Unfortunately, the launch of Hellgate: London in Asia didn’t start well and it has taken a turn for the worse. Crashing problems wreaked havoc on the servers early, and all attempts to patch the issues failed. This left the Hellgate team with only one option, a complete character wipe. Apparently some areas of the world have easier access to hell than others.

Official statement can be found below.

[Urgent News] Implementation of Patch0
10/11/2007

Gamers,
Thank you for your patience while we worked to upload Patch0 onto our local servers. For the past two weeks, IAHGames and our partners have worked overnight almost everyday as they attempted to implement Patch0 onto our existing servers.

In the end, it has been determined that there is no way to implement Patch0 onto our Hellgate: London servers without also discarding relevant player data.

Because of this, when Patch0 is installed on Tuesday, there will be a complete character wipe.

|We understand this event is frustrating for you, and we are sorry for the problems in implementing Patch0. As compensation, we are providing all gamers who purchased both the Standard and Collector’s Edition Box Sets 4 weeks of free subscription benefits. Each box already includes 30 days of free subscription benefits, meaning all of you will be entitled to 60 days of free subscription when the service becomes active around the end of the year.

IAHGames and our partners have taken this event very seriously, and yesterday our CEO and Deputy CEO flew to Seoul to discuss the issue with the CEO of HanbitSoft. As a result of the meeting, HanbitSoft has graciously agreed support IAH Games’ decision to provide free subscription time as compensation. HanbitSoft and Flagship Studios have also agreed to provide all further patches on par with US patching time lines, to ensure the SEA version of Hellgate: London stays up-to-date.

The implementation of Patch0 and subsequent character wipe will occur at 1200hrs(GMT+8) on Monday, November 12. After the Patch is implemented, a comprehensive test will be run to ensure there are no further problems. The process will take about 8 hours.

We would like to repeat we are sorry for the delay and the frustration it may have caused you. Please accept the game time as compensation, and thank you for your support until this point.

Sincerely,
Team HGL

Source: Kotaku

I would need at least three pages to list the all problems and shortcomings of Hellgate, however all that aside, I really liked this game! The aesthetics blew me away, and I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anything like it before on a PC. That said, I think the game may be slightly misrepresenting itself.

To start off with, Hellgate performs very poorly as a First Person Shooter, so I suggest that you mouse wheel out into third person right away, unless you want to experience the same boring gun animations and restricted view that I suffered through initially. Trust me, make the switch. After that, you will be faced with a sobering realization, this isn’t Gears of War. Hellgate is first and foremost an RPG, and if you look at it in the same vein as Neverwinter Nights and World of Warcraft, suddenly the combat seems far superior to anything you’ve ever experienced in a Roleplaying Game before.

Quests are pretty standard fare, slay X number of monsters, get this for me, give this to her, etc, etc. However, there is one noteworthy flaw in the quest design. Each time you want to advance the quest dialog, you have to click next. I don’t know why they couldn’t have just made the text scroll. You will find that it’s not only a nuisance, but it opens you up to a world of hurt. For example, a zombie can come running up behind you and start hacking away while you are caught up clicking through screen after screen of quest related dialogue. That being said, some of the dungeons in Hellgate London are unlike anything you have seen before in the RPG genre, as it’s quests send you sweeping through the snow covered streets of London, and into the dank mold ridden industrial complexes that surround.

In addition to the game’s epic environments, Flagship Studios really nailed the concept of twitch based combat. The actions feel very fluid, and random encounters will often ramp up to a chaotic fever pitch. Of course, none of this really comes as a surprise when you take into account that Bill Roper and the people who brought you Diablo 2 are on the job. Flagship was formed in 2003 after all the management from Blizzard North resigned due to a dispute with Blizzard Entertainment’s Parent company, Vivendi, and now it seems that the company’s future may ride almost solely on the success of Hellgate.

Click here to view the embedded video.

While Flagship did a great job handling the twitch combat, they did not fair so well in the enemy AI department. The monsters in Hellgate are stupid, if not broken, as they would miss their mark on more than one occasion, jumping right past me, getting caught in the environment, never to be seen again. This is particularly disconcerting due to the fact that Hellgate ships on October 31st. Speaking of stupid, the placement of in game advertising totally takes you out of the experience. Seeing Nvidia and Dark Horse posters right behind the main quest givers screams shameless promotion.

Problems loom ominously over Hellgate like storm clouds over London, however if technical difficulties are clouds, the addictive nature of collecting rare items and exploring randomized dungeons is this game’s sunlight. The replay value is virtually endless as every time you venture into an area it’s different than the time before. Bosses are also randomized throughout the dungeons, making it nearly impossible to know when you will encounter one, and when you do, it will likely scare the crap out.

Character progression is what you would expect from the makers of Diablo, not too complicated, with the ability to upgrade different skills via a grid like system similar to that of WoW. Hellgate also features a full scale weapon upgrade and modification mechanic. Players upgrade thier weapons with lootable mods strewn throughout the games vast landscape.

It will be interesting to see how the developers balance the new mods that will be distributed as subscription based content with the games built in lootable upgrades. Flagship has caught a lot of flack for splintering the market by charging a 9.95$ subscription fee for new content patches, however it seems that your characters progress won’t be hindered dramatically if you opt to play online without paying the additional fees.

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Subscriber Features

Elite Mode
This is for those players that always feel a game is too easy. The demons are tougher, deal out more damage, move faster, travel in larger groups, and have more champions at the ready. Numerous tweaks to the overall balance and progression of the game make this an extremely challenging mode.

Hardcore
Hardcore mode takes away the various resurrection options. For the gamer that wants the ultimate test, try playing an Elite Hardcore character!

Themed Events and Items
Halloween (October 31 – November 4)

* Zombot – A special pet just for All Hallows’, this amalgam of meat and metal is sure to frighten and delight those players that are willing to put in the time to find all the necessary pieces in order to construct him.
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* All Hallow’s Visage – A Unique Helm that has not only very special properties, but as well a look unlike any other helm in the game. Ghost Rider would be jealous!
* All Hallow’s Treats – Delicious and devious, these different candies do everything from temporarily boosting stats to temporarily altering the appearance of the devourer.
* All Hallows’ Quests – There is a pair of special quests available, including one that is repeatable for continuous fun.
* Nemo ~ Master of Festivities – This special NPC can first be found in Covent Garden Station to greet players and send them on their way with quests specifically crafted for the season.

Guild Creation
Buy purchasing a Guild Herald, a character can form a new guild. Characters can only be part of one guild at a time and should a Guild leader decide to abandon their post, they can pass leadership of the Guild to another subscribing guild member.

Achievements
These are long-term goals for players. The player starts with a few new goals in an Achievement Log. These can be as simple as slaying a certain amount of specific demons to something as difficult as completing quests without the benefit of armor! Players uncover new goals as they start to meet the requirements of that achievement. For example, after 50 zombies have been slain, an “Achievement Unlocked” message displays on the screen. Checking the Achievement Log shows how many zombies must be eradicated to complete the achievement. Rewards for completing achievements can be anything from reputation to tags on the player to special particle effects to items to special skills to – well, anything is possible!

Extra Character Slots
While everyone gets 3 character slots, subscribers can have a maximum of 24 characters.

Larger Stashu

Each character’s storage locker is doubled in size with an extra 6×8 section, making the hoarding of all sorts of goodies that much easier. Packrats rejoice!

Founder’s Perks

Name Color

FoForum Icon

More to come… (this will be an on-going area, as well)

posted from hellgatelondon.com

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The real test will be when the new content patches come out. What kind of items will subscribers get? Will they be more powerful than those found in the retail game? Time will tell, however with what little time I had with the game, I can tell you that I’m already addicted despite it’s sometimes glaring flaws.

It is that time of year again, and developers are ready to hit store shelves hard with games perfectly suited for the Halloween holiday. The creators of Diablo are getting in on the action as well, as they prepare to pry open hells gates, unleashing the fury within upon us all.

EA, Namco Bandai, and Flagship Studios have announced today that “Hellgate: London” has officially gone gold, and is on schedule for its PC exclusive release on October 31st in North America and November 2nd in Europe.

“This has been an amazing journey for us and we couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished,” said Flagship Studios CEO, Bill Roper. “We’re anxious to get Hellgate: London into gamers’ hands and we can’t wait to play right along with them.”

In addition to the games official release, gamers interested in getting in on the devilish action ahead of time can do so by downloading a singleplayer demo available tomorrow, Thursday, October 18th, via AOL’s GameDaily website exclusively. Other websites will be allowed to distribute the demo the following day, on October 19th.

According to the official press release direct from EA, the demo will grant access to two of the games six character types, “Blademaster, a master of swordplay and action-packed melee combat”, and “Marksman, a cool, calculating, long-ranged specialist.” Of course only a small portion of the game will be available, but with the game just 15 days away, it should be enough to hold you over till Halloween.

For more information about the game, visit the official website at www.hellgatelondon.com.