HG:L tries hard, but only manages to make a sub-par experience

Hellgate: London is a game I want to love, but can't. It tries very hard to be a spiritual successor to the Diablo franchise, and to some extent it succeeds, but it just doesn't have the depth or gameplay to make a truly compelling experience.

Hellgate: London puts you in the middle of London in a future overrun by the legions of Hell. You scour the ruins for people, items, and sweet, sweet demon loot while, ostensibly, working toward some sort of higher purpose.

What this higher purpose is, however, is somewhat of a mystery. The game initially dumps you into the city's subway system where inhabitants have fled to barricade themselves away from the chaos on the streets above. It's difficult to stay interested in what any of these people have to say for very long, however, so actually figuring out what you're supposed to do can be a bit confusing at times.

Nonetheless, once you get up onto the streets of London and start hacking away, you'll have a grand old time whether you know where you're going or not... at least for a while. Unlike most MMO-styled games, HG:L gives you an active combat system that actually requires you to attack enemies and move around rather than just triggering a "fire-and-forget" auto-attack. Unfortunately, there isn't much in the way of tactic beyond wailing away with your weapon (or taking FPS-style shots if you choose to go that route with a gun) and using items or skills as needed. It's not a typical MMO combat system, but it's not really anything particularly special either.

Worse yet, as you wander around the devastated city you'll notice something: everything is really UGLY. The graphics in this game are not good. At all. They're grainy and washed out, which kind of fits the mood HG:L is going for, but they're just not good.

And there's another thing: the mood isn't there. Wandering around an obviously bleak and desolate London, you can't help but get the feeling your just walking around a really dirty city. It's not menacing, enemies aren't compelling or creepy, and the entire atmosphere just isn't significant.

Hellgate: London does one thing, and it does it extremely well: loot. If you enjoy the process of killing endless droves of enemies over and over to collect the sweet goodies from their dead, clawed fists, HG:L has what you're looking for. If you ask for a little more than that in a game, you should definitely look elsewhere.