Hellboy Web of Wyrd

Hellboy fans have been waiting for a new video game for a long time. While we saw big red in Injustice 2 in a cameo appearance, he's not had a game of his own for 15 years. I can't count myself among the diehard Hellboy heads out there, but this still seems like a crying shame.

There's a lot riding on Hellboy Web of Wyrd (pronounced word, by the way), and from the outset, the action roguelite appears to do a lot to try and appease fans of the comic book anti-hero. The visuals have this cartoonish style that feels like a moving graphic novel, and the story comes from the original Hellboy creator himself, Mike Mignolia. His name's even strapped to the title, so you know this is going to feel like an authentic Hellboy creation.

In its story, visuals, and more, Hellboy Web of Wyrd succeeds in this. It's got strange monsters that look like they need a good punching, dark humour, a narrative that has all the supernatural weirdness you'd associate with Hellboy, and the late great Lance Reddick as the titular, quick-witted child of the devil. The story doesn't take as much of a backseat as it does in other roguelites, as well. You've got a big, overarching goal to deal with, but there are changes to it that take place after each run, as you slowly uncover the mysterious realm of the Wyrd.

The Wyrd is an alluring oddity, a realm beyond our own that is made up of stories and storytellers. We're dropped into it right from the start and while the Butterfly House (which acts as the hub) does exist in reality, the rest of the game is set in the Wyrd. It's good then that for the most part, the visuals of the Wyrd stand out to make environment feel unique. In your first run, you'll see floating bits of a medieval castle tearing through the skies, whereas in other segments you're treated to dark and spooky woods, a dilapidated deep-sea kingdom, and an underground rail system overtaken by giant bats. The Wyrd is an oppressive, deadly realm and its design reflects that.

There are some friendlier denizens, though, who will grant you boons to keep you going and divulge a few more details about the Wyrd and their own backgrounds. Still, there's always a sense of lingering mystery about the Wyrd, no matter how many times you speak to people, which again keeps the strange feeling about the place. Of course, apart from the traps dotted in the Wyrd, it's also full of creatures trying to kill you. While each segment of the Wyrd has its own lot of creatures, apart from their look they don't differ much in terms of combat. A few special attacks here and there but most of the big bads feel like they behave in very similar ways, and then there are the smaller minions or Mooks that you can just completely ignore. Each room will have a couple of bigger baddies with a sprinkling of Mooks that never feel like more than an annoyance.

If anything, that's how I felt about the combat in Hellboy Web of Wyrd at times. It feels like something you have to do in order to progress your run, rather than something you want to get stuck into. It doesn't help that I found the lock-on system to be incredibly clunky, which is doubly annoying when you only do 50% damage if you're not locked on to an enemy. If there are two enemies in the same time zone, the lock-on will flick back and forth between them randomly, or just stay focused on the one furthest away. Overall, the combat and gameplay loop often just consists of running into a room, locking onto a big bad, punching him with combos until he's dead, and then moving onto the next enemy or area. There's not a lot of diversity in your combat options, and though you can land dodges and perfectly block your opponent, this doesn't feel like it's worth it most of the time compared to just spamming attack. Enemy attack cooldowns are so low that by the time you're winding up a big swing after a perfect dodge they've already smacked you again.

The sound design is pretty solid when it comes to combat and Hellboy does feel like he packs a bloody good punch. When you take enough hits for a super attack, again the visuals and audio impress, but the actual gameplay of Hellboy Web of Wyrd's combat feels slow and lethargic. It can often come across as repetitive, which is strangely something you don't want in a roguelite. Despite you often going into the same places over and over, each run should feel fresh, but a lack of different build options and combat consisting of a very clear and stodgy formula made me glad the game didn't offer much in terms of difficulty.

Allegedly, it should take players 15-20 hours to finish Hellboy Web of Wyrd. I had the credits rolling in 5. I'm no pro gamer, I should add, but when a lot of the late game is just throwing the same bosses at you, it's easy to learn how to take them down. I died three or four times in total, never really feeling like I was in danger of another expiration even as the story tells me I'm taking on an enemy that could end the world as we know it.

As scathing as I may have been on the gameplay, I do believe that Hellboy Web of Wyrd largely succeeds in being a faithful title to the franchise. However, this is down to its story, visuals, and performances, rather than the gameplay loop, which is a real problem for a roguelite. Pick it up if you like Hellboy, but steer clear if you're looking for a raucous and fast-paced roguelite that keeps you coming back.