Hell Is Us, developed by Rogue Factor and published by Nacon, is available on Steam, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. Hell Is Us is a third-person action adventure game that combines things such as puzzle, exploration and intense melee combat. Check out the official website.
Story
Hell Is Us provides you with virtually nothing; you are thrown into a very dark world called Hadea, where war wages between two factions. If that wasn’t bad enough, an unknown demon force has risen up and occupied most of Hadea. I think in some video games, if the game tells you nothing, it would be a negative; however, in Hell Is Us, it’s what the game’s main foundation is built on. You are thrown into the shoes of a mysterious man who is seeking answers, not knowing truly what hell lies in wait. You must explore and piece together the story bit by bit, and it is delivered in such a unique way that it had me constantly wanting to find more about what is going on in the world of Hadea. Some open-world games can be a bit hit-and-miss, but this world felt truly alive with the way it told its story. Despite the extreme dark themes of how horrific war can be, and trust me, it doesn’t hold back, it’s a world that you’ll want to explore every part. Exploration is also rewarding as you can discover new story beats that you may have missed. I loved this take on it. I loved talking to the interesting characters you’ll meet along the way and learning their opinions on what is going on in the world of Hadea. There’s such a deep lore to this world, to the war and everything that came before it, that it seems the developers of Rogue Factor poured a ton of effort into it. For me, there simply was nothing wrong with the story; it delivered at a good pace and kept you hooked.
Gameplay
Hell Is Us reminds me of a souls-like game, but without the difficulty spike. It handles control-wise similarly to that of Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and The Surge. It feels like a balanced blend between exploration, combat and puzzles. Those who know me know puzzles are a struggle; however, Hell Is Us does it in an easy-to-figure-out way for the most part. I won’t lie, I did have to use a guide for some, and if you find yourself stuck, the official website of Hell Is Us has an impressive guide with articles and videos, which you can find HERE. I say for the most part because some of the puzzles can be difficult to know where to start, but it’s never impossible or unfair. Hell Is Us is based on exploration with no quest markers or minimap. In your journey, you’ll find side quests called Good Deeds, which help NPCs often in moments of desperation and survival. If you complete these, you do get rewarded, but these quests aren’t around forever; failure can result in the NPC’s death. You’ll also need to explore for items like weapons, protective gear, and other items like health, buffs, and quest-related items. Exploring every part of the map is vital to your success, and also fighting the demons. I found that some of the items were complicated to understand, but once you explore the loadout screens, it’s a lot easier.
The action side of Hell Is Us is pretty good for most of it, but it fails in other parts. The combat is satisfying, and weapons can be customised with different materials. Hell Is Us has an elemental-like system where some enemies have strengths and weaknesses, so you can imbue your weapons in different ways to make it all a bit easier. You can also upgrade items and weapons along the way, which ensures you don’t keep dying in later parts. Overall, the combat is weighty, it feels satisfying, and there are some great moves and incredible finishers, which are all exciting with whatever weapons you use. However, my complaints lie within enemy variety; there aren’t too many. It isn’t that the enemies you have are underwhelming because they aren’t; it’s just that, with demons raiding a war-struck world, we could have had more variety in enemy type. I enjoyed the loop between story, action and puzzle; it was balanced perfectly, so you never felt that you were ever grinding away at the same thing over and over.
Graphics and Sound
Hell Is Us has its breathtaking moments of beauty in some of the parts of Hadea. It’s a country torn apart by war and now demons, yet you can find beauty in it. Hell Is Us, as mentioned before, has a very dark undertone. It doesn’t hold back, and that can be quite overwhelming at times, especially seeing the women, men and children who have died along the way; that’s why I do warn you of the content inside; it can be severely dark, but reflects the darkness of humanity in a respectful way, not using it as a shock factor. The game looks great, each environment looks different from the last and has a ton of variation in its designs. You’ll be exploring forests, marshes, coasts and more. The design alone makes you want to explore it deeper. I did, however, on my PS5, I did run into a few FPS slowdowns despite being in performance mode. The sound design also aids it very well; from the voice acting, you can truly feel the emotion in the voices of these people. From those who are desperate to escape the war, to those who relish it, it’s haunting but done so well. The music and ambience also lend to the dark world of Hadea. It’s an experience that will stay with you due to how extremely torn apart this world is. Hadea is completely near the end of its time, and you need to convey that in a dark and depressing undertone, which it does well.
Verdict
Hell Is Us explores some very dark themes of war by then adding a supernatural force on top of that, and it does it very well. The game sucked me in from the get-go with its choice of investigative, explorative focus. I feel that with the release of the popular Hollow Knight: Silk Song that perhaps this didn’t reach as many people as it should, but if you read this, I urge you to try it out. I think it’s rare that games come along like this that truly shock and wow in many different ways, and for £44.99 you’re getting a game with decent combat, complex puzzles and incredible story and design.
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