Through the years, we have seen many FPS titles that push the limits of fast-paced action gameplay. One thing I always appreciated from the DOOM series was not just the gameplay but the fantastic metal music during the game.
Never did I think we would that could compare to the music and fast-paced gameplay of DOOM until now. Metal Hellsinger might have taken the mantle of the most metal game I have ever played, but does it stack up to other FPS titles on the market? Let’s find out now…
DOOM AND ROCKBAND HAD A BABY
In Metal Hellsinger, you play The Unknown, a demon on the trail of revenge against the Red Judge of All Hells. As you move through the levels of hell and regain your counterpart Paz(spiritual skull that shoots flames from his mouth), you must face heavier challenges while acquiring new weapons for your demon-slaying arsenal. The story of this game is shown in small in-game cut scenes as well as illustrated art cutscenes.
I don’t plan on spoiling the main story, but I can say that the game’s story had me easily pulled in, especially since two of the main characters were voiced by Jennifer Hale and Troy Baker. Having two voice actors of this caliber in Metal Hellsinger just made the story feel more epic. The story was one hell of a tale, that showcases a ton of lore and a few twists but the main highlight of this title is the amazing gameplay and music.
The main point of this game is to match the beat with each shot, dash, and super attack. At first, I believed this to be a bit of a challenge, the game is very fast-paced, so dashing, jumping, and shooting, while also trying to match the beat was a bit much.
Shortly after starting the game though, I found myself quickly picking up the controls and challenging myself to hit each shot perfectly. I have always been a big fan of first-person shoots that stylized themselves somewhat around Doom, but Metal Hellsinger stands on its own without being too similar to the opposing franchise. What is so similar between both of these franchises is the setting and heavy metal music, what makes Metal Hellsinger different is its rhythm-based gameplay.
It’s not just about shooting your enemies, timing your dashing, reloading, and shots to the beat will help fill Fury meter. You can even ramp your score up by doing combos, hitting consecutive headshots, triple dashing, and shooting Chaos Crystals that damage all nearby targets, but your Fury meter is what changes the music from instrumental to full-on vocal performance. Being on beat, in general, is good, but being Perfect gives you the most Fury points for your meter. The meter starts at x1 and goes to x16, once you reach x16, that is when the real fun begins.
Once you have reached x16 on your Fury meter, this is when you start hearing the vocals of the likes of Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Matt Heafy (Trivium), Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity), Randy Blythe (Lamb of God), Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), Tatiana Shmailyuk (Jinjer), and let’s not forget the Music Composers Two Feathers. Each level’s enemy layout and the level scheme seem to be themed around each song in this amazing soundtrack. I can say that I have listened to Serj Tankian and Two Feathers’ “No Tomorrow” at least 30 times over the last week and its now my new hype song!
I can honestly say I have never played a game like Metal Hellsinger before, this game not only comes at you with face-paced gameplay and wild demonic enemies but also one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard in a video game. The music itself tells a tale of vengeance, betrayal, and revenge. As I played you can start getting what the dev team wanted this game to be, an orchestra of beautifully demonic gameplay that perfectly meshed with its soundtrack
Each song that plays during the game is all original and owned by The Outsider’s dev team, so that means they have done everything to make sure this epic music can be enjoyed by all, even if you are streaming! To have bands like Lamb of God, System of a Down, Arch Enemy, and more come together on one album, for a video game, really shows how far The Outsiders dev team wanted to go with the game’s infusion of story, gameplay, and music.
A GAME THAT KEEP’S ON ROCKING
Now that I have fanboyed through half of my review, we can talk about the amazing weapons and challenges you can partake in. Paz is one of the weapons I used to keep my Fury meter at full capacity, no matter if you are shooting at enemies, or just the wall, as long as you keep to the beat your fury meter will stay full using Paz. but some of the other weapons and their ultimates help you along the way.
The Unknows Blade, Terminus, helps slice down armored enemies and characters like marionettes. The Hounds(dual-wielding pistols) have a spiritual version of yourself as the ultimate, and Persephone(shotgun) with a powerful blast that does triple the damage as its ultimate. These are the main weapons I used during the game, but there are more to choose from.
You also acquire The Vulcan(fire explosive bolts) and the Hellcrow(dual-wielding knives). Though these two weapons are cool, I felt like I had the best accuracy and beat matching using Persephone and The Hounds.
Using these weapons against the hordes of hell is Hella fun and I found myself slowly moving into a full headbanging motion as the game went on. Each perfect shot made me dive mentally deeper into this game and universe, with such smooth and fast-paced gameplay sending these demons back to the corners of hell where they came from became second nature.
I was honestly shocked by how into the game I was becoming, I’m not the biggest challenge seeker. Once I have played a level I usually move on, but the weapon system, combat, gameplay, and music was calling to me in my dreams! I wanted to unlock all I could in this game, good thing is there is a challenge mode that lets you unlock Sigils. These Sigils give you gameplay boosts like faster hit streaks, critical health damage boosts, and more!
This not only made me playback through the levels I had already played but actually incentivized me to push to a higher global score( held the number one spot for a few days) and made the replayability much higher than I originally thought it had. As you finish each level, you also unlock a music player mode, this mode lets you listen to all the tracks from the game with some badass cover art for each son, so make sure to play through each level!
THE BEST FPS OF 2022 SO FAR
Lastly, the graphical presentation of this game was great as well. The large-scale levels and backdrops are visually stunning and make you feel like you are right in the middle of Hell. The fact that this studio (The Outsiders) has only worked on one another title, DarkBorn, which eventually ceased development after four years of work on the title, is utterly amazing.
Every facet of this game screams AAA title, the fact that this was developed by a group of 30 developers and is only priced at $39.99 is something we should all applaud. The only thing I wish this game had is a discovery or killing spree mode. The game is so fast-paced, as you move through the levels you only get to see so much of the majesty of this world the dev team has built.
I would love for there to be a mode that blasts the music created for this title, while you just rip through all the enemies, without a score to be tallied. For me, this would give me a bit more time to walk through each level and look at the amazing work this team did on its environmental graphics and presentation.
OVERALL
Metal Hellsinger has left me in shock and awe, everything about this game bleeds metal fantasy and has rocked its way into a Game of The Year contender seat. From the fast-paced gameplay to the comic-like story to of course the breathtaking music for the game, this is a must-buy, stop what your doing and play it title! I can’t wait for what is hopefully coming next for this game, but until then, it’s time for me to stop typing and start playing Metal Hellsinger all over again!
