Hellbreach: Vegas Review: Aggressive & Short Survival

Demons are hunting you and a group of survivors, only stopping when everyone is gone. Your goal is to survive for a set amount of time or hold off the demons as long as you can. With various weapons and vending machines helping you fight back, you must coordinate your efforts to survive. Failure means getting overwhelmed by the demons or worse, letting your team down at crucial moments.

Hellbreach: Vegas has significantly improved since the preview, with smoother graphics and tougher gameplay. Surviving until 10 minutes is a struggle, let alone 15 at the highest. There are more areas to explore and new weapons to test out. There’s still only one game mode and the gameplay gets repetitive quickly. But if you have a group of friends or enjoy FPS games, you can get some value here.

Hellbreach: Vegas is available on PC for USD 14.99.

The demons are coming, but you have new ways to fight.

Story – Fight Off Demons

As mentioned during the preview, there isn’t a big story behind the demonic invasion. No explanation why you’re the unfortunate individuals holding them off. Many concepts aren’t explained and you are immediately thrown into the deep-end. You normally don’t fight off demons in Area 51 or enter the demonic realm for a shootout. But you and your friends end up fighting demons to the death anyway.

Fortunately, this game isn’t meant to be plot-heavy. Just like Computer Repair Shop, you are somehow in a situation and must make the best of it. This is an odd situation but you are there because you want to fire guns at demons. None of the locations make sense but the demons happen to inhabit those regions. If everything happens to work well together, there’s no reason to ask deeper questions. Gameplay is everything and the story is just for fun.

Why are you fighting demons at Area 51? Does it matter?

Gameplay – Harder than Before

Hellbreach: Vegas plays similarly to rogue-likes such as Crush the Industry. You can play by yourself or in a team of up to four friends, choosing a location as desired. Demons begin invading and become progressively stronger as you survive each round. Collect perks to strengthen your abilities and improve your weapons. Various slot machines can help but they cost considerable amounts of money. They look like money traps but the rewards can help you survive future waves.

It’s a PvE game with a certain amount of risk. Gathering Skull coins is necessary to expand into further areas, but that also gives enemies more space to hunt. Perks may not seem necessary but if you don’t buy them, they get progressively expensive. Slot machines have an expensive upfront cost that only keeps growing and they sometimes don’t deliver. If you do not invest in them though, you will not be able to survive future waves.

Pick your favourite weapons to get you out of a tough spot.

This risk mechanic keeps gameplay exciting because no two runs are the same. Slot machine results are random and sometimes you feel like weapons are better with the new results. An unexpected windfall may be what saves your team instead of a crushing defeat. With friends, the possibilities are better since you can work together to survive.

However, Hellbreach Vegas’s main weakness is that it only has one gameplay mode. There’s little reason to keep coming back if you already know what to expect. After a few rounds, it’s difficult to maintain your interest because you already know what to expect. Gameplay is much harder in the beginning and it’s a challenge, but after a while there are few surprises.

Even the enemies get tired and stop chasing you after a while.

Replay Value – Nothing but Fighting

There is only one thing to do in Hellbreach: Vegas: shoot anything that moves that isn’t another human. At first, the demons have good variety, weapons are everywhere, and collecting perks is fun. Compared to the preview, each wave is significantly harder with more advanced demons coming earlier. You must scramble to find weapons or perks, rushing to build barricades that keep demons out.

But after a while, the locations are boring. There’s nothing inherently unique apart from the design and object placement. Perks are the same in each location, you already know what to expect, and nothing surprises you. You might stave off the boredom with a group of friends, but there’s nothing else to do.

Customising is fun but doesn’t have any value.

You can collect extra Skull Coins to exchange for character and weapon decorations, but that’s it. The game feels like a grind quickly because there’s nothing to compete for except leaderboard rankings. Decorating your weapon and character is a nice personal touch but none of it does anything useful.

Without new modes to shake things up or progressive rewards, the game quickly loses its appeal. Even if you can play with friends, you need something more or everyone quickly gets bored. Otherwise, Hellbreach: Vegas is a game you can only play in short bursts and revisit once in a while. Play too often and the appeal disappears, possibly forever.

The slot machines can only do so much to keep you interested.

Audio & Visual – Smoother Graphics & Better Sound

The graphics for the new locations are definitely sharper and it’s easier to tell guns apart. Demons are easier to identify and you know when a big threat is coming. Fog sometimes sets in to let you know special demons are coming or demons come crashing through entrances. Even though the environments are often poorly-lit, the attention to detail is still there.

Hearing the demons come in and firing at them with your weapons is also great. You always know when something is attacking you and it’s not hard to identify when it happens. The demonic voice speaking to you throughout the match is also nefarious and clear. You know what it is saying and know that it exists solely to taunt you.

Hellbreach: Vegas was reviewed on Steam with a code provided by Iceberg Interactive.