Metal: Hellsinger

Metal: Hellsinger - One Hell of a Rockin' Good Time

One Lost Soul's Heavy Metal Journey Through the Underworld

A New Badass Rhythm FPS

Metal: Hellsinger, developed by The Outsiders and published by Funcom, is not your average first-person shooter. This fiery new action game combines the high-powered energy of heavy metal with the thrill of blowing your enemies away. If you can shoot to the rhythm of the intense heavy metal soundtrack, you'll wreak more havoc and be more successful in the game.

Metal: Hellsinger is available for Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Even if you've played just about every FPS out there, it's a safe bet that you've never experienced gameplay like what this demonic adventure through Hell has to offer.

Journey Through the Eight Hells

In Metal: Hellsinger, you play as a demon known as The Unknown, a lost soul who must battle his way through eight Hells of the Infernal Planes. Your goal is to dethrone the Devil herself, who's known as The Red Judge, and you'll have to do it by fighting off demonic hordes in several fierce worlds.

Like most first-person shooters, the game features several powerful weapons that you'll use to take down terrifying enemies. In this game, there's an extra factor that comes into play: Rhythm. In Metal: Hellsinger, you must try to match your gunfire to the beat of the heavy metal soundtrack, which will increase your destruction and the intensity of the game.

In Metal: Hellsinger, each level is a different Hell that comes with its own unique heavy metal track. To complete your mission and take down The Red Judge, you'll have to battle through all eight worlds and beat the demon hordes standing in your way.

Concept Rating: 5/5

Dark Worlds and Powerful Heavy Metal

While the graphics aren't necessarily a standout aspect of Metal: Hellsinger, there's certainly nothing wrong with them. Each of the worlds you battle through has a distinct aesthetic, which gives the gameplay enough variety to keep it visually interesting. Ultimately, the game does a solid job of creating dark, demonic environments that make you feel like you're actually journeying through Hell.

Ultimately, though, Metal: Hellsinger is all about the soundtrack. Every level features an original heavy metal song, each played by well-known artists, including System of a Down, Lamb of God, Arch Enemy, and more. With this line-up, Metal: Hellsinger is the perfect game for true heavy metal fans.

Your ability to shoot on the beat will directly impact the damage you deal and how awesome the music sounds.

One unique feature of the game is that you can directly influence the soundtrack as you play. If you match the rhythm of the songs with your shooting, it will cause the intensity of the music to increase. This mechanic is amazingly effective at firing you up and working you into a frenzy of fast-paced demon-killing.

Graphics & Audio Rating: 5/5

Epic Story Mode

Metal: Hellsinger's main game mode is a detailed story mode narrated by award-winning actor Troy Baker. Playing as The Unknown, you'll rhythmically shoot your way through one realm at a time, gradually working your way to your confrontation with The Red Judge. The story mode also features a variety of cinematic cutscenes that give the plot more depth and help draw you into the lore of the chaotic underworld.

Hordes of Demonic Enemies

In each Hell you take on, you're faced with hordes of various demonic enemies to take out. These enemies come in staggered waves, allowing you to continue building momentum as you shoot to the rhythm of the music. As you progress through each level, your foes will come in higher numbers and get more challenging to battle.

The game's demons come in different forms and feature various abilities. For example, you might encounter giant insect-like creatures capable of spitting acid that slows you down. Others may have shields that can deflect attacks and throw off your rhythm.

Metal: Hellsinger is a rhythm FPS, brimming with diabolical enemies, powerful weapons, and metal music.

As you play, you must learn which types of enemies are the highest priorities to take out. If you start by killing the least-threatening demons, it gives the most fearsome ones more time to disturb your rhythm. The more you progress, the better you get at targeting the most dangerous adversaries first.

Powerful Arsenal of Weapons

While there aren't many weapons to choose from in Metal: Hellsinger, your character is equipped with a few badass options. You'll have a sword and a skull that fires projectiles, and you can also select a primary and secondary weapon from four choices. You can choose from a shotgun, a crossbow, a pair of boomerang blades, and two six-shooters you can dual-wield.

Since all of the game's weapons feature unlimited ammo, you can, for the most part, select whichever guns you enjoy using the most. You can also be strategic about your weapon combinations, such as pairing the accuracy of the pistols with the short-range power of the shotgun.

Challenging Boss Battles

When you reach the end of each realm, you'll face a challenging boss battle that stands between you and your progress to the next level. Each of the bosses is relatively similar, featuring the same winged demon each time; the main difference is that the creature's head changes.

At first, these boss battles are engaging and provide an exhilarating challenge. Because of each boss's similarity, the fights become a little tedious by the time you've completed the fourth or fifth Hell.

Optional Arena Fights

As you conquer the game's levels, you'll regularly unlock optional challenges called Torments. Torments are arena battles featuring a variety of twists to throw you off and force you to adapt your playstyle.

For example, one of the Torments might remove your ability to regain health but increase your attack power the lower your health bar goes. As a result, you're encouraged to take risks with your health to achieve maximum damage. In another Torment, you might have your weapon switched after every kill.

Each of the game's levels includes three optional Torments, and completing them earns you sigils that you can equip during the main gameplay. These sigils don't affect the gameplay much, but they're integral for working your way up the Metal: Hellsinger leaderboards.

Gameplay Rating: 4/5

Entering the Underworld

Metal: Hellsinger was released on September 15, 2022, and is available for between $29.99 and $39.99, depending on the platform. For such a high-quality new release, the price is relatively low. However, the low price point is likely due to the game's shorter length. Ultimately, it's an entirely fair price for the unique concept, quality game mechanics, and the amount of enjoyment it offers.

The Perfect FPS for Metalheads

For anyone looking for a first-person shooter that offers something a bit different, Metal: Hellsinger is an excellent choice. While it's not necessarily the first game to include killing waves of demons in the underworld, the rhythm-based aspect brings a unique quality to the experience.

While the game is relatively short to play, the combat is engaging and intense, the demonic enemies are diverse, and the different realms are distinctive and fully realized. Metal: Hellsinger may not be a perfect FPS, but it has lots to offer and leaves little to be desired.

Replay Value Rating: 4/5

The Good

• Awesome rhythm mechanic
• Rockin' heavy metal soundtrack
• Great assortment of enemies and environments

The Bad

• Boss battles get a bit repetitive
• Relatively small weapon selection

TL;DR

Metal: Hellsinger is a headbanging, demon-slaying FPS that every metalhead gamer should try.