Xbox Game Pass First Impressions — Metal: Hellsinger

Metal: Hellsinger explodes into Xbox Game Pass today, opening the gates for the rhythm-FPS to rock the socks off even more players. Here's what we thought after our first few hours in Hell...

Metal: Hellsinger is intense. Sure, that's likely to be the case when you set a game in Hell, but by tasking players with ripping and tearing their way through demon hordes in time with a superb original metal soundtrack, this is a game where every beat counts, and boy, does it ever feel like it. Drop a combo or mistime a shot and you'll find you deal less damage — weak enemies might die in one hit when you're at full power, for instance, but the moment you slip up, that swarm of one-shot demons go to taking two shots, effectively doubling the length of the encounter since you're only firing on the beat. It's easy to get overrun or to lose your bearings amid the chaos, but thanks to some helpful features to mitigate this somewhat, blasting through Hell feels great even when you're struggling.

Metal: Hellsinger joins Xbox Game Pass

One thing to note is that Metal: Hellsinger is far from a long game. Having clocked the tutorial and first four stages in a few hours, I'm already halfway through the game, although that's only taking into account the main levels — each also unlocks a trio of additional challenges when you beat it, which in turn unlock powerful perks once cleared, so you'll probably want to be taking the time to beat these as you go or things are going to start getting rough. By this point in the game, you'll also have access to your full arsenal and be able to choose your loadout for each trip to Hell from a varied selection of death-dealing devices. You start with just a sword and a fireball-spewing skull (weak in battle, but able to maintain your combo even when its shots don't hit anything) which you always have equipped, later getting a beefy shotgun, twin pistols, an explosive crossbow, and a pair of bladed crow boomerangs... an interesting selection, but you'll only be able to take two of those extra weapons into any given level.

This proves relevant not only with which weapons click for you, but also in how they handle the different enemy types that Hell throws at you. These aren't especially varied but cover the typical bases — swarming minions, hulking melee rushers, ranged annoyances, summoners, and so forth — and the elites can give you a fair bit of grief if you're not equipped to deal with them. The shielded brutes in particular are a pain to take out with the wrong loadout, meaning you either end up getting blasted by them while you work through other enemies first or get clawed to bits by the mob as you chip away at the shield guy trying to find an opening. Each weapon does have an ultimate ability which can sometimes give them other ways to get through problem enemies, but unless you know what's in store for you when replaying a stage, you can't rely on having those abilities charged when a tougher demon comes out to play.

In case a game about shotgunning demons in Hell wasn't already close enough to Doom, Metal: Hellsinger also borrows its Glory Kill mechanic. Enemies glow when close to death and a well-timed click of the right stick will cause you to dash to them and deliver the killing blow, recovering a little health in the process. That glow is all too compelling and the heal often too good to pass up, but you still need to be smart about how you use these finishers — there's no point dashing to execute one small enemy amid a dozen others if they're just going to get a free swing at you to hack off whatever health you just gained, for instance, though conversely, there will be situations where that dash will get you out of harm's way in a flash. You do also have great mobility options in a dash and double-jump (the latter oddly being one of the few things in the game that doesn't need to be done to the beat) and as in Doom, you need to stay moving to stay alive, although that only makes it all the trickier to be landing your shots consitently and keeping combos alive.

It's high time we discussed the multiplier system properly, as it's integral to every aspect of Metal: Hellsinger. As you slay to the beat successfully, your multiplier will rise, first to x2 then doubling three more times if you keep playing well to max it out at x16. This doesn't just boost your score — though that is itself important, given that Metal: Hellsinger is very much a score attack game at heart — but also increases your damage and, crucially, ups the intensity of the action by adding new layers to the soundtrack at each stage. Using music as a reward in this way is simply ingenious, channelling Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance's amazing evolving boss themes but in a dynamic way. Blasting through an encounter efficently only to be rewarded with a wailing lead guitar solo in honour of your efforts never gets old, and the epic power fantasy of battling through Hell to fight the devil really comes into its own when you max out the multiplier and are treated to booming vocals from some of the best voices in the business to cap off the awesome action. This also means you'll quickly come to know what level your multiplier is at without even having to glance at the meter — a welcome bonus with how much else on the screen will be demanding your full attention at any given moment. The soundtrack is superb so far, and I'm looking forward to hearing what Mr. Tankian has to offer...

As much as I love Metal: Hellsinger from what I've played, one issue I have encountered is that there seem to be occasional inconsistencies with beat timings. I've tried it out on multiple displays and devices and run the calibration dozens of times, yet as close as I get to a sweet spot, I'll still have encounters where I find myself landing all perfect shots until the timing just seems to slip out of sync for a moment. Part of this could be down to attacks, your most common timed inputs, being on RT, and analogue inputs are never ideal for rhythm games as they can create consistency issues through accidental early/late presses depending on the threshold they use. Others I've spoken with have had a similar experience, and it's always frustrating to lose your flow and combo boons (and potentially even a run, if you're on a score attack attempt) to something that doesn't feel like it's your fault. I'll keep fiddling with the calibration to see if I can resolve the issue.

If you're only going to Hell to grab yourself some Metal: Hellsinger achievements, you'll be pleased to hear that it's not the most challenging of lists. There's nothing difficulty-specific so you can attempt trickier tasks on the easy Lamb difficulty, and you'll likely unlock most of the achievements over the course of beating the game normally and going through all of the Torment challenges. Even the more seemingly demanding ones aren't too bad if you drop the difficulty, so most people shouldn't have too much trouble going for the 1,000G. You can never have enough Xbox Game Pass quick completions, right? Right.

Summary

Metal: Hellsinger is a perfect fit for Xbox Game Pass. It's a short but sweet blast through Hell and joining the service will give a much wider audience the chance to enjoy its intense action, as its brief nature could make it a hard sell at full price to anyone who isn't a leaderboard addict or metal fiend (or both). The game's only real longevity will seemingly come from chasing high scores, and the levels are arguably a little long for a classic score attack-style game — you'll likely have a blast tearing up Hell as you go through the story and while it's good that it won't outstay its welcome, it's so full-on that I can imagine a few folks are likely to come away wanting more. Still, it's one hell of an experience and a welcome get for Game Pass all the same, so it's gonna be a Free Pass from me.

Luke spent around three hours rocking out to Metal: Hellsinger, grabbing 17 achievements for his demon-slaying efforts. An advance copy was provided by the publisher.

More Metal: Hellsinger stories:

Xbox Game Pass First Impressions

Written by Luke Albigés

Luke runs the TA news team, contributing where he can primarily with reviews and other long-form features — crafts he has honed across two decades of print and online gaming media experience, having worked with the likes of gamesTM, Eurogamer, Play, Retro Gamer, Edge, and many more. He loves all things Monster Hunter, enjoys a good D&D session, and has played way too much Destiny.