Game Reviews

Hellcrossing

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iOS
| Hellcrossing
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Hellcrossing
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iOS
| Hellcrossing

A number of games have put me through hell over the years, but Hellcrossing is perhaps the first to make me run through it.

While the game sees you legging it through the underworld, though, a more apt reference would perhaps be purgatory.

This is a game that sits firmly in the forgotten middle ground, neither excelling enough to be exalted nor awful enough to warrant notoriety.

Look both ways

Hellcrossing is a first person endless runner set in an abstract block-coloured realm.

A staccato pathway formed of white planks keeps you from falling into the abyss, but they've been positioned at various heights and angles.

It's a bit like those stepping-stone paths people put across their ponds, only slipping off this one will get you more than a wet ankle and a sulky look from a disgruntled carp.

You touch the left and right sides of the screen to strafe in that direction, and press both simultaneously to leap. This can lead to wonky jumps if your timing isn't precise, but at least you can correct your alignment mid-air.

There are also times when it seems like you can leave the jump command alone and simply drop to the next platform. The gap in these cases can be tricky to judge, leading to some frustrating deaths.

Step off

Occasionally you'll run or jump into glowing orbs that send you soaring into the air, which feels more like a glitch than a gameplay feature.

It's not a glitch, of course. But it doesn't seem to improve your chances of survival or enhance the formula much either way. In fact, it can throw you right off your rhythm, which is essential to games of this kind.

There isn't much more to say about Hellcrossing's core gameplay really. It's a deeply stripped back first person platformer with a striking (though hardly original) aesthetic and some suitably gloomy electronica playing in the background.

It looks okay. Sounds okay. Plays okay. To return to the metaphysical theme, it's neither gaming heaven nor gaming hell.

Hellcrossing

A by-the-numbers endless runner that plays just fine, but lacks any kind of stand-out features to lift it to a higher plane of existence
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.