This is a game I wanted for for so long, I applied for the alpha and the beta testing phases, but I didn't get in to either.
Anyway, time went by and a demo was released, I was thrilled to say the least!
Having downloaded the demo, I installed it and went for a test-run.
The demo was relatively short, but still gave me a pretty good first impression of the game.

I liked it. It was Diablo in a first-person perspective, and it was fun.
Diablo with all the goodies of an MMO.  Time went by again and the game was released, but I didn't buy it. Why? Because there was a monthly fee...*

Months afterwards I went to Jönköping and decided to spend my money on something, anything!  So, I went to Media Markt and saw the game, picked it up and turned it over.

*It said free online, pay for additional content...

Right, on to the more in-depth review of Hellgate London.

Hellgate London is an action RPG (role-playing game) with a few FPS (first person shooter) elements.

Once you've installed the game and created an account you are to choose class, appearance and name for your character.

When you're done with all that, you start on the streets of... Yeah, I don't know actually but it's not of importance.
You get to kill a few zombies and you'll get a video feed of a guy who wants your help.
You help him to a station and find a wounded soldier on the way.
Once you get to the station you can take on various different side-quests or go to Murmur (the one who contacted you via the video feed) and take on the story quest.

Usually it's best to level up a bit, don't make the same mistake I did, being too eager to do the story missions I got six levels behind, and the monsters were not going easy on me.

Stations in this game are the safe-zones where you can buckle up, buy health packs (or 'stims'), power stims, weapons, armour... all that stuff.
One very interesting thing in this game is the fact you can salvage weapons you do not need, and then craft new weapons, upgrade mods or armour with those parts.
You can also upgrade your weapons with modifications you find that'll drop from monsters, or you can buy them in the stations.

You'll come across a lot of different stations, and a lot of bad guys.
Oh, there's also singleplayer and multiplayer.

I advise you to go for multiplayer straight away because you will need some help with the story missions, plus, the more the merrier!
Even if you do go for multiplayer you don't necessarily need to play with other people, although you will see other people in the stations, not on the battlefield.
If you leave a station the game will generate a map for you, and no one else will be there, well, monsters, but not players. Unless you are in a party with someone.

This is a map, it shows the stations and it shows the routes to get to other stations.
You'll also use this to know where you need to go to get to that quest you have... This is the big map, you've got a small minimap which you can enlarge or have in the upper right corner in the game.

This is a game you'd buy if:
*You like FPS games
*You like RPG games
*You like MMO games
*You want to have a good time with friends, or socialize with other people.

There is also an elite mode in this game, which you'll be able to choose after your first character reaches level 20.
Get ready for a challenge if you create a new character in this mode, and do try to find a party straight away.

The bonuses for paying (monthly fee) is new armour, weapons, some new content and places, other quests and what not. You also get a bigger stash and a shared stash, the ability to be a guild leader and such. Bonuses.

I'm going to give Hellgate London:
82%

Because Hellgate London is beautiful, no matter what anyone else says. DirectX 10 in Hellgate London however, dropped my framerate from over 100FPS in DX9 and XP, down to 20-30FPS.
I wasn't best pleased about that, but, it was fully playable, although a bit choppy at places.
If you liked this review and think this is a game you might like, there is a singleplayer demo out there for you to test the game.
It's not a big demo and it's pretty outdated by now, but if you like the game just a bit, go for it. Buy the game, it's not that expensive and it's real fun once you get to know a few people and play it with them. Or, of course, if you are a loner, you can do all the quests by yourself.

System requirements for Hellgate London:

OS: Windows XP or Windows Vista.
Processor: 1.8 GHz (XP) or 2.4 GHz (Vista).
Memory: 1 GB RAM (XP) or 2 GB RAM (Vista).
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 6200/ATI Radeon 9000 chipset or greater.
HDD: 6 GB free hard drive space.
Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound.
Internet: Internet connection required for multiplayer.

This game was developed by Flagship Studios.