Hell Is Us: The First Preview

Let's get this one out of the way: Hell is Us is not soul-like. It's also not an open world game. Instead, it aims to distinguish itself from other action adventures by emphasizing investigation and discovery, inviting you to get lost in its strangeness. That's exactly what happened to me during my two hours of hands-on work with developer latest Rogue Factors, a striking blend of medieval aesthetics and sci-fi set against the backdrop of a '90s European civil war. I enjoyed its approach to tense hand-to-hand combat and information-gathering puzzles, but what excites me most is that I don't know where its intriguing story will take me next.

Hell is Us is one of the darkest games I've played in a while. Entering a village surrounded by muddy swamps, I am greeted by a mass grave, bodies hanging from a tree and the nostalgic strings of local violins. You'll become accustomed to such scenes during the first few hours of your adventure in the fictional European nation of Hadea, set in the 1990s. It's a country ravaged by civil war, cut off from the rest of the world, and the place where the main character Rmi fled as a child. Years later, he returns to his homeland after crossing the border illegally in search of the parents who sent him to seek a better life.

We Are Hell: Gameplay Screenshots

The first stage of the mystery takes me to an isolated farmhouse, the basement of which is now the owner's house. Through a conversation about my father and the larger conflict at play, I am able to pull a thread that ultimately reveals Jova's village as his last known location. Hell is Us wants you to take your time talking to people and exploring all avenues of conversation. Indeed, being a wandering detective seems to be as much a part of its gameplay as its punishing fights (more on that in a moment). It forces you to observe its world and the people trapped in it. You are deprived of map markers, waypoints and thanks to this 90s setting, a cell phone. Instead of these tools, you rely on instructions and clues given orally or read from scattered notes.

To reach Jova, I need a vehicle, and it turns out that a military APC is parked nearby. Retrieving the lost key to one's engine seems like a simple recovery quest at first, but Hell is Us's emphasis on investigation means that this task quickly reveals itself to be a much more complex problem. I talk to a wounded soldier who gives me rough directions through a forest, which leads me to a puzzle in which I have to match the symbols on a door using a contraption. With the gateway unlocked, I then dive deep into the tomb within. This is where things get weird.

Enemies take the form of milky-white humanoids that move slowly but menacingly, echoing images from Annihilation's finale.

In a conversation at gamescom 2024, creative director Jonathan Jacques-Bellette revealed to me the influence Annihilation has on Hell is Us. The team was inspired not only by the visuals of Alex's gripping film Garlands of 2018, but also by the general offbeat tone of the trilogy of novels by Jeff VanderMeer on which it is based. This can be heard in Hadea's unsettling score, filled with droning, choppy electronics, and otherworldly shimmering, but becomes much more evident when you're face-to-face with enemies.

Basic enemies take the form of milky white humanoids that move slowly but menacingly, echoing images from the Garlands film finale. Others are more developed quadrupeds that have blades for limbs that slice you if you get too close. I couldn't help but think of the necromorphs that haunt the corridors of Dead Spaces when I faced them. But the horrors don't stop there. In fact, they are hidden in every tight corner and in every open field. This is best illustrated near the end of my demo, as I venture far too close to a giant glistening blob of goo and rippled veins. It's a difficult thing to try to describe in words, and in turn, it's unlike anything else I've ever seen.

So far this all sounds like sci-fi horror, but that's only one side of the Hell is Us coin, because how you deal with these threats is medieval fantasy. I quickly discover that standard weapons have no effect on them, but luckily I soon receive a glowing white sword that is much more effective. In addition to a standard mix of dodging and blocking, you can slice enemies with standard and charged heavy attacks. At its core, it's a relatively basic melee combat system that I found to be quite unforgiving at times (though never unfair), but more and more wrinkles reveal themselves over time. Salvage items are rare, so you rely largely on the clever healing pulse system, which is triggered by pressing the right bumper button when a particle blast emerges from an enemy after the having touched. This encourages aggression when playing and has kept me in the spotlight when looking for a health supplement, just like some of my favorite action games like Control and Doom Eternal do.

This doesn't mean you can use every blade, though, as the length of your stamina bar is directly related to how much health you have left. This means you can only get in a hit or two when you're close to death before you need to sit back and rest for a while. If you need a helping hand, you can call on your drone companion who, among other abilities, can distract enemies while you sneak up on them for a critical hit. This isn't necessarily a stealth game, but it's nice to know the option exists.

Alongside the special attacks, these systems all combine to create a tense dance through each fight, a constant pleasure to run through, especially when facing more complex threats. A great example of these enemies are those connected to glowing, pulsing entities that are color-coded depending on the type of attack they use. For example, reds plow you while yellows attack from a distance. Deal enough damage to them and they will retreat into their meatier counterparts and leave them vulnerable.

During my time playing, I also got my hands on several other weapons, like a pair of very cool twin axes that unleashed bursts of charged attacks, and a towering polearm that delivered slow but heavy blows. The latter also seemed an entirely optional discovery, unlocked by collecting a series of ancient medallions and inserting them into a hidden side door in the catacombs. It's nice to see the investigation side of the game leading to new treasures and cleverly integrated into these open areas, rather than just being there to reveal story information.

Of course, it is this fight that prevents Rmi from finding his father. This connection will remain lost for the time being, however, as upon his arrival in Jova, it is revealed that he left the city with the world peacekeeping forces. The journey continues and the next stage of the investigation is underway as I wander around talking to tired, sometimes dismissive villagers. There's obviously also a deeper mystery at play, as alien languages ​​and striking sci-fi gothic architecture lurk underground, waiting to emerge and reveal their secrets. It's worth noting that Hell is Us hits everywhere, no coincidence considering that Jacques-Bellette was art director on Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided – two games that have held up incredibly well over the years. stood the test of time from a stylistic point of view.

It's this willingness to get a little weird that has me so encouraged by what I've been playing Hell is Us. Its '90s setting and appropriate lack of modern technology aren't just a way to encourage genuine exploration, but also feels like a throwback to a decade where games held your hand a little more loosely. I, for one, welcome it and can’t wait to see where Hell is Us takes me next.

Simon Cardy is also up for wallowing in sadness. Follow him on Twitter at @CardySimon.

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