Hell Clock Review
Hell Clock. Rogue Snail / Mad Mushroom
Hell Clock is a roguelite action RPG from developer Rogue Snail and publisher Mad Mushroom. The gameplay has shades of Hades and Diablo, and features an addictive loop that kept me hooked, along with a dark historical theme that makes for a surprising, compelling, and somber backdrop.
The game is set around the brutal Canudos Massacre in Brazil in 1896, where the government slaughtered 25,000 people. The player is Pajeú, a warrior who ventures into hell to rescue the soul of The Counselor, religious leader and founder of Canudos, Antônio Conselheiro. Along the way, Pajeú faces demonic versions of perpetrators and enablers of the massacre.
Hell Clock. Rogue Snail / Mad Mushroom
Players hack and slash through hordes of enemies using a combination of six equipped abilities. Some abilities have cooldowns, but most are only limited by the amount of regenerating mana the player has left. Combat is snappy, and there are a lot of abilities to mix and match. Along with the abilities, you also find and upgrade relics that you can equip that will grant boosts that trigger extra attacks, add elemental damage, and more. The meta progression also includes a skill tree and equipment upgrades. I always felt compelled to do just one more run to see what the next tweak to my build would do for me. It’s very satisfying to discover you’re suddenly far stronger, to combine AOE, ranged attacks, passive buffs, and melee to become a whirlwind of death.
Levels aren’t randomly generated like in some similar games, but the loot and treasures are random. In each of the three dungeons, you’ll face both bosses and minibosses as you delve deeper. The two dungeons I’ve played feature a good variety of enemies and bosses that demand careful strategy to survive, at least until you’re powerful enough; then you can slice through them like tissue paper. The developers are actively improving the endgame content with new updates.
Hell Clock is generous with its difficulty options. Each dungeon run is on a short but upgradable timer, but the game allows players to turn off the clock in a “passive” mode for a more laid-back experience. Likewise, the game has a vengeance mode that will make players more powerful after each death, reducing the amount of grinding they might need to do. On the other end of things, the game also has a permadeath mode perfect for the masochists among us.
Hell Clock. Rogue Snail / Mad Mushroom
The only thing that has hampered my enjoyment of Hell Clock is the strange default controls, coupled with a bug that prevents remapping the buttons. A game like this would typically be controlled with a twin-stick setup, but by default, most abilities are assigned to the face buttons of the controller, making it hard to play that way effectively. The game has options to remap the controls, so I attempted to reassign most attacks to the shoulder buttons. However, the result was that pushing each button would trigger the new assigned action while simultaneously doing whatever action was mapped to that button previously. It’s confusing and irritating.
Hell Clock. Rogue Snail / Mad Mushroom
The game’s isometric 3D graphics have a toon-like quality, but with a darkness that befits the game’s subject matter. Characters and enemies have black outlines and are rendered with deep black shadows, reminiscent of Mike Mignola's artwork. The similarity is even more prominent in the game’s beautifully animated cutscenes.
While Hell Clock isn’t as good as some of the games that inspired it, it’s still excellent. Its historical subject matter and cultural context give it a compelling theme and story, and its gameplay is fun and addictive. I look forward to reaching the endgame, but in the many hours I’ve spent with the game so far, it’s a winner.
Hell Clock is available now on Steam.
Overall Score: 8/10
Played on: Steam Deck
