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Hellgate: London Release Date Announced And PreView

Get ready to hack, slash, and shoot your way through a demon-infested London this Halloween! Electronic Arts and NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today announced that Hellgate: London, from Flagship Studios, will start hitting retail stores in North America on October 31, 2007 and in Europe on November 2, 2007 for the PC. Hellgate: London represents the next leap in the evolution of the action RPG genre, combining the depth and addictive gameplay of traditional RPGs with the visceral action of first-person shooters.

“We wanted to hit the sweet-spot for release in terms of the development schedule and delivering the highest-quality game to our players,” said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios. “Halloween was the perfect fit as it ensures that Hellgate: London will have an appropriate amount of beta testing, while also being an incredibly fun time to unleash the game.”

One of the most anticipated PC games and RPGs of the year, Hellgate: London offers infinite re-playability with dynamically generated levels, items, enemies and events. The player creates a heroic character, completes quests, and battles through an innumerable amount of demons to advance through a deep, rich story-driven campaign. A robust, flexible skill and spell system, highly customizable appearances, and a massive variety of randomly generated equipment allow each player to create his or her own unique hero.

While some may prefer to slay demons solo, players will also be able to take the fight online, teaming up with friends to save London in a secure, client-server environment and playing through the entire story-driven campaign for free. For those players who want to extend their Hellgate: London experience, Flagship is offering an optional subscription service which will give players access to huge amounts of content on an ongoing basis in the form of quests, character classes, demons, items, etc. More details about Hellgate: London’s online options are coming soon.

Publisher: Electronic Arts , Namco Bandai Games America
Developer: Flagship Studios
Ship Date: 2007
Category: Role-Playing Game

It’s 2038, and London lies in ruins…

From Flagship Studios – creators of the award-winning Diablo series and the fathers of the action role playing genre – comes Hellgate: London, the next benchmark in the evolution of the RPG genre.

Combining the depth of traditional RPGs with the frenetic, visceral feel of first-person shooters, Hellgate: London offers infinite replayability with dynamically created levels, monsters, items and events that gives each player their own unique hack-and-slash experience.

A post-apocalyptic London has been overrun by hordes of terrifying demons, leaving the city desolate and scorched by hellfire. Those who were unlucky enough to survive now gather in the only sanctuary left, the Underground, banding together in order to gain a foothold against the minions of darkness and ultimately save the bloodline of humanity.

It is no surprise that these sole survivors come from three of society’s most elite factions, each of whom are masters of a robust number of skills and weapons essential to demon-thrashing.

The Templar, a secret society preserving the rites of the original Knights Templar, mix futuristic technology with ancient artifacts to create powerful weapons and armor perfect for short-ranged and melee attacks.

The Cabalists are students of the dark arts and edges of science which often leaves them standing right on the line between good and evil. Their mystifying spells make them suited for mid-range combat.

The Hunters are mysterious, highly trained ex-military operatives who lay waste to their foes with hyper-advanced weapons that blend theoretical science and the latest in technology – and their bullets can come from almost any distance.

Hellgate: London delivers an amazing gaming experience to PC gamers of all types – delivering the eye-popping DX10 visuals demanded by the hardcore, and scaling to ensure the masses of casual RPG players can still get the best performance on older PCs.

• The RPG Authority – Flagship Studios was founded by the core creators of Diablo, one of the biggest PC gaming franchises in history– they are the first, last and only voice in the world of action RPGs.
• Beyond RPG – Experience new layers to the traditional hack-and-slash formula by experiencing the action RPG from the first-person perspective and through nontraditional character classes and play styles.
• Have it Your Way - Three unique factions with their own visual and gameplay style, offering something for every type of gamer, whether they prefer the longer-range blasts of the Hunter or want to get up close and personal with the Templar.
• Infinite Replayability – Dynamically generated levels, chance events and massive quantities of randomly created items makes for infinite replayability — no two experiences will ever be the same and every game will be it’s own unique event.
• Mad Skills – Each faction has three character classes that contain a wide variety of skills and spells that are fully customizable.
• London Calling – Explore post-apocalyptic London, even darker and gloomier than usual. From shattered cathedrals and landmarks to the ancient ruins buried beneath the shell of a once-great city, players will need to
• Misery Loves Company – Don’t be a glory hog – fight online*. Gather with friends or recruit strangers in Underground stations and venture out into mean streets of London together to erase the Demonic threat.
• Hell Never Looked Better – Hellgate: London features all of the latest next-generation technology to deliver a true, DX10 experience, while being fully scalable for optimal performance on older PCs.

Game Is On In London This October

As one of the world’s most famous cities, London is a cultural hotbed for every kind of industry from banking to fashion. This October the capital plays host to the video games industry as the London Games Festival brings the very best of the gaming world to life in the city. The 2007 London Games Festival will see a selection of over 40 events taking part in locations across London from 22 - 26 October 2007.

Following on from the success of last year’s festival, the 2007 London Games Festival is bigger and better than ever before, with a focus on creating positive, engaging events for a mainstream audience as well as core gaming fans. Over 40 different events have already been confirmed by major industry players in key London locations and dozens more fringe events are being planned by newcomers to the industry. Supported by everyone from publishers to personalities and trade bodies, London Games Festival is supported by publishers including Activision, Atari, Eidos, Electronic Arts, Konami, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega and Ubisoft, with more to be announced soon.

Reflecting on London’s huge wealth of culture, London Games Festival will offer a staggering diversity of entertainment ranging from live concerts, to art installations and professional gaming tournaments. With something for everyone to enjoy, whatever their taste or gaming experience, this event is designed to highlight the industry and help increase awareness and uptake of its products.

Highlights on offer this year include the British Academy Video Games Awards, celebrating the best achievements in gaming; Videogames Live at the Royal Festival Hall, a concert for around 2,000 guests; The Virtual Worlds Forum, a lecture for up to 600 guests on the corporate opportunities in virtual worlds; DWS Legal Forum, examining the legal boundaries of the industry; The Science Museum: Quantifying Immersion in Games event; the Eurogamer Careers Fair and an ELSPA forum looking at the perception of gaming.

Jumper or Statue?

In London, several statues as part of an exhibition by an artist have been mistaken for suicidal people about to jump from tall buildings.

I can see the confusion, but I think it’s a great idea. The guy who made them must have had this in mind. Jumping is a silly way to go, after all. Climbing lots of stairs just to jump off? Nah. Much rather do it in an assassination attempt.