It's Hell o Clock!
It's that time again for a new episode of Chichuki Plays, the show where I go hands-on with upcoming games and show them off. Usually it's about an hour or so but I don't want to spoil too much of the game for you. This time, we're looking at Hell Clock on Steam.
I was lucky enough to get hands-on time with Hell Clock at PAX East this year. Fast forward to the summer and Hell Clock is finally coming out to the masses. The game tells the tale of Brazil’s War of Canudos and spins that into a Roguelike action RPG.
Let me get the negative out of the way now. Hell Clock had slight loading issues for me in one section. That section was when you were sent back to the starting location. That could have been when the game was starting for the first time to when a new run was loading up. That was the only issue I had with loading times so that could have been an issue on my end, PC wise. Another slight issue I had was the dash attack. It felt like a hassle to control and the motion was too clunky for my liking. You can take things at your own pace in Relaxed mode or go for the full Hell Clock experience with Hardcore mode.
You will have to think on your feet and be quick in Hell Clock. That;s because you're timed and when the time runs out, your run ends in this Roguelike. You will have to prioritize going for every piece of gold in an area or run right to the end so you have time to take on the task/boss/mission at the end of the location you happen to be in. You can see in my hands-on runs, I was going for gold in the first few but then decided to run straight through certain locations and get to the next one faster. That way, I would have more time for the mission fight, like fighting the Merchant on floor seven. I don't want to say gathering gold isn't important because you will need gold to buy upgrades after your run comes to an unfortunate end. You can buy better items and weapons to better your chances in the upcoming attempts. You'll also be able to buy better attacks/skills as well but you'll need Soul Stones to buy them. You can also find hidden relics and charms in your runs that will help attempts easier.
In my opinion you want to attack/kill enemies early in the run so you can gain experience and get better attacks/skill upgrades when the action isn't super nuts. Trust me, when you need to kill to survive, you will be glad you have good skills. I'm really glad that you can play the game with a controller because when I played the PAX East demo, you could only use a keyboard/mouse and I'm not the greatest with those.
To sum up, Hell Clock is an interesting take on the Roguelike Action RPG formula. I like the idea of being able to play without the "Hell Clock" but to get the full feel of the game, you have to be pressed for time. The dash attack wasn't for me but you can change attacks and get rid of it if you need to. That being said, Roguelike scholars will want to check this one out. I'd like to thank the devs for the review code.
Check out the hands-on video for Hell Clock below!