PC REVIEW | Hell is Us

Hell is Us is a game shrouded in mystery. Not in a literally sense, but rather the game world that you find yourself in. Within this digital world, Rogue Factor have embraced the “no hand-holding” approach to game design, that somehow feels refreshingly bold. It’s been an interesting journey during my 30+ hours, roaming through catacombs, open fields, and travelling through wastelands in my APC. But at no point did I find myself too lost on what to do, but rather immersed in the “good deeds” I had to carry out for the victims of Hadea. While the game doesn’t tell you where to go 90% of the time, or what to do, it became an almost second nature due to it’s well-crafted story, dialogue, and unique interactions with the world that gave me whiplash from the amount of attention I was giving it. While not completely free from it’s genre tropes, it does carry enough uniqueness to warrant multiple playthroughs. Read on to find out more.

Things I liked!

• Graphical Fidelity | Hell is Us is gorgeous. There really isn’t much to say about it. I tested a lot of the game settings including putting everything to low, and even then, the design of the world and the graphics look great. I played on high settings for my playthrough, and got a very stable 60fps during gameplay. Every area is filled with detail. From the smallest tree, to a muddy fence way out in the distance.

• Voice Acting & Sound Design | Let me get my excitement out of the way first. One of my favourite games of all time is Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and having Elias Toufexis voice the main protagonist in Hell is Us filled me with all sorts of nostalgic feels. Elias Toufexis brings a level of gritty, gruff, and class that is instantly recognisable. The first time I heard him talk in Hell is Us, I sat up straight, I paid immediate attention, and smiled from ear to ear. Adam Jenson is such an iconic character from Deus Ex and having this level of talent really helps bring the game to life. Now don’t get me wrong, all the voice acting in this game is superb, even the little girl I found hiding in the attic of a war-torn building. In fact, her voice acting was so good, I would go so far as to say that the game should be nominated for it’s music and sound design. General sound design is also fantastic. The creepy atmospheric ambience when roaming, the weapon attacks, the APC, and environmental cues, are all top tier. Because the game does rely a lot on sound, it is very important that these are of good quality and fit the theme. Hell is Us delivers on this front exceptionally well.
  
  
• The Music | Hell is Us has great music. From the initial cutscene, to the gameplay, Hell is Us has a gritty, powerful tone to it throughout the entire time you are playing. Fighting enemies brings a disturbing, yet energetic tone to it that fills you with a sense of urgency when fighting. Exploring empty towns and wastelands has a pulsing drone that makes you feel that you aren’t alone somehow. But my absolute favourite has to be the initial credit scene after you get the APC. The game clearly draws inspiration from people like David Fincher, with its very impressive opening cinematic and music. It reminded me a lot of the style of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, with its mirrored images and warping environments. Very stylistic, and the music was fantastic.
  
• The Combat | Calling it a Souls-like is only doing the game half justice. Yes, it shares similar gameplay concepts such as enemy attack patterns, dodging, healing, and managing your health and stamina, but there are additional actions that allow the player to excel in combat by way of using your trusty drone. The drone can be equipped with up to four different skills. Some passive, and some that require an action to be performed. For example, the starting drone action has you distracting enemies while you can get in close and take them down with a powerful charge attack or finisher. Other actions will see your character attach to the drone, spin around with your sword, dealing massive area damage. The drone plays a very important part in Hell is Us, and can even act as a flashlight in dark areas.
  
  
• The Gameplay | Apart from combat though, Hell is Us does expect you to figure a lot of the mystery surrounding your parents out for yourself. This is the overall goal of the game, but along the way you will find people throughout Hadea that need help. It’s up to you though, if you decide to give it. One of the first people you meet in Hell is Us is an old man on the outskirts of town in his basement, lamenting over the death of his sons. He mentions through dialogue about a watch that belonged to his son, finding it and giving it to him brings him peace, and rewards the player with additional information that allows you to figure out other mysteries. While it is still totally possible to complete these without the additional information, sometimes it takes that extra bit of information for that lightbulb to go off in your head. For me, it wasn’t until I got to the marshes and met a woman in the sewers hiding from the creatures and opposing factions with a hungry baby. I remembered that I helped the old man and that he had a cow. I decided to take my NPC back, and sure enough, because I helped him, he gave me milk for the baby, ultimately letting me complete another mission and gain a valuable item for my troubles. Despite being zones apart, being able to carry over quests means that your exploration is never linked to just one area opening up lots of potential gameplay options.
  
  
• Overall Game Design | I mentioned this in my initial opening of the review, but Hell is Us does not hold your hand. It’s refreshing. I find that too many games these days hold your hand throughout most of the experience. While some may argue that this could be an accessibility feature, I would say that this is something that can easily be toggled on or off in games for those who want to figure it out for themselves. Hell is Us takes a much bolder approach in how it delivers it’s narrative to the player. Sounds play a huge role in the game, and exploring sounds or distant gunfire will reward you with new equipment, relics or simply progress the story. While this may not be for everyone, it is nice to see that developer Rogue Factor are sticking to their guns and creating something that they set out to create, and also embracing the uniqueness of it’s offerings. There is something very rewarding in the feeling you get when figuring out a quest for yourself and seeing it through to the end.

Mixed & disliked!

• 30fps Cutscenes | While nothing game-breaking, and more of a simple nit-pick, the sudden transition from my 60fps gameplay experience to 30fps cutscenes creates a noticeable level of judder and uneven frame pacing, ultimately tarnishing a somewhat flawless experience during my time with it. I do understand though, that some design choices are made due to the way animations are made, be it motion capture, or it’s done for a more cinematic feel. Given how the game does have very cinematic set pieces during these scenes, it could ultimately be down to that.

• The Story | While the game does have a story, I didn’t quite connect with it during my time playing. Perhaps it was because I didn’t really understand why it was so important for a grown man to go looking for his parents after all these years, or the fact that when you do find your father, for example, the protagonist shows little joy, and barely says two words to him. If the character doesn’t seem to care, why should I?
  
• Is it Horror though? | The game does advertise itself as a third-person, action-horror game with souls-like survival elements. While most of it is true, I would argue that the horror aspect of it does not hold true. The only jump scare I got was when I fell into the water and the game glitches out and tells me that I never died and respawns me on the land. It wasn’t something I was expecting. But not all horror is simply defined as a jump scare. So what about the enemies? Not really. I found that while the enemy design was good, there is little in the way of variation, and that the main humanoids are just slight variations of this. Some walk on four legs, some are overly enlarged, and some throw projectiles at you. The tethered enemies are where the real challenge lies, but none of them still screams horror to me.

CONCLUSION

Score: 90/100

Quite possibly the sleeper hit of the year. With excellent gameplay mechanics, and a bold design choice in how it delivers the narrative to the player. Hell is Us proves to be one of the better releases of 2025 so far, and I hope more games take note of the unapologetic style it bases its foundations upon. Despite my time with it, Hadea is calling me back, and I will be diving in more over the coming weeks, slashing my way through countless enemies to finish up all my good deeds to the people who reside there.

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