In case you've been living in a pit of fire and brimstone for the last few years, devoid of Internet access, you're likely to know what Hellgate: London is all about. It is one of the most anticipated games of the year, and rightly deserves this designation since Flagship Studios is made up of guys responsible for creating the Diablo, StarCraft, and WarCraft series' (i.e., Bill Roper). This game aims to combine the depth of a role-playing game with the action of a first-person shooter in a fully immersive 3D environment.

In Hellgate you'll be tossed headlong into a near future London that has been scorched by a demonic invasion. Engulfed in a cityscape of hellfire, the surviving humans were foced to flee Underground for refuge. It is now years later, and those who remain have managed to combine technology with sorcery to fight back against the denizens of darkness, all to save humanity's bloodline.

This setting is just one of many tantalizing features that wait behind the Hellgate. The "Underground" refers to London's vast subway system, commonly known as "The Tube." The setting is definitely unique, and was decided upon while researching secret societies (which a lot of the game is based on). Flagship researched clandestine orders like the Knights Templar and the Freemasons (who were the main architects behind the construction of "The Tube"), as well as "the Cabal," a very non-traditional, "fringe science" club that Isaac Newton, and other historical figures, was once a member of.

Only two characters classes have been announced thus far (although a third is speculated), and they both stem from these historic, real world secret societies. The Templar appears to be the game's "tank" class, a high-tech saintly soldier if you will. It's a pure combat character that wears heavy armor and jumps right into the middle of the scrum. Templars have the ability to dual wield an interesting assortment of weapons: rifles, melee weapons (like swords), pistols, and even one of each in each hand simultaneously.

The Cabalist is the sorcerer class in Hellgate. These characters experimented with the demonic influences round them and created an order that relies on spell casting and black magic. The Cabalist's wear leather and robe-based clothing. This class prefers to wield shimmering metallic orbs, wands, magic staves and other more exotic items to cast their demonic energies. They have three primary skill sets, which are their three schools of sorcery: summoning (conjuring magical pets), evocation (channeling dark energy in the form of weapons fire), and transformation (physically changing form, such as turning their arm into a demon's claw, etc.).

It's probably obvious that the weapons of Hellgate aren't going to be your standard, out-of-the-box firearm. Old-school weaponry can't put a dent in a demon. Instead, H:L's armaments will be customized with holy symbols and magic charms, changing them into "spell delivery systems." Every class in the game uses this spell delivery system to convert their conventional weaponry into effective, demon-damaging firepower. The entire weapon system will be highly modular and randomized, meaning you'll never know exactly what weapon(s) you'll stumble across as you battle back the demonic horde. Each weapon will have several upgrade slots to swap in/out items (scopes, fuel cells, etc.) that deal bonus damage and other effects. This is a very loot oriented game, so it stands to reason that you'll spend as much time tinkering with various add-ons to your weapons, as actually firing them.

A lot of research has gone into the development of the game's high-tech weapons and armor, using believable real-world technology to explain their existence. For instance, the Cabalist's HARP Rifle is actually based on existing harmonic resonance technology. Many of the Templars items contain palladium, a real-world metal that modern-day scientists still can't suitably identify beyond its odd ability to store energy. Some of the other known weapons include: Scorcher handheld flamethrower), the Cluster Rifle, the Fire Starter, and the Zeus Rifle (a chain lighting gun).

The combat system is real-time, so you have all the experiences and feeling of a shooter. In order to appeal to a broad range of gamers, it won't require that you have fast twitch reflexes like most FPSers. A player's effectiveness will be a combination of equipment specifications, skills, attributes, and buffs. Like most weapons, those in H:L all have various uses, making them effective in specific combat situations. In the end, a person's reflexes and aiming will only have a small effect on success.

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