Metal Hellsinger is a first-person shooting rhythm game developed by The Outsiders and published by Funcom on September 15, 2022. It features a human-demon hybrid called “Unknown” who’s lost her voice after being locked in the deepest bowels of hell. With music, magic, and mayhem on your side, you’ll face every demon in hell as you plan your escape.
With eight levels of hell to surpass, there are Torment levels on each stage for unlocking sigils. You’ll amass unholy weapons along the way, while you also unleash demonic powers. It’s an intense game where attacking at the right time of the beat is crucial. Stay tuned for more details in this Metal Hellsinger review.
Metal Hellsinger: A story of hell and chaos
Have you ever wanted to take a journey into the heart of hell and destroy every demon in your path? You’ll find such a story in Metal Hellsinger, but with the Unknown taking vengeance on those who locked her up. Let’s take a closer look at the campaign.
Revenge and music
Unknown has a powerful voice, one that could seduce and destroy at the same time. Unfortunately, the Red Judge decided to remove her ability to sing while locking her in the darkest pits of hell. What the demons don’t know is that you have other abilities you can use while you seek to reclaim your power.
Music drives your power, which is why you’ll kill to the beat of songs for perfect kills. It burns in the souls of your weapons, slaying any enemies that stand before you. The more you kill, the more powerful you become.
A bestiary of demons
One element of Metal Hellsinger that I love is the bestiary. There are hordes of demons to find and defeat, which unlocks them in your lore book. You can view and read more about them, completing your collection. It’s an honor when you finally have the heads of all bosses in your book.
Facing the Red Judge
All good, and evil, things must come to an end. You’ll traverse every level in hell, each with a different element. It’s all in an effort to face the Red Judge and make it pay for what it did to you. Do you have the strength to defeat all its minions for a final confrontation?
Unlock your Torment
With every stage in hell you complete, there are Torment levels to enjoy. These stages will test your skills and determination as you compete against the clock against specific demons in an arena. If you succeed, you’ll receive powerful sigils to help you on your dark quest.
How long does it take to play Metal Hellsinger?
The easy answer is that it will take you at least 4 hours to complete all levels of Metal Hellsinger if you quickly master the stages. However, many of them are really challenging, and this doesn’t include the Torment areas. If you’re a completionist, it can take you anywhere between 6 to 8 hours.
Killing to music in Metal Hellsinger
You now have the basic concept of what Metal Hellsinger is all about. It’s time to get into the grittier part of my review, detailing the mechanics and what you’ll find in each level. As a bonus, you might even learn how to master the game with some tips.
Learn how to play Metal Hellsinger
An important aspect of any intense game like Metal Hellsinger is having a tutorial. Fortunately, the narrator, Troy Baker, is quick to add some tips on how to play with snide comments to match. You’ll also receive on-screen explanations for abilities and weapons whenever you encounter them for the first time. If you forget, the Codex has detailed explanations of each skill, spell, and weapon.
To the beat of the music
Here’s the crux of Metal Hellsinger. In the center of the screen is your aiming cursor, and on either side there are arrows. They’ll flicker to the beat of the music, which is important for defeating the demons. If you manage to hit or shoot exactly when it reaches the middle, you’ll have a perfect strike.
These attacks are more powerful when you get them right, which means you won’t have to work too hard in killing your foes. I find it helps to tap your foot to the beat of the music and strike on every tap where possible. Some weapons can only shoot on every second tap, plus you need to account for reloading.
Finding new weapons with demonic power
As you progress through every level of hell in Metal Hellsinger, you’ll discover new weapons with different powers. You’ll need to get those perfect hits to fill the power meter. As soon as you see it’s ready, you can unleash it on your enemies, but you’ll need to make sure you do so at the right time against the right opponent. Don’t waste them on minions unless you need to.
Fury and health in Metal Hellsinger
Staying alive is essential in Metal Hellsinger. Well, as alive as you can be in the pits of hell. While enemy attacks will reduce your health, there are two ways you can refill it. Green crystals replenish your health bar quickly, but there aren’t many of them. You’ll need to kill demons while they’re stunned for more.
While you fight and defeat enemies, you’ll unlock fury for your weapons. It’s essential that you get as many perfect strikes as you can to fill the meter as quickly as possible, especially for the boss battles.
Unlocking and attaching sigils
Sigils are unique and powerful objects in Metal Hellsinger that you can attach to the Unknown on the loadout screen before each level. You can only acquire them in the Torment levels. I suggest you complete them as soon as you finish a stage, as it will help you progress through the other levels more quickly.
Facing bosses and minions
The objective of each level is to battle all the elemental minions until you reach the boss at the end. The boss may be powerful, but it’s usually surrounded by more lower-level demons. They’ll help in keeping your fury and health high, giving you more time to defeat the boss. Once you win, their heads are added to your bestiary.
Games like Metal Hellsinger
The game that Metal Hellsinger reminds me the most of is BPM: Bullets Per Minute. In terms of demonic shooters, you’re looking at titles like Doom Eternal, and Quake 4. If you just like dark games in general, Cult of the Lamb is a fun title to try.
PC requirements
With all the action on the screen with the impressive visuals and sound, don’t expect low PC requirements for Metal Hellsinger. It needs quite a bit of storage and memory, as well as a decent graphics card. With the right settings, you won’t experience lag.
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-6700K / AMD Ryzen™ 5 1500X
- Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon™ RX 5700
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Storage: 15 GB
- DirectX: Version 11
- Other details: 60 FPS in 1080p
Dark and gritty music and graphics
In the final part of my reviews, I love to look at the graphics and sound elements. It’s a nice way to end off my thoughts. Since you’re killing to the beat of the music, the sound and visuals are essential aspects of Metal Hellsinger.
Stunning level designs
Every stage in Metal Hellsinger looks absolutely gorgeous. Sure, you’re in the pits of hell, but that doesn’t mean it can’t look beautiful at times. What I enjoyed the most is the different elements you’ll encounter. It’s not all fire and brimstone. You’ll also find snow, ice, metal, and more.
Impressive beasts and weapons
The demon and weapons designs are just as stunning. There are times when you find a new powerful weapon, look at it and say, ‘Oh yeah!’ before heading out to slaughter. It’s those moments when you unleash their abilities that you truly admire their beauty and power.
Extravagant soundtrack and narration
The developer went all out went it came to the music and narration. Not only do you have the actor Troy Baker doing the talking while you fight, but you may recognize some of the artists. Names include System of a Down, Dark Tranquility, and Soilwork. Sadly, there’s no Disturbed.
The best part is that the developers thought of content creators like me who want to show Metal Hellsinger gameplay. They did their best to make sure you don’t get copyright hits when the music plays in your videos.
Final Verdict of Metal Hellsinger
As you can tell from my detailed Metal Hellsinger review, I really love the game. It’s not just about the fantasy and horror elements that I love as an author in these genres. The music and action drive you further into each level, and you really don’t want to set down the controller. Of course, it also speaks to my love for music as a rock guitarist. You definitely need to play this game.
This isn’t the only game I’ve loved and reviewed. You can check out my Shaun M Jooste profile for more articles, guides, and news. I want to redirect you to the Mirror Forge, Dune: Spice Wars, and Two Point Campus reviews, as I loved sharing my opinions on those games.
Pros
- Brilliant storyline and modes
- Intense action on every level
- Gorgeous environment and creature designs
- Incredible soundtrack
- Comedic narration
- Fun musical gameplay action
Cons
- Flickering lights may hurt your eyes
Developer: The Outsiders
Publisher: Funcom
Game Modes: Single-player, Story, Torment
Platform reviewed: Windows 11 – Steam
