In our last encounter with Hellgate: London, we took a hapless lackey named Technician 314 to a giant pit of fire that was falsely advertised as the Cauldron of Happiness to remove a foot-tall demon with a vice-like grip from his face. Of course, this meant sticking 314's face into the fire and allowing the demon to completely fuse with the host's mind. The incubation process would take a while, so we were free to pursue other quests until 314 exploded with evil energy, setting the demon called the Sage free so that we could extract information from it.

It wasn't until this point that we got a broader view of hell's invasion of earth. In one mission, we reactivated defensive turrets surrounded by monsters and demons to keep the human Templar soldiers from being overwhelmed. Even though rushing past several giant creatures and hordes of demons proved very exciting, we couldn't help feeling that the frontlines of war felt remarkably tame. Only one non-player character (NPC) stood present in the zone, and she didn't react to any of the nearby creatures. There wasn't any sense of urgency, nor was there any rush to complete the mission. Monsters meandered back and forth, waiting for a hero to get in their way, leaving no impression that there was a desperate battle going on. The final version of the game could definitely benefit from more animated NPCs. Luckily, the story and humor were enough to keep us motivated.

Hellgate also strays from hack'n-slash monotony with occasional minigames. In one instance, we had to lead a squad of soldiers out of an area heavily infested with demons, and controlled them like units in a squad-based strategy game. We directed them to attack, move, seek cover and heal all while accessing special powers like napalm air strikes when battling with the boss creature. As fun as these sequences were, they remain isolated from the rest of the game. You don't meet up with any of the rescued soldiers later on to make buddies or get quests from them as NPCs. Characters don't bump into any of them in instanced areas to help fight off monsters. The sequences finish, and that's it. You can't repeat them, and the excursion doesn't have any significant impact on the world.

Hellgate makes up for its shortcomings with its creativity. Returning to 314 and his explosive situation, the demon merger opens a portal leading straight into the crazy technician's mind. Players need to head inside and make their way to the limits of imagination to speak to the Sage. That means trudging through tunnels of brain matter, haunted by spectral presences, until they reach an area literally called "The Limits of Imagination," where they must battle 314's exaggerated self-image.

Crushing 314's mind reveals the Sage as another aspect of Truth called The Father, who shares a slightly less cryptic message than the Oracle. With two parts of Truth contacted, there were still three more family members to track down. Hell's minions still roamed free, but humanity was getting closer to figuring out a way to defeat them. The Father seemed confident that we would somehow find a way, but we won't find out until Hellgate: London debuts November 16. Check back to GameDaily then for more coverage.