Demons invade the Roguelike space!
Before PAX East I had heard things about a game called Hellclock. It was a Roguelike game that put its own spin on things. It was telling a tale of Canudos, a town that tried to defy the Republican Army. That was a big mistake as thousands of people perished at the hands of the army. You play as Pajeu who fought against the army and won his freedom and tried to save the Counselor. Time is key in Hellclock because you have a limited time to get through each location.
Like most Roguelikes, if you don’t make it in time, the run ends and you have to restart. Don’t worry if you have to restart as you’ll be able to save up currency from the previous run and spend it on upgrades. Those upgrades, like new weapons, are permanent and will help you out in battle against the army demons. You’ll also be able to find relics that can change your character build for the better. My thought process was to collect everything during the run so I could get new attacks and money. I didn’t really find out until the third run that my thinking was a little foolish.
It was foolish because you’re on a time limit and taking time to collect everything is a bad idea. You’ll be able to gain experience and level up your character. Learn new attacks/skills and see if you can get further into the run than before. I found myself getting stuck at the start because I’m not the best mouse control user so I was having issues aiming. It wasn’t until I found a rapid-fire weapon and powered up a spread shot weapon that I took the next step in the playthrough. Demons will come at you from all over the place so you will need to have weapons like the ones I just mentioned. Quick attack weapons and spreaders will help but you can’t spam them. Your attacks will stall momentarily and slow you down. That slowdown could be the difference between a good run and a bad run. During runs, you’ll be able to find currency and you’ll be able to spend that on new items. I went through four runs and I mentioned that the first few were a little rough. However, after I was able to figure out the aiming, buy a better gun, and have better attacks was I able to have a better go and much more fun. The developer said Hellclock is addictive and after the fourth run, I totally agree!
