I used to be impressed by the trailers for Hellscreen (opens in new tab), a boomer shooter with a putting teal and purple shade palette and distinctive twist—a “rear view mirror” in your prime heart display exhibiting what is going on on behind you at any given time. However on the identical time I believed “oh, that is a cool trick, however it’s in all probability only a gimmick, proper?” I made a decision to provide Hellscreen’s free demo from Realms Deep 2022 a attempt, see if it had anything occurring.
Hellscreen would not want anything occurring. The rear view mirror is what is going on on.
It is not only a instrument for situational consciousness—proper click on and you will hearth backwards, with slightly gun and reticle popping up within the mini display (which will be blown out and toggled again down with the shift key). To incentivize utilizing the characteristic, Hellscreen provides you double injury whereas shifting and firing ahead, whilst you get quad injury whenever you transfer ahead and hearth backwards. I felt like I used to be grappling with a completely new realm of 3D motion on the order of They Got here From Dimension X (opens in new tab)‘s gravity-defying firefights, and it is supremely satisfying to drag off sick Annie Oakley, Buster Scruggs (opens in new tab) mirror photographs.
Hellscreen additional leans into its fundamental mechanic with enemies and hazards that may solely be dealt with in rear view. Some foes are solely seen and susceptible on the second display, whereas one space within the demo blocks out your fundamental view fully, demanding you navigate in reverse. Spiritually, it jogs my memory of the very best Nintendo Wii and DS video games that squeezed each little bit of innovation and enjoyable out of these bizarre management inputs, and certainly Hellscreen would in all probability be proper at residence on an alternate universe Nintendo 4DS.
My one caveat is that it is best to in all probability keep away from Hellscreen should you get movement illness. I’ve by no means even had points with VR earlier than, and but I positively felt my abdomen drop like I used to be using a curler coaster at occasions. A promoting level for me, however one thing to concentrate on.
Hellscreen has been within the works for a number of years—we first reported on its trailers (opens in new tab) and Kickstarter (opens in new tab) marketing campaign again in 2017 and ’18, however it actually seems to be like the additional time within the oven has helped it come collectively. Hellscreen is about to launch in early entry a while earlier than April (Q1, 2023), whilst you can try the demo for your self and wishlist Hellscreen on its Steam (opens in new tab) web page.
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