Developer: Black Matter
Publisher: Team17
Platform: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5
Tested on: PC
Hell Let Loose – Review
Back in January, we gained our first combat experience in the hardcore realistic shooter Hell Let Loose. With our boots firmly on the ground, we fought along the European countryside in the 1940s. Back then, the game already felt like it was almost complete, with the developers pushing new updates and content on a regular basis. This gave us high hopes as to how the game would look upon its full release. Today we go back to one of the cruelest wars in human history, in matches with up to 100 players.
Story
Hell Let Loose takes place during the Second World War. While several options are available, you’ll mainly be playing as the American forces who took up arms against the German soldiers. There are others available, such as the Soviet forces, and the developers have planned to add British, Canadian, and Japanese soldiers as well. During the games, you won’t really have any story or lore of the places where you fight, because it’s all about the gameplay.
Graphics
One of the main remarks for our preview was that the game needed some optimization. The specs have increased now, and turning down the graphics makes the visuals look really bad. For some games, this doesn’t really make that much of a difference, but in Hell Let Loose, you have to choose between taking a hit in terms of frame rate or having graphics that are generally unpleasant to look at. Fortunately, it seems that the performance hit could be due to a full server, as the issues seemed to decrease when playing on emptier servers.
If you can play the game on higher graphical settings, then you will be stunned by the beautiful visuals and attention to detail, especially when it comes to explosions, bullet impacts, and how the field is impacted by the ongoing warfare. Your character model will become dirty from the mud and fallen comrades will be bloody, emphasizing how nasty warfare really is.
Sound
One of the most noticeable things about Hell Let Loose was their great sound engineering. Open fields have a lot going on in terms of sound effects, but small enclosed areas will force you to listen to audio cues, in order to pinpoint the location of your enemies. Hell Let Loose is a team game, so using your microphone can be pretty essential during fights. It is hilarious when one is giving commands, only for them being distorted by incoming airstrikes, explosions, or ears ringing from continuous gunfire.
Gameplay
Hell Let Loose is a realistic hardcore shooter set during the Second World War. The battles in HLL are fought in large online lobbies with up to 100 players. One of the first issues found while looking for a match is that either most servers are completely full or empty. For the veterans, this might sound great, but if you are just starting out, this can be really intimidating as the game has a steep learning curve. You’ll literally be thrown in the heat of battle, as the game has no bots for you to practice with. Given there are only two modes available, you will probably be playing Warfare the most. In Warfare, you must control the majority of the nodes in a tug-of-war scenario between defending your node and attacking the nearest. If you rather play a simpler mode, then Offensive is ideal, as you only defend your points or attack the positions of the enemy.
When joining a match, you need to either join a squad or create one. Sticking to your team is pretty important, as teamwork is key to be able to win the fight. Selecting your loadout is done by selecting a class. Most classes allow for equipping different weapons, once you are a high enough level in that specific class. Keep in mind that if you create a squad, you will automatically be the squad leader and are not able to swap your class. Most people will take a liking to the automatic firearms classes, as they have the best fire rate. That said, the weapons are nicely balanced, so don’t expect to hit your enemies at range with your SMG.
Keeping your team healthy and outposts running, is essential for winning the fight. For example, leaders can build outposts where you can spawn, while medics can revive and heal fallen comrades. Engineers are also useful for building blockades and supplying ammo. Of course, the game also has many different classes that have combat-oriented skill sets. Finding balance requires communication with your team, but it never hurts to have a medic nearby.
Most battles are fought on large maps and to traverse these, there will be trucks and tanks to give you a lift to the front line. However, people don’t always work together, and in some matches, the game feels like a walking simulator because other players hijacked a truck and didn’t wait for others to hitch a ride. In an ideal match, there will be garrisons or outposts built, allowing you to spawn closer to the action. Sadly, your experience may vary depending on what kind of players are online.
The game’s controls are pretty easy to get used to, but mastering the usage of the chats, voice channels, specific vehicle controls, and the rest, can take a while. Basically, the game plays like any other shooter, but you can opt for more difficult roles, which offer more possibilities.
Conclusion
Hell Let Loose is a great and realistic WW2 hardcore shooter, where teamwork makes or breaks the experience. If you find a server where people work together, then you will have one of the most amazing warfare experiences available. Sadly if there’s a lack of teamwork, then the game can be really frustrating because you will die a lot on your own. If your gaming setup can handle the graphics then the visuals are great, but if you run the game on older hardware, the game looks like something from twenty years ago. The overall gameplay is great and with the many classes available, you will always find something that suits you. In terms of online shooters, this is one we can recommend, especially when you can add some friends to the equation.
Hell Let Loose - Review,
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