Hell is Us

Recommended, but with some reticence. the story is barely there. not explained very well. and there are elements that will go without explanation or even a vague hint as to why they exist (the interrogator's inhuman appearance for instance). for a game built on mystery there is very little here that satisfies. from a gameplay perspective this is all stuff you've done before. Souls-like melee combat. Souls-like exploration. a lack of a map and quest markers were touted by the developers with chest-beating bravado, but it's ultimately hollow because the maps (yes, maps - this is not a seamless open world game) are small enough that you can never truly get lost. the PDA is helpful, allowing you to pin notes to your quick bar to deal with a particular side quest/mystery or "good deed." you also have a compass that will appear before disappearing within seconds, like some kind of pervert flasher on a city bus. finally, there's the setting. the completely fictional country of Hadea involves a civil war that has been raging for hundreds of years. this latest flare-up is just another bloody chapter in a very long history. while the developer pulls no punches in depicting horror and atrocity - there is some truly disturbing imagery in this game - I can't help but feel like the grim reality of this conflict clashes with the sci-fi aesthetics of the narrative. on one hand, you have a group of rape survivors belonging to one religious group abused by another before optionally being rescued by another villager that you help along the way, but on the other you have white mannequins with a hollow crevice for a face wandering out shouting dubstep at you. I think if the developers wanted to tell a story about war and strife, they could've done that easily and with skill. to use it as a backdrop for what is an otherwise kind of interesting but ultimately middling sci-fi yarn is, well, a bit exploitative. would I recommend? yes. there is a lot to like here, provided you enjoy the type of gameplay it offers. some of the scenes and story beats are truly great. there's a lot to like here, but it is a jumbled, rambling first draft of what could've been a masterclass.

This game is awesome. the devs did a good job of combining action combat, puzzles, and exploration. it is not an easy game, you have to pay attention to everything around you, and what people say. I generally used to skip dialogue, I don't do that with this game. I would recommend it.

I really struggled to give this game a recommendation. But with Steam's binary rating system, what am I to do? Hell is Us could have been a fantastic game. But it constantly trips over itself with how the developers insisted on "not holding your hand". Not only does this game not hold her hand, but it basically blindfolds you. It gives you no way to manage key locations you discover or clues about key items you discovered. Many objects are required to solve puzzles to be able to progress. The game expects you to basically memorize all your discoveries and any clues that were first revealed when you acquired them. It is especially problematic with its good deeds system, which are basically optional objectives that have rewards. But it can also be problematic with some other key items that are needed to progress. Be prepared for sheer frustration as you keep running around the same locations and repeatedly sifting through your inventory for something you missed. Also frustrating is the constant "to find this key, you need a different key (or set of keys), but to get that key, there is still yet another key you need first" type stuff. And these sequences of keys (in the form of keys, relics, rods, and other objects) are sometimes spread out in different regions. Oh, and some of these good deeds have time limiits, which the game does not tell you. You only find out later when they randomly fail later in the game, not good. But, pretty much everything else about this game is very good, sometimes great. The combat system is rather unique and can be quite challenging, but not in an obnoxious way. The weapons become way more interesting and fun as you upgrade them. Exploration is a mixed bag. Some locations aren't that impressive, while others are very fun to discover and explore. The large dungeon type areas are by far the best part. Technically I had no real issue. Only a single crash in the entire campaign, which isn't bad for a UE5 engine game. It is also a very demanding game with performance, also as most UE5 games, this game a bit moreso. So to sum up, I would say this is a "diamond in the rough" type game. IF the devs had just made some minor tweaks to make exploring and making your discoveries and objectives more manageable, it could have been an exceptionally great game.

Todavía no terminé el juego. Pero me parece la mezcla ideal entre un "Resident Evil" (ish) Con las mecánicas de combate de un Soulslike. Tenés Puzzles y vas buscando cositas que tenés que entregar a los NPCs y así ir armando la historia del juego, mientras te vas cagando a espadazos al más puro estilo Souls. El hecho de que no tenga Mapa, ni guías ni puntos a los que ir, hace que tengas que descubrir todo por tus propios medios. Esto a veces puede llegar a ser un incordio, xq los mapas son grandes y acordarte dónde pinga tenías que llevar ese "cosito" a ese "Alguien" te puede dar dolores de cabeza o hacer recorrer el mapa como un pelotudo, para llegar y date cuenta que te habías equivocado de NPC. Lo recomiendo 100%

gameplay can be a little bit repetitive but the lore is amazing and also the immersion in this world.

pretty fun AA type game!

Одна из немногих, очень немногих игр, где обыскывать каждый угол и закоулок - не душнота и не нудятина. Едва ли не впервые, с удовольствием изучал мир, не было лень по нескольку раз возвращаться в пройденные локации, просто чтобы закрыть тайну/деяние. Ниразу не пожалел о покупке, очень понравилась игра. Достаточно простой, не заумный геймплей, интересный сюжет, не говоря уже о "военных" кадрах происходящего. Трудно сказать, кому именно могу порекомендовать эту игру, но возможно тем, кому нравится смесь готики/дарк соулса, ибо достаточно похожие геймплеи, местами. 10/10 ставлю.