I am an avid fan of anything supernatural or paranormal, from movies like Ghostbusters and series like Scooby-Doo, to games like Outlast and Resident Evil. When I heard about an isometric combat RPG about bustin’ ghouls n’ ghosts called HellSign, I knew it would be right up my alley.
In HellSign, you take the role of a freelance paranormal detective/hunter for hire with a strange tattoo on your back (the infamous “HellSign”) in the cities of Australia, but your contracts and contacts can best be described as being from a seedy underground filled with dealers of occult artifacts, gamblers, and eccentrics aplenty. Similarly, your main character can have a background of many varieties. You can be an Indiana Jones styled archaeologist, granting better treasure bonuses, or maybe you like going the full detective route, enjoying a bonus to deduction and early access to certain equipment like the microphone. Perhaps you even want to start at the very basics with a drifter background, where there are no innate bonuses to skills or equipment, allowing you the chance to choose your own early tier skills. The choice is yours and you can always level up in different ways from thereon out.
The story is told through comic book style cutscenes, well-animated and atmospheric much like the rest of the game. The meat of the gameplay revolves around investigating haunted houses and the crime scenes therein. Inside these sites, bodies lie broken and mutilated, cobwebs infest corners, and everything is a torn apart, ramshackle mess. The denizens that now inhabit these haunted locales can be as small as spiders or as large as flesh-eating ghouls or vicious tentacles that break through the ground to lash out at you. Based on the type of mission you choose to take on, you may be clearing the area of these supernatural rodents, finding clues to deduce what exactly is haunting the area (e.g. a banshee), and finally, banishing the creature yourself. This is no easy feat, and until you gain the appropriate gear, expect to flee with what you can, or perish in a one-sided fight (which will cost you money and artifacts if it happens!).
HellSign is not a game for the faint of heart or even the casual player. It took me a little while to warm up to the style of play, but I found it very rewarding when I finally did. Even then, the enemies are fierce and will require mastery of the combat system and the proper combat gear as well. When I thought I was finally ready for my first banishment, the ghosts showed no mercy, and while I thought I was well-prepared, the game made me realize that I was not remotely prepared enough! Luckily, HellSign provides many different mission types and other ways such as blackjack and selling artifacts to dealers to gain the dosh needed to purchase bigger and better guns, traps, and armor to combat the evils that lurk in the darkest shadows of the Australian outback.
HellSign is already a hell of a trip, and this is just episode one! The developers have promised many more supernatural surprises in the future, such as vampires, werewolves, and other gheists attempting to send your investigator to an early grave. Ballistic Interactive’s early access title is a joy so far – so be on the lookout for more of HellSign as it glides through Steam early access like a ghost floating down a run-down and bloodied corridor.
Check Out the HellSign Steam Early Access Trailer:
HellSign is available for PC via Steam Early Access retailing for $14.99
Related: HellSign Supernatural RPG Now Out on Steam Early Access
Your local neighborhood nutjob, gamer, and teacher! I'm an avid fan of many genres such as platformers, shooters, horror, etc. I am also an avid tabletop gamer - hugely into the worlds of Warhammer and all of their spinoffs. I'm a big believer in being objective - even if something is not my cup of tea, I want to talk about it on the objective level - is it well made, crafted with love, and with care for the fans? If so, that's a good game in my book for someone and well worth their hard earned dollarydoos!
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