Hellgate opened

Putting aside all nostalgia surrounding LucasArts adventures, Diablo II is the best game I have ever played. Including the expansion, I was completely enveloped in its womb of kill-reward gameplay for about 2 years, caring little to interact with humans on Battle.Net and instead opting to grind my way to a complete set of Sigon's Complete Steel. Blizzard North effectively established the model for action RPGs, and the only thing that's come close since is probably World of Warcraft. Or maybe Guild Wars, if it wasn't so...instanced. When Bill Roper announced the creation of Flagship Studios, which was to be made up of a number of ex-Blizzard North developers, I was intrigued. Soon after, Namco was named as publisher of their first project, known only as an RPG. All eyes turned to Flagship. Would someone finally get a Diablo clone right?

One of the reasons for forming Flagship was that Roper was tired of Diablo. I don't blame the guy; aside from a much bigger game, and better items, they weren't really challenged to develop anything beyond the original game's basic concepts. Enter Hellgate: London, Flagship's mystery RPG that according to Flagship's Erich Schaefer, will "blaze a new trail and not simply create clones of our past successes." Sounds like a great idea. I'm always up for a little innovation.

Except.

I saw the screens, and I became immediately terrified. Not because they were scary, either. I saw a clone of Doom 3. Doom 3 was criticized for it's very bland monster design, and I see it here. Even the story has hints of the same: a portal to Hell (Hellgate!) opens in London (London?), a subsequent demon invasion, and then the human race sends out a one man army for damage control. It's getting ridiculous.

Where Flagship is careful to make the distinction, though, are the randomized items and maps that will supposedly increase the replay value. This "item centric" gameplay will encourage the player to collect new weapons and equipment to outfit themselves against the demon horde, though I find it hard to believe this is a selling feature in 2005. The weapons themselves are also being described as "spell delivery systems" as opposed to "guns" in the traditional FPS sense. And being an RPG, Hellgate: London will take into account player and weapon stats, with a small part being played by actual player skill. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines did this with firearms, but combat was more of a distraction than a core part of the game. The excellent story and character interaction were why I kept playing. It doesn't sound like Hellgate is offering the same, but there is a significant amount of questing that will move gameplay along so I'll reserve my judgement on that point.

The randomized levels are also a bit peculiar. Why? Is it a carry-over from the Diablo days, where critics praised the notion of never adventuring into the same dungeon twice? I can't see how this method of level creation will support continuous gameplay. The graphics engine was apparently created in-house, and when you're dealing with 3D there will naturally be loading screens. Part of what made Diablo II so easy to play for hours at a time was that gameplay wasn't broken up by the game loading the next area.

The character classes are also touted as being fully customizable, but there isn't nearly enough information on that now (ie. number, types, etc.). Compared against other FPSRPGs like Deus Ex or Morrowind, expectations naturally run pretty high. Character customization and development will be what makes this game worth playing, because I care little about shooting demons after playing Doom 3.

I'm seeing a lot of information out there now that follows the standard PR fluff routine in preparation for E3. A few screens, a few vague details about what the game is about, and hints of a fully playable version on the exhibit floor. That's all well and good for Flagship, because I doubt I'm the only one that was curious to see what they were up to. That being said I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of loss. It's great that Flagship are trying something different, because in today's gaming market that doesn't usually get you very far unless you've got a track record or hot property to back it up. Sure, I can support a little innovation, but part of me wanted that isometric clickfest.

like my first time that I caught fire