Metal: Hellsinger is one of the loudest and most metal games of the last decade. It’s one that combines both FPS and beat rhythm experiences into a symbiotic relationship we’d never have expected to have before. Here’s our review for Metal: Hellsinger!
Pros:
+Excellent use of FPS mechanics and beat rhythm elements
+A soundtrack that is both unique and highly unforgettable
+Performances on new-gen consoles are absolutely astounding
+Difficulty options make the game both accessible and enjoyable
+Tools to help provide the best experience possible through in-game calabration
Cons:
-Options to enjoy the music even if you miss a note could be useful to some
Oftentimes when I think of beat rhythm titles, I don’t often find myself looking at games that use a FPS element. When I do, I think of first-person hack-and-slashers like Beat Saber, I think of Dance Dance Revolution, or even games such as Just Dance. All of these games are unique in what they do. They’re all family-oriented, they all come with a unique playlist that takes songs both new and old and combines them.
What I don’t often think of is ones that take everything we love about titles such as DOOM, Quake, Duke Nukem, and many more; only to combine them into a cacophony of heavy-metal induced madness. That’s where development team The Outsiders comes into play. Recently, they’ve introduced the world to their first major release, Metal: Hellsinger, a title where you take on the role of Unknown, a fallen angel that wants her voice back.
With every level completed, every song beaten, she gets a little bit of that back as she takes out each of The Judge’s aspects. While the story itself to some is rather light, it’s the experience that takes over, and because of that, it’s a replayable title that has a wide array of reasons to keep on playing. So what exactly are we going to discuss now? Everything except that story, because spoilers. So let’s get to rocking and rolling!
Metal: Hellsinger is in a league of its own and it knows exactly what it is here to accomplish in a heavy metal fashion
One of the parts that I’ve noticed isn’t discussed a whole lot is the game’s unique sound design elements. This is the game’s bread and butter outside of graphics, animations, and level-design. While the story is there, it’s something we can’t discuss, because spoilers.
Over the time I’ve played Metal: Hellsinger, I can’t deny that at the core of this game, it’s not a FPS, but rather, it’s a beat rhythm title that wants to be recognized just for how unique it is. It’s one that takes the talents of heavy metal vocalists such as Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), Tatiana Shmayluk (Jinjer), Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Matt Heafy (Trivium), and many more to bring its story to life through the use of music.
Each singer lives up to distinctly what they are known for: Vocals that are the powerhouse of this game. They deliver their unique sound into a soundtrack that depicts the struggles that Unknown has gone through as you play her, one where you match the rhythm to each beat of the drum in order to both match the rhythm and increase the damage dealt.
As you do, the song begins to play as your multiplier goes up, so does your score, which is a nice little trade off. The higher your multiplier, the more score you earn, and the more of the song for that level you get to here. The design choice by The Outsiders to play music as you do better, is a bit of a just reward, but for some that might struggle with these elements, may find this a bit off putting as there isn’t an option to override this tidbit of a design choice.
You’ll find such as the second true level’s song, Stygia feat. Alissa White-Gluz is actually quite addictive, enjoyable, and gives plenty of reason to aim to do better as you play. Each weapon also changes just how you will experience the song due to how each of them works.
Challenge levels, however, do not operate the same. You’ll find that the music will already play at its full extent as you aim to complete each of the game’s specifically designed challenges which give you needed upgrades in order to help you through the game itself.
Let’s talk about those first-person shooter elements, shall we?
While the game itself is a beat rhythm title, we can’t ignore the fact it also shares its first-person shooter elements with other titles that it aims to compete with, which is just fine. You’ll find that there are multiple weapons you can use in order to achieve your desired multiplier and your score as you play.
Oftentimes when I think of beat rhythm titles, I don’t often find myself looking at games that use a FPS element. When I do, I think of first-person hack-and-slashers like Beat Saber, I think of Dance Dance Revolution, or even games such as Just Dance. All of these games are unique in what they do. They’re all family-oriented, they all come with a unique playlist that takes songs both new and old and combines them.
What I don’t often think of is ones that take everything we love about titles such as DOOM, Quake, Duke Nukem, and many more; only to combine them into a cacophony of heavy-metal induced madness. That’s where development team The Outsiders comes into play. Recently, they’ve introduced the world to their first major release, Metal: Hellsinger, a title where you take on the role of Unknown, a fallen angel that wants her voice back.
With every level completed, every song beaten, she gets a little bit of that back as she takes out each of The Judge’s aspects. While the story itself to some is rather light, it’s the experience that takes over, and because of that, it’s a replayable title that has a wide array of reasons to keep on playing. So what exactly are we going to discuss now? Everything except that story, because spoilers. So let’s get to rocking and rolling!
Optimization is one big key component to The Outsiders’ recently released title and we need to talk about this
Lately, I’ve been taking a lot of notes on what game’s and developers that seek to optimize their respective games for the best. I’ve seen games that have done a terrific job such as DOOM Eternal, Warframe, The Last of Us Part 1 Remastered, Horizon Forbidden West, Halo Infinite, and quite a few others. It’s a new trend that only seems to be getting better as time goes on.
However, I have to state that The Outsiders hasn’t just taken optimization into account for Metal: Hellsinger. Rather, they’ve done a great job at ensuring that players can get the most out of their purchase. When you first boot Metal: Hellsinger up to play, you’ll be given a walkthrough on optimization elements such as brightness, HDR, and calibration.
What do I mean by calibration? As this game hinges on being as precise as possible. This means you can’t afford for a small delay from your TV, monitor, phone screen, or what have you to hinder the experience. This also goes for your audio devices such as your bluetooth headphones, wired headphones, or even your wireless headphones that depend on a dongle.
All of those devices can have a small delay, which in turn, can hinder the experience. The calibration is used to ensure the most optimized experience. It takes into consideration when you see the beat marker hit your intended “sight” if you will. It also takes into consideration when you hear the loudest of the drum beats. This is to ensure that there are no video or audio delays. Thanks to this optimization, it also lets you get the game set into place so that you can run it in Quality mode if you prefer. I don’t suggest it unless you just want really pretty graphics on a PlayStation 5.
Now, just like any game, video fidelity does have two options: Performance and Resolution mode. One locks the game in at, what seems to be a dynamically resolution scaled 4K (at 60-120 frames-per-second, while the latter locks the game in at 4K with some slight RTX effects at 30 frames-per-second (this is not a 100% for sure as we are going to confirm with the developers when we can). The latter, albeit appetizing for those hankering for some beautiful graphics, does take away from the experience, which is a shame as the game itself is already as beautiful as can be.
Sound Design is absolutely outstanding and we are going to take a minute to talk about this because, as stated above, it’s the key element of the game
I know, know, just as our editor said to me: You probably don’t want to read more about this, but you’re going to have to. So why are we talking about this again? You see, earlier we talked about the soundtrack, specifically, why it’s so unique. This is because one of the things I didn’t mention was how the soundtrack itself is actually designed. You’ll have Mick Gordon (DOOM, DOOM Eternal, Killer Instinct) to thank for this.
While he didn’t work on Metal: Hellsinger, you do have minds like David Goldfarb (Creative Director) and Shila Vikström (Executive Producer) and composers, Elvira Björkman and Nicklas Hjertberg of Two Feathers, that brought it to life. The reason this is so incredibly important is because the music and the sound effects aren’t just small pieces of two very different puzzles.
You see, as you play, each weapon acts as the beat to the drum. As you hit the beat to the drum, the song begins to play. What you don’t see is how the songs are designed in different segmented pieces, just as they would be in a studio. Because of this, each piece is uniquely layered on top of the other. This gives that unique feel that the song is coming to life as you progress.
As you do worse, the song begins to fall apart and a layer is removed, giving it a more subtle sound, which in turn, gives you the reason to press on and work harder to bring the sound back to life. Because of this, it brings together one very important thing: The sound design itself is its own bread and butter for this game. It’s actually its own unique element that we can’t ignore.
One element of this that is best represented is when you start each and every level. You are given subtle atmospheric ambience through select instruments which can range from a bass, to a rhythm guitar, or perhaps even just the mellowed out beat of the drum. With Stygia, for example, it’s the light hint of the drum, small teasings of the lead guitar, and even small thrumming of the bass. As you move through, it progressively gets heavier, eventually leading up to the vocals lead by Arch Enemy frontwoman, Alissa White-Gluz.
This song isn’t exclusive to this, however, as it is how every song in the game works as you play. Each one comes to life with how much better you do, and some songs are equally as hard as the prior as you learn to do better as you play. It’s quite a unique design and one we can’t choose to ignore. It’s a core element to the game and one you’ll familiarize yourself with once you beat the main story and opt to chase the leaderboards by replaying each level on harder difficulties as you go.
The Conclusion
As I sat here and wrote this written review, I told our senior editor and content manager, David, that I’ve had several thoughts going through my head as I reached the conclusion to this review. I felt like there was too little talked about and – at times – a bit too much. The truth is? This isn’t a game you can easily review. Sure, other writers may beg to differ, but there’s a lot going on here and that’s one of the things The Outsiders seemed to do intentionally with Metal: Hellsinger.
They didn’t want to create just a game. They wanted to create a living, breathing, masterpiece that would stand tall alongside other mediums that had been used for music such as animated films with Heavy Metal or Pink Floyd’s film, The Wall, and comic books that embodied the stories of albums such as Within Temptation’s album, The Unforgiving.
Metal: Hellsinger
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, and Xbox
Version Reviewed: PlayStation 5
Developer: The Outsiders
Publisher: Funcom
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $39.99
The truth is, no matter how you look at it, Metal: Hellsinger is absolutely unique in what it does. It has tons of replayability, some of the best optimizations on the market, and a way to ensure that anyone and everyone can enjoy the title. This is, for what I would have to say, a masterpiece of its own accord.
Our review is based upon a retail version of the game that was purchased for this review. For information about our ethics policy please click here.
About the Writer(s):
Dustin is our native video game reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the borders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. You can find him over on Twitter or Facebook today.