Hello everybody! Our Rhythm FPS, Metal: Hellsinger, coming very soon on September 15th for Xbox Series X|S and will be available with Game Pass on day one. Before that happens and we unleash you all upon the demonic hordes of Hell, we want to share with you what we think we make Metal: Hellsinger a uniquely intense experience and how we got to where we are now.
in the Metal: Hellsinger you embark on a hellish revenge journey through the eight hells. Most basic actions are performed to the beat, so when you shoot, sprint, or finishers to the rhythm. This contributes to your “Rage” multiplier. The higher your multiplier, the more intense the music gets and the more damage you deal, and at max fury the vocals kick in for the full metal experience.
A series of evil weapons mix up the way you interact with the beat. For example, the shotgun lets you root out demons with heavy semitone finality, while the dual pistols finish off enemies with a quick quarter-note staccato. Each weapon also has an ultimate ability, which mixes things up further and gives you even more options for how you want to play. Even falls and reloads have their own importance in your symphony of destruction.
you drive the music
While the music itself is at the heart of the game and we feel privileged to have performed an incredible original OST from legendary metal artists, it’s you powering the whole infernal machine.
in the Metal: Hellsinger You drive the song, not the other way around. The purpose of this is to make you feel more connected to your performance, the game world and the music. Everything flows from the rhythmic thud of demons hitting the ground to your relentless advance. You are the song made flesh. You drive the metal and the metal drives you.
The beat goes on
When we played the game ourselves, we noticed something odd. A visit to the studio kitchen shows developers dialing in their coffee machine choices to an imaginary beat in their heads. From my desk, I can hear colleagues clicking and typing to the rhythm of a beat that doesn’t exist.
The rhythm of the game somehow… stays the same. As I walk around all day, I find myself subconsciously continuing the metronome or humming favorite tracks of the song I was playing. We hope the same thing happens to others, this kind of musical hypnosis that induces flow and rhythmic play.
While we know the game is unusual on its own, there was never a gathering where everyone sat down and thought, “How can we make this different from other games?” We took elements from games we loved and combined them you. Shooter, metal music and rhythm games, with the conceptual idea of making this game about a demon fighting his way out of hell.
Some people on the team had done shooters before and a lot of us had listened to a heck of a lot of metal, but a rhythm game that combines all those things was new territory, so there was a lot of exploring to do and just figuring out what worked for us and what felt good to play .
We focused on the shooter aspects and balanced them against what we felt was rewarding rhythmic gameplay. In a game that’s all about timing and flow, we knew everything had to be extremely precise and responsive. If the player was performing well, they had to know. Our solution: when you reach the full score multiplier, screeching vocals will pound your ears through the screen. But in a good way.
Getting the right feedback for actions on and off the beat, creating the scoring structure, and making the UI feel integrated with the experience, all of this was a long process of back and forth.
Like playing a metal album
Each level in the game, a piece of hell, is set to a song that has been shaped into a multi-layered and reactive soundtrack. The level selection screen resembles a set of records, and in the deepest pit of Hell awaits the final showdown with the Red Judge set to “No Tomorrow” performed by System of a Down’s Serj Tankian. The result – we hope – is a game that feels like playing a metal album brought to life.
We hope you enjoy playing Metal: Hellsinger when it releases September 15 for Xbox Series X|S and day one with Xbox Game Pass.
Metal: Hellsinger
funcom
Part human, part demon, and obsessed with revenge. Become the unknown and fight your way through the wildest reaches of hell. Destroy the demon hordes and their leaders in preparation for an epic showdown with The Red Judge himself. Every legend has a song. And yours is one of metal, revenge and destruction. Slay to the beat Metal: Hellsinger is a rhythm FPS where your ability to shoot to the beat will enhance your gaming experience. The more in sync you are with the rhythm, the more intense the music will become and the more destruction you will cause. Demonic Arsenal Defeat the hordes of demons with a skull-studded blade or a wide array of murderous weapons. Each weapon has its own ultimate ability, like Murder of Crows or The Big Goodbye. Epic Story and Challenge Mode Play through an epic story narrated by award-winning actor Troy Baker. Then conquer the leaderboards or challenge your friends to beat your score in Challenge Mode. Battle Your Way Through Fire, Ice, Metal, and Madness Although commonly known as Hell, The Infernal Planes is actually an amalgamation of a thousand hells, each terrifying and diabolical in their own unique way. To dethrone The Red Judge you’ll have to fight your way through the toughest corners, from the frigid world of Voke to the maddening world of Stygia. Created by the experienced FPS team at The Outsiders, Metal: Hellsinger is the passion project of David Goldfarb, Game Director on Payday 2 and Lead Designer on Battlefield 3 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Original -Metal Soundtrack Each track was created specifically for play with vocals from metal icons such as Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Matt Heafy (Trivium), Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquility), Randy Blythe (Lamb of God) and Alissa White-Gluz (nemesis) and Tatiana Shmailyuk (Jinjer).
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