Metal: Hellsinger – Review

The combination of gaming and music has been going strong for a long time. Super Mario Bros.’ memorable theme song is as recognisable as Sephiroth’s menacing “One-Winged Angel” theme from Final Fantasy 7. This stunning union creates countless unforgettable moments for players. Rock music fans can now headbang with a controller in hand, thanks to games like Rock Band, Brütal Legend, and Doom, which feature breathtaking rock music soundtracks.

Even better if you could simultaneously mix Guitar Hero rhythm combinations while shooting a demon in the head, right? In walks the Metal band Hellsinger. Developer The Outsiders have combined the frenetic first-person shooting gameplay of Doom Eternal with the added ability to “slay to the beat.” This isn’t the first hell-themed first-person shooter, but you can tell it’s not your typical entry in the genre thanks to the inclusion of such heavy hitters as Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Randy Blythe (Lamb of God), Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), and the excellent voice talent of Troy Baker.

Is there any guarantee that it won’t lose steam? After spending eight hours with the game (through completion of the main story and all of the Torment trials), I can confidently say that metal fans should come for a good time, not a long time. When there isn’t much variety in the enemies and the levels all play out the same, even the rock band Two Feathers’ 11 original songs to kill to won’t cut it.

Released on PC, PS5, Xbox One X, Xbox One S, and Xbox Game Pass on September 15, the rhythm-based first-person shooter Metal: Hellsinger is a game any fan of FPS games and metal will want to pick up despite its flaws.

Like the rhythm-based hell shooter BPM: Bullets Per Minute, Metal: Hellsinger features a symphony of intense guitar riffs and thrashing drums with each satisfying pull of our protagonist, The Unknown’s demonic triggers, and its sound design appeals to my penchant for blasting metal while pumping lead into monsters.

The Outsiders begins with a visual and audio calibration test for high-latency wireless headphones and displays, maximising the enjoyment of every pull of the trigger. Details like this demonstrate the designers’ commitment to crafting a thrilling and balanced adventure.

The gameplay is identical to that of Doom (it was heavily inspired by it, after all). Kill every monster you see with your arsenal of guns, skull swords, and skulls that shoot fireballs from their mouths. If an enemy appears on screen, you can “Slaughter” them for a one-hit kill similar to Doom’s, albeit with less drama. Any Doom player knows the drill: when facing a horde of enemies, prioritise killing the weakest ones so you can quickly replenish your health. On the other hand, this does increase the total.

Your score in Hellsinger is something you must constantly work on by firing to the rhythm of the game. If you play for a while, this multiplier, called the Fury Meter, can build up to a whopping 16x, allowing you to quickly rack up points. This is a fantastic mechanism for those who want to see their names on the leaderboard, and it also adds a lot of replay value; however, the dynamic soundtrack is what really sold me on this game. The higher your skill level, the faster the song will go (16x is when the vocals kick in), and the longer you can keep the groove going without missing a beat, the longer the vocals will stay in the song. Additionally, these tunes will inspire you to up your playing game.

Featuring some of the most well-known voices in metal, the Hellsinger features all original music. It was a pleasure to play through the game’s first level while listening to Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy sing her heart out. Killing to the tunes of the Two Feathers band is just as satisfying.

From “No Tomorrow” by System of a Down’s Serj Tankian to “Acheron” by Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe, there is sure to be someone’s favourite among the band’s discography. It’s a double-edged sword that, in order to match the high-octane action in each level, the songs all sound very similar to one another. If you like the tunes, you’ll be happy to know that there are nine stages (counting the tutorial) to enjoy them on. You’re hearing the same beats over and over again if there isn’t much variety in the songs.

It’s exciting to hear metal legends roar as you blast your way through waves of foes, and The Outsiders have done a great job of recruiting the right vocal talent for the job. However, it would have been nice to hear a variety of bands’ interpretations of each stage. Who knows, maybe new levels will be added with different songs to rock out to in DLC and future updates.

Evidently, The Skull of Paz is useful in keeping score in a number of ways. This is The Unknown’s apt skull companion, who serves as the game’s narrator and the rhythm’s “pulse of the universe” (voiced brilliantly by Troy Baker). Like Doom’s pistol, his fireballs deal relatively little damage but are easy to dodge and kill with, making him a great ally for gaining Fury and clearing out Slaughter enemies quickly. But the further I got along in life, the less I needed Paz. The Unknown’s collection of weapons is more than sufficient to maintain that score, and I usually found myself using the same one over and over again (more on that later).

Every level has several large stages that you must clear of enemies before moving on to the next. These levels don’t have much going on besides the chance to pick up multipliers and increase your Fury bar. The varied landscapes of hell, from burning caverns to snowy peaks, are stunning, but unfortunately there wasn’t much time to appreciate them. Since the Fury metre depletes even after you’ve completed a level’s individual segments, I had to make a point of moving quickly between stages (on the beat, as doing so keeps the Fury metre at a maximum) to maintain a high multiplier.

Throughout the demo, I was able to get my hands on a variety of weapons with a hellish theme, such as the Paz and the skull-adorned sword Terminus. Included in this category are weapons such as the combat shotgun Persephone, the dual revolvers Cerberus and Orthrus known as “The Hounds,” the colossal crossbow Vulcan, which fires explosive bolts, and the scythe-like rods Hellcrow, which slash through foes and return to the user (essentially, boomerangs with blades). These are the primary sources of harm, leaving Paz perched helplessly on The Unknown’s hip.

While there isn’t a huge variety of weapons available, those that are included in the game are fun to use right away and look great doing it. The Vulcan is slow and has only two rounds, but it can kill a whole group of lesser demons with a single blast, while the Hellcrow doesn’t require a reload but is less effective and has shorter range.

In a game full of heavy metal, it’s important that weapons deliver a satisfying, punchy blast. It’s magnified even further when their “Ultimate” ability is activated with a right mouse click. For instance, Persephone can release a blast that destroys everything in its path, and the Hounds can create a static replica of The Unknown to inflict damage. While the energy required to use an ultimate ability quickly accumulates through enemy deaths, there is no waiting period. They helped me out in a pinch, but I mainly used them to increase my score.

However, Hellsinger is aware that there was little use in picking specific weapons for various situations. Before beginning a new level, you’ll be able to customise your loadout by selecting two additional weapons to go along with the Paz and blade that will always be available. No matter what weapons I equipped, I still made quick work of the bad guys and advanced through the level. The Hounds were my personal favourite and I never felt the need to switch to any other summoning method when facing off against the hordes of demons.

As a result of the uniformity of the enemies, this has happened. You’ll encounter a few new demons as you level up, but they won’t have any particularly useful new moves. Watch out for the Void Stalker, which can teleport while firing fast electric attacks and emitting an area-of-effect (AOE), and the Siege Behemoth, which fires massive ranged attacks and an exploding area-of-effect (AOE). Still, you can kill them with the same weaponry that has been working so well; just keep firing rhythmically, and they’ll be gone in no time.

When facing the projectile-proof Shield Cambion, I switched to using The Unknown’s blade to close the distance, and when facing a group of weak Marionettes, I switched to the Vulcan and quickly wiped them out. Weapon swapping would be more appealing if there were more enemies with varying strengths and weaknesses, but the ability to “slay to the beat” is more important than anything else.

There isn’t much punishment in Hellsinger, so it doesn’t take long to get used to the tempo and start shooting with a groove. Even on the more challenging “Beast” difficulty, the emphasis is on scoring points by blasting enemies and maintaining a combo, rather than on the game’s complexity. However, the “Aspect” bosses at the end of each stage always seem to be hiding something. It took me longer than I would have liked to defeat these Aspects, but they are the only true final bosses in the game. Though they may have changed appearance and learned some new tricks, the boss you’re up against is still the same (except for the Red Judge, the main antagonist, in the final level).

For that matter, The Unknown must traverse these “Hells” to get to the Red Judge, the person responsible for silencing you. Aside from a brief introduction, our protagonist’s journey only consists of eight levels. It doesn’t take long at all to complete the first few levels, either. I had high hopes that more levels would become available over time, but Hellsinger can become tedious after a while due to its lack of variety. When I saw that there wasn’t much variety in the level design or enemy types, and that there were only a few weapons to start with, I understood why the game was so brief.

However, Hellsinger adds extra “Torments” for players to overcome to increase the game’s replay value. These are timed trials devised by the Dead Seven Archdevils, and the rewards for completing them are Sigils that confer various advantages upon The Unknown. To illustrate, the “Slaughter Mastery” Torment rewards you with the “Perfectionist” Sigil whenever you land a critical hit, and the “Weapon Trickey” Torment rewards you with the “Ghost Rounds” Sigil whenever you switch weapons.

Fun obstacles included having to switch weapons after each kill or defeating 99 demons without regaining any health, among others. Each of the seven trials consists of three parts, and the later parts presented a challenging but manageable obstacle course.

While the awarded Sigils can be useful in combat, they are not required to complete the game’s main missions. The Perfectionist and other Sigils helped me achieve higher scores overall, but they aren’t required to learn the game’s rhythm. Despite that, I found the difficulties rewarding, and they added to the game’s replay value.