Hellbound Reviews
Hellbound is a rip-roaring homage to classic Doom that hits almost all of the right notes.
Hellbound may not be great but it's a short, sweet thrill ride while it lasts.
If you're hankering for more of that simple, unfettered Doom action, Hellbound may well scratch your itch.
The team at Saibot Studios have made exactly what they promised to their Kickstarter backers, but I was left wanting more.
Hellbound is pretty upfront with what it is. If you've already burned through most of the homages I listed above, give this a shot.
Hellbound is a very fun game, but I can’t see it being appealing to anyone other than hardcore old-school shooter fans. It succeeds at providing players with a Doom-esque experience that is a bit more faithful to the 90’s originals than Id Software’s more modern iterations, all while featuring more modern graphics and physics. However, it’s short, unpolished, and frankly, not very innovative.
Hellbound is a great experience. Although it does rely heavily on the DOOM aesthetic, Saibot Studios have created a core gameplay experience that could be the launchpad of something brilliant.
I would recommend Hellbound to anyone looking for a 90’s inspired shooter or just a short fun first-person shooter to play. The smooth fast-paced gameplay combined with the awesome soundtrack makes up for the lack of variety. I’d say this game is definitely worth it.
Nostalgia aside though, Hellbound is a well refined first person shooter that has you diving through the forces of hell in a high octane killfest supported by heavy metal tracks to keep the pace up as your heart pumps blood to the beat of the music. It’s bloody hard but it’s fun in that classic sense where you have to be better than the game as the game won’t just hand victory over to you.
While many will at first dismiss the game as a DOOM clone, Hellbound lovingly takes its ques from a myriad of games and creates a nostalgic, challenging, and fun experience.
The fact that 90’s shooters are as popular as ever is a testament to their sound design philosophy. Of course, the catalogue is as extensive as ever, what with a steady stream of retro-styled shooters gracing our screens on a nigh-regular basis. Hellbound is another such title, now a full-fledged game, which has emerged from languishing in Steam’s Early Access. And does it hold up against its peers? To put a fine point to it: oh, Hell yeah.
Overall Hellbound meets expectations as a retro style 90’s Shooter. Whilst it does not innovate as much as some people would like, this game has enough about it to be worth the pickup.