Hatred paves a fierce and ugly path to some of the worst humanity has to offer. It’s in many games to justify violence, aggression, and prejudice, though few explore it in a visceral, gut-wrenching way that holds a mirror up to our souls. The Last of Us Part II did it (especially with its recently finished season 2), and now, I have a feeling Hell Is Us will be the next one to do it with similar depth.
Hell Is Us, Rogue Factor’s first original IP, balances weighty melee combat with cerebral investigatory gameplay reminiscent of The Outer Wilds and Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It’s a labor of love for the small but mighty team of 50 or so developers, and a lot of it comes from the passionate vision of Creative Director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête.
I spent some time on site at the studio in Montreal to see the game and chat with him about the game’s themes. After spending two hours hands-on with Hell Is Us, I found myself hooked by the mysteries of its world and eager to investigate further.
The Reward of Player-Driven Exploration
In Hell Is Us, you play as Rémi, a soldier in search of his parents whom he hasn’t seen since he was 5 years old. He joins the Organized Nations (you know, the totally-not-UN) to become a Peacekeeper and then goes AWOL to sneak into Hadea, his home country. Why sneak in? Well, it’s a locked-down country, much like North Korea. Even worse, it’s in the midst of an ugly, brutal civil war.
The story setup starts in media res, with Rémi being interrogated by a surreal, unsettling man. He’s forced to recount how and why he entered Hadea, which then puts you right into the gameplay, at the beginning of his journey via his recollection.
As you explore the countryside, you’ll pick up clues and talk to NPCs, both vital to Rémi’s goal of finding his parents. His data pad contains his quest log, though it’s not as straightforward as you might expect from other games.
A big part of the philosophy behind Hell Is Us is something that Jacques-Belletête calls “player plattering,” an inversion of “silver plattering.” To him, signposts like quest markers and minimaps tend to deliver objectives to the player on a silver platter. It’s a false form of discovery; did the player really discover that cave if a magical overhead map and quest marker told them it was there?
Instead, Hell Is Us harkens back to a more old-school philosophy that requires players to do a bit more digging into the world, all while making it feel more lived in. As an example, early in the game, an NPC will tell Rémi to find a vehicle that’s in a forest. The entrance to the forest is to the north, but then you have to follow windchimes to get to the other side—the very same chimes his kids followed to return home, back when they were alive.
Already, the focus is on the details of the world and its characters, rather than an objective marker that tells you where to go. How this manifests in the data pad is similar to games like The Outer Wilds, where the clues are laid out in a web. It’s up to you to figure out where your objectives are and how you’ll get there, hence the phrase “player plattering.”
Exploring the world is also gate checked by puzzles in the environment, though I didn’t see any that were too complex. For example, match three glyphs to open a door, or discover a secret code hidden in nearby pictures.
This player-driven exploration creates a sense of satisfaction that I intrinsically felt whenever I chased down a lead, and it’s a satisfaction that felt better than getting 100 gold for turning in some fetch quest. Fans of the recent indie breakout hit Blue Prince probably know exactly what I’m talking about here–though so far Hell Is Us isn’t nearly as complicated.
Hadea Is a Land of Dark Curiosities
There’s more to investigate besides Rémi’s personal connection to Hadea, of course. The country is a character unto itself, with many layers hiding within. The civil war between the Sabinians and Palomists paints the soil red with blood, and there are seemingly endless letters, diary entries, audio logs, and military orders that paint a full picture of hate, horror, and hubris.
The first major Palomist town I came across was recently occupied by Sabinians, who ruthlessly killed every “devil” they could find. A mass grave sits just outside of town, while notes and other moments of environmental storytelling show just how terrified the Palomists were—and how vindictive the Sabinians are.
That’s juxtaposed by a large tree just outside of town, where Sabinians were hanged and left to rot. Graffiti in town mocked it as a “family tree,” laying out the stomach-churning tit-for-tat that’s plagued Hadea. In fact, the area beforehand is laden with Palomist religious text that literally demonizes the Sabinians for believing in a false god.
Clearly, Hell Is Us paints an ugly picture of both sides of this civil war. I don’t get a centrist “both sides” argument from it, though; instead, this clearly illustrates how we have a tendency to “other” certain groups, demonizing them until they aren’t considered human anymore. The wider the gap gets, the more likely violence is to break out. We see it in real life, like with the Hutus and Tutsis, or North and South Korea, or… well, I’m sure you can come up with another example.
I saw the results of this in-game barbarism in the survivors of the conflict. A husband grieved for his lost children, who only wished for a possession of theirs so he could have a proper Palomist burial. A tooltip came up, hinting at a potential side quest there. I assume I could find one of their possessions and give it to him, which is a powerful way to turn a random fetch quest into something more meaningful to the world and its lore.
This is all before we even get into the Hollow Walkers. Yeah, those horrific humanoid monsters with holes in them, that you saw in the trailer? According to Jacques-Belletête, they’re like the manifestation of the hate and suffering that plagues Hadea. The country was hit with something called the Calamity, which is likely the supernatural cause behind these Hollow Walkers.
That mystery is just another thread to tug at in Hell Is Us. All this is to say, naturally curious minds will find a lot to sink their teeth into here. Sure, the main mystery about Rémi’s parents is interesting, too, but for me, I’m curious to see what Rogue Factor has to say about human nature as a whole. It’s only made even better that the player-driven gameplay neatly complements that.
Hacking and Slashing Through Hadea
While the war rages between Sabinians and Palomists, Rémi doesn’t directly fight either side. Instead, he fights against Hollow Walkers using specially treated weapons and his trusty drone sidekick. He can equip weapons like swords, greatswords, and twin axes, and it’s your standard light and heavy attack system.
Holding down either trigger gives Rémi access to four special active abilities each. One set is based on his weapon, while the other set is for his drone. He can dodge, block, and parry, too, and breaking an enemy’s stance leaves them open to a big special attack.
All of this should sound pretty familiar if you’ve played third-person melee action games, and Hell Is Us feels mostly serviceable. The standard difficulty did feel more punishing than expected, especially for a game that is supposedly not a soulslike. However, that’s something that the studio is still finessing ahead of the game’s release.
Regardless, fighting Hollow Walkers proved to be a little tricky. Parry windows are really tight, and the way enemies move is so erratic that it’s hard to pin down exact strikes. Arguably, that’s part of the point though; these creatures, despite being vaguely humanoid, are obviously anything but. It’s what makes them so unsettling.
To add some complexity, some Hollow Walkers come with what’s called a Haze, which are brightly colored, highly geometric shapes that are attached to the Walkers. You have to neutralize the Haze to make the Walker vulnerable, so you’ll be fighting two enemies at once.
That’s where abilities come in handy. The drone can distract a Walker for a certain time frame, and it can also make Rémi spin around with his weapon stretched out to damage a wide area.
Perhaps my favorite part of the combat, however, is something called the Lymbic Pulse. Every time you land a hit, some energy circles around you. When it flashes white, pressing R1 lets you absorb the energy and restore endurance (aka health). The longer the combo, the more the pulse will restore.
It creates a nice risk-reward system that reminded me a bit of Bloodborne. However, I also found that most enemies, even the basics, would nearly always attack me through any combo. I could reliably do a two-hit tap maybe 80% of the time, but anything beyond that felt like too much risk, not enough reward.
Overall, though, I see a lot of potential in the combat in Hell Is Us. What I played isn’t quite where Jacques-Belletête wants it either, but I have faith that he and the team at Rogue Factor can get it to a place that’s satisfying most of the time instead of some of the time.
Hell Is Us Preview | Final Thoughts
Hell Is Us is one of those game titles that feels a bit aggressively edgy, but it’s an apt, concise description of the game’s main themes. Hell is the human experience when you look at it through the lens of our constant proclivities toward violence and othering over the course of human history.
So far, I’m intrigued with what Rogue Factor is trying to say with this game, though whether the whole story will land is yet to be seen. And the combat, which has potential, has yet to really fully impress me. Nonetheless, Hell Is Us is a story I want to keep an eye on and explore every lead I can find.
If you’re curious to try Hell Is Us for yourself, a demo will hit Steam next Monday ahead of Steam Next Fest.
TechRaptor previewed Hell Is Us at Rogue Factor’s studio with accommodations provided by the studio and Nacon.
