Hellgate: London Offline Preview
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The more we play the game, however, the more it begins to feel like the very randomness that makes the game compelling and addictive also adds to the aforementioned empty-calories analogy. Randomized loot robs the game of some of its personality because there's no "uber-loot" to quest for or an orderly progression of powerful equipment that keeps pace with the player's development. As a result, there's a lot less satisfaction with killing big bosses or getting each individual loot drop when most of it will be garbage. The randomized floor plans preclude a real sense of "place." The player travels through London districts with fascinating names like "Cheapside" and "Mansion House," but upon entering them find yet another collection of generic sewers, maintenance tunnels or randomized streets with eight different copies of the same roofless English pub. The difference is even starker during the far more enjoyable set-piece story battles that take place in places like Piccadilly Circus or the Tower of London. Since they never change, the designers went all out and create a real feeling that, yes, the player is fighting in the ruins of London.
