The Great Disappointment of Hellgate: London
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The game was set in London, 2038, a city rich with history and culture, brought to chaos by a marauding horde of extra-dimensional demonic entities that threatened to tear the world asunder. In spite of the vivid concept, the world felt like little more than a series of boring sewers and mazes of concrete, occasionally interspersed with bits of red and brown.Am I the only one who actually enjoyed Hellgate: London? Farming Moloch with a marksman in the Stonehenge Chronicles content was pretty damn fun, and the Abyss Chronicles update showed a lot of promise on the test server.
It was a husk of a setting, populated by random landmarks like Piccadilly Square and The Tower of London. I never had the sensation that the London of this world was ever a large, sprawling environment. Instead, it felt very claustrophobic, mainly due the way that zoning was handled by the game's engine. I felt trapped, sequestered into tiny stages that were dull and withdrawn. I did not feel like I was exploring a vast, apocalyptic landscape of London several years in the future as I should have.
I was willing to put most of my expectations aside and let the game speak for itself, even as I had my doubts. However, I was expecting a narrative as even Diablo II and the preceding game featured a narrative that engulfed the player's immediate attention. Diablo featured a timeless song, entitled (Tristram,) after the game's town. It served as an eerie, yet familiar welcome into the world of Sanctuary. It defined Diablo.
In contrast, Hellgate: London's narrative was nonexistent. There was no warm, familiar feel to greet the player and make you feel at home. My avatar appeared into the world with no back-story explaining my presence or how I got there. Dropped into the middle of an alleyway that was filled with generic monsters, called Imps, I felt as though the game's designers could have tried much harder in populating the setting with more interesting contents, and providing a better context for my actions. Regardless of my avatar's character class, there was no reason for me to be where I was. It left a poor first impression.
