Product Description

Hellgate: London combines the depth of role-playing games with the action of first-person action titles. It is a world devastated by a demon invasion, where players must create a hero and battle through innumerable hordes of demons while completing quests and advancing through experience levels. Explore a desolate city scorched by hellfire where the survivors meld science and sorcery to gain a foothold against the minions of darkness and save the bloodline of humanity. A robust, flexible skill and spell system, highly customizable items, and a massive variety of randomly generated equipment allow players to create heroes that are truly unique.
London, 2038. According to legend, when the ravens depart the Tower of London, it will crumble to rubble and disaster will befall England. As man became more dependent on science, believing only in what he could define or create, ancient knowledge and rituals were lost to the antiquity of time. Prophecies that had stood as warning for untold generations were seen as archaic folly or ignorant superstition. So, when the harbingers of evil began to manifest, few saw and fewer believed. When the demons finally came, there was little that stood in their way. Compelling cooperative multiplayer experience - by creating unique and individualized game play instances within a vast online community, gamers get all the best parts of traditional massive multiplayer games Hellgate - London Game on 2 DVDs / Bonus Disc containing - Making of Hellgate - London; Official Game Soundtrack

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #745 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2007-10-30
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platforms: Windows XP, Windows Vista
• Dimensions: 3.00 pounds

Features

• Explore post-apocalyptic London: from ancient ruins buried beneath city streets to shattered cathedrals to the last remnants of humanity bunkered in the Underground
• Misery Loves Company: Dont be a glory hog fight online
• Infinite Replayability: Dynamically generated levels, chance events, and massive quantities of randomly created itemsUnderground
• Have it your way: Three unique factions with their own visual and gameplay style
• Beyond RPG: Experience new layers to the traditional hack-and-slash formula
• Hell Never Looked Better: Delivers a true, DX10 experience, while being fully scalable for optimal performance on older PCs

Amazon.com
It's 2038, and London lies in ruins...

From Flagship Studios - creators of the award-winning Diablo® series and the fathers of the action role playing genre - comes HellGate: London, the next benchmark in the evolution of the RPG genre.

Combining the depth of traditional RPGs with the frenetic, visceral feel of first-person shooters, HellGate: London offers infinite replayability with dynamically created levels, monsters, items and events that gives each player their own unique hack-and-slash experience.

A post-apocalyptic London has been overrun by hordes of terrifying demons, leaving the city desolate and scorched by hellfire. Those who were unlucky enough to survive now gather in the only sanctuary left, the Underground, banding together in order to gain a foothold against the minions of darkness and ultimately save the bloodline of humanity.

It is no surprise that these sole survivors come from three of society's most elite factions, each of whom are masters of a robust number of skills and weapons essential to demon-thrashing.

The Templar, a secret society preserving the rites of the original Knights Templar, mix futuristic technology with ancient artifacts to create powerful weapons and armor perfect for short-ranged and melee attacks.

The Cabalists are students of the dark arts and edges of science which often leaves them standing right on the line between good and evil. Their mystifying spells make them suited for mid-range combat.

The Hunters are mysterious, highly trained ex-military operatives who lay waste to their foes with hyper-advanced weapons that blend theoretical science and the latest in technology - and their bullets can come from almost any distance.

HellGate: London delivers an amazing gaming experience to PC gamers of all types - delivering the eye-popping DX10 visuals demanded by the hardcore, and scaling to ensure the masses of casual RPG players can still get the best performance on older PCs.

Key Features

• The RPG Authority - Flagship Studios was founded by the core creators of Diablo, one of the biggest PC gaming franchises in history with over 13 million units sold worldwide - they are the first, last and only voice in the world of action RPGs.
• Beyond RPG - Experience new layers to the traditional hack-and-slash forumla by experiencing the action RPG from the first-person perspective and through nontraditional character classes and playstyles.
• Have it your way - Three unique factions with their own visual and gameplay style, offering something for every type of gamer, whether they prefer the longer-range blasts of the Hunter or want to get up close and personal with the Templar.
• Infinite Replayability - Dynamically generated levels, chance events and massive quantities of randomly created items makes for infinite replayability -- no two experiences will ever be the same and every game will be it's own unique event.
• Mad Skills - Each faction has three character classes that contain a wide variety of skills and spells that are fully customizable.
• London Calling - Explore post-apocalyptic London, even darker and gloomier than usual. From shattered cathedrals and landmarks to the ancient ruins buried beneath the shell of a once-great city, players will need to scour all of London in search of the unknown.
• Misery Loves Company - Don't be a glory hog - fight online. Gather with friends or recruit strangers in Underground stations and venture out into mean streets of London together to erase the Demonic threat.
• Hell Never Looked Better - HellGate: London features all of the latest next-generation technology to deliver a true, DX10 experience, while being fully scalable for optimal performance on older PCs.

Minimum specifications:
OS: Windows XP SP2 or better
Processor: 1 GHz (or faster) Pentium 3
RAM: 512 MB or more
Video: 100% DirectX 8 compatible device w/ 64MB VRAM or better
(e.g., NVIDIA GeForce 3 (except 4 MX))
Audio: 100% DirectX 9 compatible device
Disc drive: DVD
Hard drive: 6 GB or more free space
Input: Keyboard and mouse
Internet: Connection required for multiplayer

Amazon.com
It's 2038, and London lies in ruins...

From Flagship Studios - creators of the award-winning Diablo® series and the fathers of the action role playing genre - comes HellGate: London, the next benchmark in the evolution of the RPG genre.

Combining the depth of traditional RPGs with the frenetic, visceral feel of first-person shooters, HellGate: London offers infinite replayability with dynamically created levels, monsters, items and events that gives each player their own unique hack-and-slash experience.

A post-apocalyptic London has been overrun by hordes of terrifying demons, leaving the city desolate and scorched by hellfire. Those who were unlucky enough to survive now gather in the only sanctuary left, the Underground, banding together in order to gain a foothold against the minions of darkness and ultimately save the bloodline of humanity.

It is no surprise that these sole survivors come from three of society's most elite factions, each of whom are masters of a robust number of skills and weapons essential to demon-thrashing.

The Templar, a secret society preserving the rites of the original Knights Templar, mix futuristic technology with ancient artifacts to create powerful weapons and armor perfect for short-ranged and melee attacks.

The Cabalists are students of the dark arts and edges of science which often leaves them standing right on the line between good and evil. Their mystifying spells make them suited for mid-range combat.

The Hunters are mysterious, highly trained ex-military operatives who lay waste to their foes with hyper-advanced weapons that blend theoretical science and the latest in technology - and their bullets can come from almost any distance.

HellGate: London delivers an amazing gaming experience to PC gamers of all types - delivering the eye-popping DX10 visuals demanded by the hardcore, and scaling to ensure the masses of casual RPG players can still get the best performance on older PCs.

Key Features

• The RPG Authority - Flagship Studios was founded by the core creators of Diablo, one of the biggest PC gaming franchises in history with over 13 million units sold worldwide - they are the first, last and only voice in the world of action RPGs.
• Beyond RPG - Experience new layers to the traditional hack-and-slash forumla by experiencing the action RPG from the first-person perspective and through nontraditional character classes and playstyles.
• Have it your way - Three unique factions with their own visual and gameplay style, offering something for every type of gamer, whether they prefer the longer-range blasts of the Hunter or want to get up close and personal with the Templar.
• Infinite Replayability - Dynamically generated levels, chance events and massive quantities of randomly created items makes for infinite replayability -- no two experiences will ever be the same and every game will be it's own unique event.
• Mad Skills - Each faction has three character classes that contain a wide variety of skills and spells that are fully customizable.
• London Calling - Explore post-apocalyptic London, even darker and gloomier than usual. From shattered cathedrals and landmarks to the ancient ruins buried beneath the shell of a once-great city, players will need to scour all of London in search of the unknown.
• Misery Loves Company - Don't be a glory hog - fight online. Gather with friends or recruit strangers in Underground stations and venture out into mean streets of London together to erase the Demonic threat.
• Hell Never Looked Better - HellGate: London features all of the latest next-generation technology to deliver a true, DX10 experience, while being fully scalable for optimal performance on older PCs.

Customer Reviews

Hell Is Disappointment
I have been playing PC games for over 20 years now, and this is quite honestly one of the most disappointing videogames I have ever played. On it's own merits, Hellgate would just be completely mediocre and dreadfully dull, but due to it's infamous production history, developer troubles, and distinguished pedigree, the game manages to underwhelm at every possible facet of play.

Now, thanks to a public IP struggle, and the recent layoffs of all the developers at Flagship Studios, even that pitifully substandard gaming experience is in jeopardy. Give this game a wide berth and just stay away.

May go out of business!
The future of this game is doubtful. You may not be able to play it!

From the Hellgate forums on 7/19/2008:

"It is with deep regret that I must announce that Flagship Studios has laid off most employees. However, the core management and founding team members are still at Flagship." said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios. "The past five years have been an incredible experience for us, but unfortunately, we couldn't sustain the size of the company any longer."

...

"Due to the current situation, Flagship will not be taking any new subscribers for Hellgate: London, and all current subscriptions will not be billed."

The Situation at Flagship Studios
I have played this game and it is fun but a bit clunky and repetitive. I would however like to point out that all developers at Flagship Studios have been laid off in July 2008 and that the current intellectual property ownership of this game is now uncertain or in doubt. What this means to new players is that the extra content patches that were promised on the box and in numerous reviews and on the game's website may or may not come to fruition. Please keep this in mind before purchasing this game.