet openly on the most direct action and who popularized a way of understanding the medium that is maintained today thanks to titles like the reboots of the Doom, Wolfenstein or Shadow Warrior, among others. And while the old school reinterpretation of Saibot Games maintains the main characteristics of what a 90s FPS should offer, many of its other characteristics do not meet what is expected of a return to the origins of the genre, going very on tiptoe in aspects key as the content or the options it offers. But let’s start at the beginning: its setting.
The title puts us in the shoes of Hellgore, a rude, stereotyped soldier who seeks revenge against the hordes of monsters that have invaded his world and annihilated his loved ones. Although as he admits, that is enough, it is already “enough introduction, let’s go!” And it is that following to the letter the null argument of this kind of games, Hellbound launches us into action without further ado, ready to destroy every demon and creature of hell that comes our way, everything is said, to through a very scarce variety; although we will go into it later. For now, Hellbound presents all its cards from minute one, serving the player everything it has to offer throughout its next few levels.
Its mechanics are as simple as you would expect from a title based on the 90s FPS; in this sense he is not fooling anyone. The movement is agile and invites to distribute lead from the first steps, to which we must add the classic health points, shield, power-ups and a series of weapons that we will unlock as we overcome levels, up to a total of 5 different ones, to in fact, a somewhat scarce number. From a spiked club to a couple of shotguns, through a kind of grenade launcher and a rocket launcher, all of them with a diabolical aspect. Of course, each weapon allows a secondary action or shot, something that adds a little more strategy to shootings.
As with any old-school FPS worth its salt, mobility is essential; if we stop we are sold to enemy fire, with which taking advantage of the skills of our protagonist and the design of the environments become fundamental aspects to succeed in each encounter, which are constant. It is at this point when we detect some uninspired levels, with very simple designs and that sometimes play more against us than anything else. Another aspect that stands out and not for the better, precisely, is the small number of phases, up to a total of seven. And it is that depending on our skills at the controls and the chosen difficulty, we can complete the game in the blink of an eye, or what is the same, in just over two hours. So much so, that the feeling when defeating the first and only great boss of the game will be “already?”.
We do not doubt Hellbound’s intention to offer a one hundred percent classic gaming experience in the FPS genre; What’s more, during the first half of the adventure, its pace of play and its development are at the level of what is expected of a game created in the old way, although it quickly falls into monotony and simplicity, both in game mechanics. as in level design, in addition to having very little variety of enemies that will always use the same attack routines, being too generic in design. The puzzles at the level of levers and elevators are excessively simple and the verticality of the scenarios is almost testimonial. A point in favor? The sensations at the controls and the mobility of the character, since it will allow us to move freely between enemies, jump and shoot at the same time.
90s graphics
How could it be otherwise, and taking into account the spirit of the game itself, its staging is decidedly nineties, with graphics that try to make us travel to the past both for its simplicity and appearance. Beyond some too flat textures or the deliberate pixelated appearance of practically all its elements with simple modeling, the artistic design does not accompany too much, with environments that are too empty and uninspired. As we say, the variety of enemies is very limited, with simple variations of the typical orc soldier, other fire-breathing creatures and an imitation of the typical Doom Imps. Although at times it does offer striking prints, Hellbound conveys a certain sense of laziness.
At the sound level, perhaps a little more care is appreciated, but without great fanfare. Metal music will accompany us throughout the adventure, one song per level, betting on devilish and frenetic rhythms that marry perfectly with the setting of the title; although the compositions of each musical theme are very similar to each other, resulting, again, too repetitive and monotonous. The sound effects fulfill, especially in certain weapons such as the shotgun, based on forceful shots that make their lethal power very clear. As a curiosity, the texts are only localized to English, something strange if we consider that Saibot Studios is an Argentine company. The set is completed with the typical wave survival mode through different arenas based on the scenarios of the campaign.
CONCLUSION
Hellbound has left us with a bittersweet taste in our mouths after completing the less than two hours of play that it offers with its campaign, to which we must add a wave survival mode that provides a little more challenge to the title’s game offer, but it fails to cover obvious deficiencies in many other aspects. Saibot Studios’ proposal is fun and offers frenetic moments more than interesting, especially for fans of the genre. But these will be, precisely, the most critical of a video game that tries to recover the style of the FPS of the 90s with a poor execution that conforms to the most basic aspects of the genre. And it is that a bet as interesting as the one that concerns us cannot use only nostalgia to offer a product with a lot of room for improvement, without being up to those titles to which it pays tribute and far from the current standards of the gender.
THE BEST
- Unpretentious straightforward fun
- Character mobility
- Good challenge on high difficulties
WORST
- Very basic level design
- No variety of enemies and situations
- Monotonous and repetitive general experience
- Extremely short
Improvable
It may have acceptable elements and entertain, but overall it is an experience that will not leave a mark.
