Considering the original Doom is probably the most influential FPS of all time, metal music should be synonymous with first person shooters. The game’s frenzied demon slaying was accompanied by the iconic sound of 32-bit heavy metal riffs and high-tempo drums, but the marriage between the two was the marvel of Quake, Killing Floor 2 and Mick Gordon. It never really became popular outside of shooting games such as classic works. About the latest Doom game. Metal: Hellsinger is unlikely to buck that trend, but this rhythm-based his FPS from Swedish developer The Outsiders centers metal as the most important aspect of its energetic gameplay.
At first glance, Metal: Hellsinger may appear to be nothing more than a copycat of 2016’s Doom. From the generic demon-slaying and hell-inspired aesthetics to the searing pace of its action. Doom is an obvious inspiration and a fitting comparison, but Metal: Hellsinger adds depth to the shoot by organizing all the moving parts around the music. You play as a demon fighting Hell on a vengeance mission, shooting enemies to the beat of the song to deal more damage. Increases score and damage output. To achieve this, there are icons on either side of the crosshair that pulsate to the rhythm of the song. If you’re on the beat, you’ll be rated with a ‘good’ or ‘perfect’ attack, with the latter doing the most damage and adding more to both fury and score.
But beyond the core of its mechanics, slaying demons to the rhythm of a song is incredibly satisfying. An increase in the number of voices also has a direct impact on music. The music builds as the multiplier escalates from 1x his to 16x his, eventually the vocals thunder and the full arrangement of the song unleashes, the kind that fits perfectly with the game’s diabolical aesthetic. ‘s guttural vocals to smash your eardrums and reach a roaring crescendo. .
It feels like every kill drives the song forward. To get to this point and maintain it, you have to fall into a Zen-like flow where shooting to the beat becomes almost second nature. BPM: Bullets Per Minute had similar issues, but Metal: Hellsinger has refined the concept, especially when compared to the instantaneous gameplay of traditional first-person shooters I’ve played before. It’s different from any game. You don’t want to shoot every moment, but when it makes sense musically. Even just dashing to the beat and reloading builds Fury, as does Doom, his style of execution that rewards him with health. You’re essentially rewiring your brain, but it’s so intuitive and responsive that few shooters are as satisfying when it all clicks.
Of course, it helps the soundtrack shred perfectly. All the music on Metal: Hellsinger is composed by the duo of Two Feathers, Elvira Björkman and Niklas Hjertberg. Björkman and Hjertberg play bass and rhythm guitar on each track, with Dino Medanhodzic on lead on her guitar and Adam Janzi (of the band VOLA) behind drums. There’s also an all-star selection of metal-his vocalists who lend talent to metal, including Randy Bryce of Lamb of Gods, Alyssa Whitegulls of Archenemy, Matt Heaphy of Trivium, Sergi Tankian of System of a Down, and Michael Stanne of System of a Down. Dark Tranquility, and my personal favorite, Jinjer’s Tatiana Shmayluk. Hearing new material from some of the best vocalists in the genre is a treat, especially when it’s intertwined with gameplay.
Each level has an original song associated with it and runs the gamut of different styles and subgenres of metal. For example, Burial at Night (a song featuring Tatiana Shmayluk) has some prominent bass slaps that are reminiscent of many of Jinjer’s songs, while Alissa White-Gluz’s track has a harmonious, Includes the guitar (and the catchiest chorus on the soundtrack). All the songs are good, though, and you’ll be happy to hear the full soundtrack outside of the game.
The songs are somewhat limited by the game’s pretentiousness, so don’t expect thrash metal or drum tempo and time signature variations. Altering the consistent beat that runs through each track makes Metal: Hellsinger almost unplayable. However, weapon types change how often you can fire, giving each firearm its own kind of rhythm. For example, Persephone’s shotgun can only fire every other beat due to its slow rate of fire, while the Hound’s dual his revolver can fire every other beat until it needs to be reloaded. This makes each weapon feel like an instrument in its own right, and the sound they make, whether it’s the rewarding crunch that accompanies a perfectly timed shot or the musicality of every weapon reload, is this. It just reinforces the emotion. Every aspect of Metal: Hellsinger makes you feel connected to the music.
As you get to the rhythm, you’ll notice Pyro popping out of the floor as if you were in the middle of a Rammstein concert. Also, some enemies glow and pulsate orange to the beat. These are nice touches that make the game world feel more responsive to your performance, but the level design itself is fairly formulaic. It consists of moving to the next combat arena. Given the rhythmic nature of the game as a whole, deviating from this formula might prove problematic, but it makes the trek through the bowels of hell feel pretty much the same. Same thing. Each pits you against bat-like creatures of the same skeleton, with only visual fluctuations in their heads.
I finished Metal: Hellsinger in 4 hours, so at least those issues aren’t exacerbated by the concept being too thin. Despite its short duration, the inclusion of a scoring system and leaderboard adds a lot of replayability, especially since the game functions more like a dedicated rhythm game than a shooter with added musical elements . It’s easy to get stuck in a rewarding loop built around improving your score and moving up the leaderboard. This isn’t much like playing something like Guitar Hero. There’s also an interesting score breakdown at the end of each level showing various stats such as the percentage of level spent on 16x Fury, the number of kills you’ve achieved in a beat, or the longest streak hits you’ve collected. It shows areas of potential, but also takes into account torments, sigils, and boons in the game.
There’s also a story told via static cutscenes between levels. The illustrations that bring the story to life and are used throughout make you feel like you’re traveling through Dio’s album covers. It is neither bad nor good. It only exists to add some meaning to all malicious demon slayers.
You know that rare moment in a video game when your actions unintentionally match the music you hear, whether it’s the game’s soundtrack or your own music? Fill the bottle with that sensation and repeat it over and over again without ever feeling less satisfied. The interplay between the chunky metal soundtrack and the energetic gameplay is amazing and unlike any game I’ve ever played. It stumbles at times, and these issues keep it from reaching its Rob Halford-esque highs, but the execution of the idea, and the way this turns the shooter’s moment-to-moment action into rhythmic slaughter, underpins any of its Disadvantage. Metal: If Hellsinger is a lively metal album, we can’t wait for his sophomore effort with this band.
