Flagship Studios was formed by the talented team that brought us the amazingly successful Diablo series. Their flagship product leaves no doubt that they have not lost their touch. HellGate: London is everything we would expect from the masters of Action RPGs. The team?s trademark of randomly generated environments is back, along with the oodles of randomly generated loot that made Diablo II such an enduring game. Now for one caveat, HellGate: London really is the Sci-Fi equivalent of Diablo III. There are the scrolls of identify (analyzers) and town portal (personal relocation devices), the potions (health injectors) and anything else you would expect in a Diablo clone; all that to say that if you disliked Diablo II, you will not enjoy HellGate: London, but if you did then prepare for more of the same hack-and-slash mayhem.

Set in London in the year 2038, the city lays in ruin, overrun by hordes of demons. As one of the only remaining survivors and an elite warrior, you will have the choice to play as one of three factions: the Templar, the Cabalists, or the Hunters. The Templar are the knights of HellGate: London. The Cabalists are mystical mages whose spells make them dangerous opponents to all that stand in their way. The Hunters, on the other hand, are ex-military operatives. Each faction caters to a different style of play as they all have their own strengths and weaknesses for the player to master.

Some mild language is occasionally written into the textual character dialogue, though since there is little spoken dialogue it remains in writing alone. Violence is obviously present in the game and there is blood splatter accompanying each melee attack. When harder melee attacks are performed, with use of extremely destructive spells and ranged weapons such as the rocket launcher, enemies can be blown to pieces. All violence in the game is perpetrated against demons or zombies and it is manifestly easy to tell who is good and who is evil in the game. Magic usage is incorporated into the Cabalist faction and the two classes that make up that sect use dark magic as their only real weapon. The power for their magic comes from the hellgate itself, ultimately fighting fire with fire. Sexual imagery in the game is limited to some occasionally revealing female armor and there are also a few instances of alcohol use.

HellGate: London is an excellent as far as gameplay goes. It does copy Diablo II?s style of gameplay, but this really doesn?t mark the game down very much. Like Diablo, players will fight a slew of demonic creatures and violence is the main highlight of the game. Magic is also something that cannot be looked over. A few minor graphical glitches and minor bugs take down the game?s rating slightly, but the graphics are beautiful if you have a system that can handle it, and if not, they still do not look that bad. If you are looking for the next Diablo, you will receive exactly that with HellGate: London.

» By Matthew Turpin, Plain Games. Published 12/20/2007 2:19:22 PM.