Hell Let Loose Preview

Continuing the trend of the return of World War II shooters in the PC space, we’ve got another arrived in to Steam’s Early Access. Developed by Black Matter and published by Team17 Digital, Hell Let Loose is a tactical first-person shooter that boasts a competitive tug of war battlefield with 50 versus 50 player matches.

Now, as extravagant as that may seem, it’s certainly not going to be for everyone. Especially if you’re not a fan of a realistic foray into the theatre of war, as opposed to the arcadey nature of Call of Duty: WWII and Battlefield V. Still, there’s plenty to delve into with Hell Let Loose and most of which is realising that the key to success isn’t all guns blazing, but rather team play.

Hell Let Loose can be compared to the modern offering of SQUAD or another World War II shooter: Post Scriptum. Both titles offered large-scale warfare and tactical planning and this is no different. It all starts with a chosen side: Hell Let Loose focuses on the battles between the United States and the German forces, across large scale maps based on real battle locations including Foy, Hurtgen Forest and St Marie Du Mont.

Large as the battlefields may be, Hell Let Loose wouldn’t be hammering the realism without some attention to how these battles play out. While it would be simple and entertaining to have 50 versus 50 thrown at each other till the last team standing. Hell Let Loose instead focuses on a tug of war style of warfare, which sees the two sides combating for territory control, similar to the push mode in Insurgency and Day of Infamy, except on a much grander scale.

Hell Let Loose isn’t a game about Kill/Death ratios, it is about strategy. As the front-line goes forward you will need to work and communicate with your teammates. Ingame proximity and squad chat are emphasised and if successful you’ll be able to change the tide of war and immerse yourself in brutal combat.

Before storming across the fields of war, however, the game begins with ample choice of deployment. After picking a side you need to join a squad and from there a class. Units consist of six players split into three groups: Infantry, Armour and Recon. If Infantry is chosen you can select from a number of roles, including Rifleman, Assault, Support and Medic, each with their own loadouts for battle. For a heavier handed role Commander and Officer can also be chosen. These roles task you to work in tandem and provide direction to battle, provide air support as well as place rally points near objectives for spawn. This does boil down to how good of a commander the team has and a well-versed player will soon start barking orders as they take on the role.

If the path of Armour is selected you can take the role of Driver, Gunner or Tank Commander and provide armoured support either in a Sherman or Panzer tank. You’re most effective as a three-man tank crew, but you if wish, you can take control solo. With the size of maps, you can take full advantage of the tank to provide support to infantry or engage in tank warfare. Just watch out for any Anti-Tank infantry. As for Recon, this is a two-man team with a spotter for target call outs and a sniper to take the shot, these two also must work in tandem to succeed, although nothing is stopping you from being a lone wolf.

With 50 other teammates, you will feel like a cog in the great machine of war, but all of these do cumulate to create one hell of an immersive experience. As said, Hell Let Loose isn’t your run of the mill shooter, the stakes are high as you charge in capture and hold, defend and strike back. A deployment map shows before dropping in, allowing you to see the scale of the map and each sector of the battlefield. Here you can choose a spawn location, whether it be the base of operations or any rally points placed by squad mates. Your in-game HUD shows squadmates, location, current stage of combat as well as ammo. Teammates are highlighted throughout and when aimed at, but all this does fade. This is all for the sake of immersion but what is persistent is your compass which guides you towards your objective.

The gunplay itself is engaging and chaotic whether using weaponry from the US or German forces. Handling is realistic with repercussions in accuracy and recoil if trying to go in guns blazing. Of course, there will be those panicked moments of opening fire at the slightest enemy movement, but if you play methodically you stand a higher chance of survival. Weapons closely resemble the real world counterparts and allow for ADS with an option to zoom in for a controlled breath shot. They also have distinctive sounds so with time, you’ll be able to hear which weapon was fired and use it as a way to gauge the distance and direction of the shots.

When the inevitable comes, death can be sudden and without knowing where from. If wounded you can bandage yourself up as well as be revived by a medic but as the battle carries on you may not always be so lucky. The impressive sound design can be sombre, making you feel lost, while others times can be immense as you’re suppressed by head-on gunfire or the explosions of artillery.

Performance is pretty much on par with any other well-optimised Unreal Engine 4 title of today. Even after the beta I played, it was solid and the only thing necessary was perhaps some tightening of the game's netcode, but still for a game with 100 players on each server, little to no lag was experienced. The biggest criticism comes down to weapon view models and the lack of FOV options. Weapons, as detailed as they may be, do take up quite a bit of screen space, but that opinion can differ to other players. As for FOV, it’s tight and almost claustrophobic. There isn’t any option to change this and it doesn’t help that even at 21:9 (ultrawide) aspect ratio the image is cropped further making it feel rather nauseating after a while.

So far, Hell Let Loose is an immersive PC World War II experience. Those who enjoy a more tactical affair and communication will be able to delve right in, especially if you’re familiar and a fan of SQUAD and Post Scriptum. It can also be recommended to, at a lesser extent, fans of Day of Infamy and Insurgency. A small studio as Black Matter may be, their progress and dedication are shown throughout and with a few adjustments and improvements towards a full release, Hell Let Loose could be one of the best World War II shooters out there.