CHENNAI: Supergiant Games has a well-earned reputation for putting out quality games. Bastion, Transistor, Pyre - each one was wonderful in its own way. Now finally, their latest release Hades is out of Early Access and...it might just be the best one yet.
Set in the world of Greek mythology, Hades is the story of Zagreus - Prince of the Underworld, which is of course ruled by the titular god, who just so happens to be his father. It’s safe to say that Zagreus and his dad don’t see eye to eye, and Hades is the story of how Zagreus attempts to escape the Underworld and make it up to the surface. I should say at this point that you absolutely do not need to know anything about Greek history or mythology in order to play this game; although, if you do, there are more than a few nods and allusions sprinkled throughout for you to pick up on.
So how does it play? Hades is a roguelike — a genre of game where you have to restart from the beginning if you die or fail, but many of the places you’ll journey through are randomised or procedurally generated so that you won’t be playing through the exact same locations every time. Confession time — I tend to not like roguelike games (apart from the sublime FTL) in general, but Hades pulled me in despite that because it emphasised one thing above all — story.
Every time you die out in the Underworld and return to the House of Hades to be greeted by your sneering father, you are also able to converse with various other denizens of the House and reveal more and more of the story as you do. It’s hard to convey just how much of a difference this makes — normally, when a run ends in your death, you’d be pretty annoyed or frustrated. Here...well okay, you still might be those things, but they quickly fade away when you return and see all the opportunities that have been unlocked for you; from new gameplay elements to more details about why exactly Zagreus is so keen to escape. It creates a beautiful gameplay loop that manages to always be rewarding in some way or the other.
It wouldn’t be nearly as fun without a solid gameplay foundation, however, but combat in Hades is incredibly satisfying. Each weapon or set of skills you might employ on a particular run feels distinct and punchy in a way that is frankly addictive. When trying to think of games that reached this level of polish in their combat, the only ones that come to mind are God of War and perhaps the Souls series; which is the highest praise indeed.
As for the production — the graphics, the writing, the voice acting, all the things that make a game memorable — they are, quite simply, out of this world. This is how you make people want to play your game — fill it with compelling characters, give them something fun to do, and you’ve got a winner.
For me, right now, Hades is my game of the year. It does seem ludicrous to compare a game like this with juggernauts such as The Last of Us Part II or the unreleased Cyberpunk 2077 and Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, but Hades absolutely deserves to be in their company and part of this conversation - it is just that good. To be honest, all the time I’ve spent writing this review, I’ve been wishing I was playing Hades instead. That’s what I’m going to do now and, really, so should you!
http://goo.gl/uNBWN3
(Arjun is a gamer, book lover and an all-round renaissance man)