Hellgate: London

Monday morning on the tube?

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Opening soon in a major city near you - Hellgate: London. For anyone who has not yet caught the trailers doing the post E3 rounds, this is the next big thing in the RPG field and the long awaited fix for all the Diablo junkies who never kicked the habit.

For an indication of how popular Diablo II: Lords of Destruction still is, and how much Blizzard's RPG masterpiece is still played - despite being released back in June 2001 - it remains the 7th most requested game on Gamefaqs.com. Obviously a new title will want to make its own distinctive mark, but fans can't help but be excited by this games progenitors and pedigree.

Hellgate: London is not actually published by Blizzard, but instead by the new Flagship Studios. The bulk of the talent there is however ex-Blizzard - most importantly Erich Schafer and Kenneth Williams, the creator and the producer of, you guessed it, Diablo.

So it's something old and something new that we should be looking forward to, which is sort of the theme of the game itself. Excuse me whilst I blast through this crate of cheap scotch and Marlboro Reds. Okay - in my new gravelly voice I read the intro...

The once great city lies in ruins. A massive gash in the fabric of reality gnarls and churns, dominating the horizon as it blends into a permanently darkened sky. The unspeakable cataclysm that befell London threatens to engulf the world as the shadow of the daemons fell across the face of mankind.

Apparently we have all been very negligent and ignoring 'the omens' and enjoying our cushy modern lives, rather than sharpening the pointy sticks for the inevitable daemon invasion. Early 2038 sees the whole of humanity getting caught with its collective pants down and eaten in fairly short order, except for the secret societies of holy warriors who actually were busy with the stick-sharpening. It is up to you as one of these anointed fighters to close the Hellgate and save the small pockets of humanity remaining by way of an FPS/RPG adventure.

This premise is more than just a fine sci-fi fantasy plot; it is also a fine set-up for some very interesting game features and locations. The action will all take place within the first two zones of the London Underground system, which is just packed full of recognizable landmarks. Hellgate could just as easily be set on Mars or Phobos, or in the distant future, but Flagship has realized that scenes of apocalyptic destruction are far more eerie if you recognize what the place used to be. 28 Days Later was a lot creepier than Doom for any number of reasons, but at least one was the familiarity of the set that the zombie-types were running around in. The rolling demos and screenshots show locations like Covent Garden, Bloomsbury, and the British Museum beautifully realized as thoroughly burnt and chewed upon wrecks, filled with all matter of unholy fiend.

Not all of London is overrun however, and it is all thanks to the London Underground. What is that you say? You thought the Underground was a totally lunatic bunch of tunnels designed after a particularly large bottle of Absinthe? That half the services appear of no use to man or beast and were picked out of a hat by a Victorian eccentric? Well, so did I - but it turns out Flagship knows the truth of it.

Freemasons.

Ahhh - you see now? Of course! When you think about it, it's blindingly obvious.

The London Underground was actually designed by occultist freemasons who blessed all the concrete with alchemical formulas mixed in to actually serve as shelters and bunkers in the coming demonic invasion. This, it turns out, is why Covent Garden station only has two tiny lifts rather than an escalator to service one of London's busiest destinations. It's not bloody inconvenient after all - it's actually a defensive feature. These tunnels are the human resistance's highways, and the stations their settlements. The daemons are however slowly encroaching, and apparently an arch-fiend set up his torture chamber somewhere on the Northern Line. I'd check Camden first, if I were them.

My only problem with this pretty interesting concept is with the later built London Underground stations. Why did no one bless and defend outside of tube Zone 1? I can picture the scene back in 1910:

Grand Poobah of the Masons: Behold! Our work is done. We have ensured that our future generations will be able to resist the terrible tide of evil that the omens have foretold. With this a chance remains - a slim chance indeed, but the fire of hope and human determination burn eternal! We must persevere.

Apprentice: But Master - what about the extensions to the Circle and District line due next week?

Grand Poobah: Well, screw them - they live in the suburbs.