Metal: Hellsinger Review

In Metal: Hellsinger, frantic FPS and rhythm-based gameplay blend together to create a thrilling and riveting journey through Hell. The concept is enciting, with many commendable aspects in its execution. However, despite its relatively short length, Metal: Hellsinger falls short in its variety and – except for those players looking to perfect their runs and climb the leaderboards – offers little to keep players invested for long.

Assuming the role of The Unknown as she breaks free of her prison, I set out to find and defeat The Red Judge with one goal in mind: regain my stolen voice. The narrative unfolds with Paz, a fire-shooting skull doubling as a narrator. Armed with Paz, a melee weapon and a gun, the initial tutorial stage would already introduce all mechanics and elements of the game. Progress through each Hell is gated by arena-style enemy encounters; defeat all enemies and the path forward unlocks, leading to a boss showdown at the end.

In combat, performing actions on-beat is encouraged or – depending on the chosen difficulty – imperative, as maintaining a high streak offers a damage bonus and fuels the Fury meter. The later can reach a multiplier of up to 16x, with more musical elements being added to the track as it increases and the music intensifying, adding an immersive layer to the experience. Only at 16x, the track plays in its full force, with vocals kicking in and the energy of the metal track being felt in its entirety. Most of the tracks have a very clear beat to help the player feel the pulse, and even braziers decorating the landscapes sync with the beat, offering additional visual help and enhancing the overall experience.

Progressing through the nine Hells unlocks additional weapons that can be selected at the start of a Hell, though only two ranged weapons can be brought into any level (in addition to Paz). Additionally, completing a Hell unlocks three Torments, additional timed one-room challenges that can be attempted in order to unlock sigils (perks). The timer within a Torment can be extended by defeating enemies, and the player often has no control over the loadout available for a given Torment. These challenges are – at least initially – a welcome change from the progression-based Hell levels.

And that’s it. Enter a Hell, shoot, dash and slash – preferably to the beat – and defeat the boss at the end. Repeat for nine times total to reach the end-game credits. Unfortunately, there is nowhere close to enough variety to keep this gameplay loop interesting for the entirety of the game. While most Hells introduce new enemies, gameplay soon loses its luster, and different possible loadouts are not enough to keep things fresh. More disappointingly, every single Hell features the same visually dull boss, albeit with modified attacks. While it might make sense from a narrative perspective, it takes away any sense of wonder and anticipation, resulting in a monotonous experience.

Narratively, Metal: Hellsinger shines through visually gorgeous cutscenes between Hells, presented as a sequence of comic-book style scenes. The tale of The Unknown is a straightforward one, but Troy Baker did a fantastic job at voicing Paz, narrating the unfolding events in a humorous and captivating manner.

Undoubtedly, the highlight of Metal: Hellsinger is its exceptional soundtrack. If you love metal, the soundtrack is one worth listening to. All tracks are original, composed by Two Feathers and featuring some of the most renowned and unique metal vocalists of today’s scene. Slaying demons to the growls of Tatiana Shmayluk (Jinjer), Randy Blythe (Lamb of God) or Matt Heafy (Trivium) is as epic as it gets. Unfortunately, this is where more issues with Metal: Hellsinger surface. Since the track plays only with all of its metal power at maximum Fury, players less adept at FPS are heavily discouraged from exploring higher difficulties. If you struggle to avoid damage or perform all actions on-beat, you will spend the majority of the game playing to partial tracks without vocals that pack no punches.

This drawback created a ripple effect, and discouraged me from experimenting with different loadouts, steering me towards selecting perks that made it harder to lose my streak and ensuring that I could experience the complete tracks. Consequently, my interest in completing Torments waned, as the perks I could unlock from completing them were of no interest to me.

Metal: Hellsinger, to its credit, offers a wide variety of difficulty and accessibility options, even including an “always on beat” option. However, it does little to incentivize playing on higher difficulties, unless climbing leaderboards is a personal goal.