Hellpoint by Cradle Game studio has a long history already. The indie studio wanted to make a souls-like game back in 2015 and used a successful Kickstarter campaign to realize their dream. It took them 5 years to get Hellpoint ready to release to the masses.
Black hole sun
Hellpoint uses the same dark souls’ formula for telling its story. There is barely any direct context given to the situation you seem to be stuck in. It’s clear something’s amiss because every being you encounter is hugely deformed and definitely out to get you. Hellpoint takes place on Irid Novo, a space station orbiting a black hole. As you’ll soon find out, the black hole seems to be a gateway to something Hellish. All original inhabitants of the space station are suffering from the merge and have become volatile soulless creatures.
With the addition of some feisty new demons, Hellpoint seems doomed. You play as a “spawn” which is the result of some strange scientific experiment onboard the station. You are all that’s left to uncover the dark secrets on the station. With no clue as to what to expect, you set out to discover every nook and cranny of the station in order to find a way to survive this hell.
Souls-like
Hellpoint has all the main features you expect from a SoulBorne game. An ominous surrounding filled to the brim with creatures to start with. A combat system that features a few different attack options heavily focusing on melee, dodging, and shielding. A stamina meter which forces you to not take the “Leroy Jenkins” route. Killed creatures give you their “soul” which can then be used to upgrade your character at sparsely placed rifts (= save points) in the game.
Each time you die, something you’ll do a lot, you’ll end up losing everything you gathered (except your gear). Backtracking to where you died will give you the option to find your lost loot but you’ll also encounter your “ghost”. On death, a green-looking specter of yourself will defend the area you’ve fallen. Since your ghostly counterpart also has your gear, it’ll make collecting your lost loot a lot harder.
Maze
Irid Novo has a great look to it. The sci-fi setting really worked for me. Everything feels very alien-like which is a change from what we’re normally getting in SoulBorne games. The downside of the setting is the fact that everything feels very confined. While exploring you’ll notice this station is very much a maze to get through. With no map, you’ll struggle to find your way for sure. With no sense of direction, it’s up to you to find a way through and not get killed (too much) along the way.
Boss fights
After much exploring and probably a few unnecessary detours, you’ll stumble upon many enemies. The basic creatures are not too hard to kill when you learn to read their attack patterns. Some bigger enemies can still cause trouble when you’re still weak but after a while, you’ll learn when to fight or flight. Eventually, you’ll stumble upon boss areas which features the more original encounters with the demon’s spawn. These boss fights are – in true SoulBorne fashion – pretty hard to conquer but feel very rewarding when you finally do so.
Keep an eye on the clock
Dying and having to walk al the way back to where you were before can become a hassle. On the other hand, the constant threat of this helps you think really carefully before you act. Getting bested will inevitably be part of your experience in Hellpoint. It’s a way to get good at this game by learning from your past mistakes. As if backtracking isn’t hard enough already, a clock shows where the black hole is and once the hand of the clock passes the black hole, every creature is being revived to make things even harder.
Combat clunkiness
Hellpoint is filled to the brim with nice ideas and for the most part, the game fulfills these with ease. The major downside of the game is sadly the combat clunkiness. Don’t get me wrong, the game is absolutely doable but there is just something wrong about the way the character moves during combat. The smoothness I’ve been accustomed to is not here which made for some frustrating moments. I’ve had to experience a few too many of my deaths were due to the controls being iffy.
The jumping attack for instance was more miss than hit for me which led me to not use it at all. The ranged weapons seemed like a good idea but were too much of a hassle to really be using. The lock-on mechanism did as advertised but the small spaces made the camera twitch to the point I was better of not using it. All these nice ideas were underused because they just didn’t feel right for me. Again, all these things can just be ignored and you’ll still have a good time, but it’s a shame I never could use Hellpoint’s full potential.
Conclusion
Hellpoint turned out to be a great indie take on the souls-like games. The edges are a bit rough but the hellish charm makes up for a lot.