Forging only depends on having the plans, materials and finding a printing station. Hellpoint correctly uses several of the mechanics that identify the genre, readily providing access to many of them. It also includes portals to delve into a parallel reality, where everything is mirrored, with its own bosses and special items that we can only keep if we survive the raid. The clock moves relatively fast, so it’s common for us to be surprised during an exploration and end up with an additional and refreshing challenge. These will range from opening certain access points a couple of times a day (with optional battles and items), to increasing the difficulty of our enemies in exchange for multiplying the quality of the items they leave behind when they die, and also to opening portals to new dimensions bringing waves of enemies that we must defeat. According to the location of the needles, certain events are unleashed for a limited time. Another interesting mechanic is the clock showing us our position with respect to the Event Horizon, the great film with Sam Neill and a strong inspiration for the Canadian studio. This mechanic is an invitation to fight, and strikes a balance between long combats against the bosses and encourages extended exploration time. We begin with two and will obtain more if we explore our surroundings well enough. Healing works with limited injections that we charge when strikes connect with the body of the opponent, the speed of the recharge will depend on the “Leech” attribute of each weapon. This is undoubtedly my favorite feature of the game and the main reason why I enjoyed writing this review so much.Ĭradle games brings us a breath of innovation in certain aspects that, despite being strongly inspired in From Software’s mechanics, are more than welcome. Our character’s mobility provides us with a wide range of possibilities he can jump, climb on rails, and leap from rail to rail to reach new areas, to obtain more items or progress in the campaign. Like any good descendent from metroidvanias, the levels hide secrets behind closed doors and shortcuts that we can only open once we’ve met certain criteria, this gives us the feeling that there’s always something new to be discovered.
The possibility of jumping further enhances this feature, and allows for unprecedented verticality, not very common in the genre, and which makes us want to explore even the tiniest corner of every map. The levels are huge, and filled with secrets, hidden doors and false walls that hide all sorts of items, weapons and materials for the forge. And so we are left wondering: Did we dodge too late or does that attack have an invisible area of effect? This happens from the start, and although it doesn't happen with every combat, it may become very frustrating when we get to the complicated zones.Įxploration is the star of Hellpoint. The problems start when the hitboxes and hurtboxes turn out to be not as effective as needed in this type of game, when the difficulty lies in enemies spamming attacks that hit too hard even if we've dodged perfectly. They also dominate the resistance to every type of damage, the attack of our weapons, the effectiveness of armoring-up and the speed at which we move.
#HELLPOINT MAP SERIES#
In order to determine how likely they are to be stunned, interrupt our attacks or break our guard, Hellpoint has a series of statistics that we can improve as we level-up. The enemies also follow a resistance bar and are subject to being dazed by our strikes. Still, there’s a fine line between imitation and originality, and if changing the name is about the extent of it, comparisons with the original work become inevitable.Ĭombat in general is well-implemented. One can understand why they played it safe actually, we're at a point in the industry where we could stop considering it a form of copying and start recognizing that these elements are the distinctive features of the genre.
#HELLPOINT MAP SOFTWARE#
Cradle Games chose to abide by the combat system we've seen in other From Software games, but they’ve added the possibility of jumping, which has a clear impact on battles and on the verticality of stages. This will unleash special skills and all type of movements which would've seemed impossible at first glance. We will begin by picking up guns from the floor, which will improve as we use them. As with any self-respecting Soulslike, Hellpoint presents us with a slow-paced combat where every strike matters, and which punishes rushed players by imposing a game suitable for exploration.
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