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Hell is Us Review: A Bold, Imperfect Step Toward Reinventing Action-Adventure

Time：Sat, Jan 03, 2026 09:48:27 AM Reading：6881

If you find yourself annoyed by world maps cluttered with quest markers, or if the idea of being herded through a game’s story instead of uncovering it on your own feels unappealing, the sense of freedom promised by Hell is Us will hook you right away. This commitment to unguided exploration is apparent from the moment you launch the game, with a quick tooltip reminding you that during your journey, you’ll have no quest indicators, no global map, and no clues pointing you toward your next destination. The game stays true to this promise throughout its entire campaign, though the overall challenge this creates is less intense than you might anticipate. Hell is Us certainly requires more focus on exploration than most modern video games, yet it’s surprisingly lenient—scattering just enough subtle information around you to keep you gently on track without holding your hand. Combined with a harsh yet mesmerizing world and a combat system that offers more depth than it initially appears, Hell is Us delivers an engaging, if flawed, attempt to redefine what an action/adventure game can be.

Set in the fictional region of Hadea in the late 20th century, Hell is Us weaves two compelling narratives together: the centuries-old mystery surrounding the emergence of ghostly monsters and the catastrophic aftermath they leave in their wake, alongside an ongoing civil war that is tearing the land apart. The people of Hadea have split their allegiance between two factions—the Palomists and the Sabinians—with decades of shared history and constant propaganda fueling horrific war crimes and countless deaths. It is in these moments that Hell is Us delivers its most striking, and distressing, scenes, regularly confronting you with acts of cruelty that illustrate how division between people can drive them to unspeakable brutality. You’ll stumble upon shockingly violent sights or hear accounts of gruesome torture through conversations, each painting a vivid picture of the civil war you’re caught in the middle of. These disturbing moments aren’t just for shock value, either; they add crucial depth to the region and the struggles of the citizens desperately trying to escape the chaos.

As you explore the various interconnected hubs you can traverse freely, you’ll encounter a range of characters in need of help. A grieving father at a mass grave might find comfort in a family photograph you retrieve for him; a trapped politician will express gratitude after you find them a disguise to navigate a hostile office; or a lost young girl can be reminded of her missing father by a pair of shoes you deliver—shoes he asked you to pass on before his death. These kind acts aren’t essential to the main story, but each one deepens your connection to Hadea and its people. They also best embody Hell is Us’ promise of unguided exploration, with subtle hints leading you toward the items each character seeks—whether those items are in the town you’re currently exploring or waiting for you in a distant location later in the game. There’s a great sense of satisfaction in recalling a brief conversation from hours earlier when you stumble upon a new item, allowing you to wrap up a side quest you’d nearly forgotten about.

This feeling of discovery extends to the main plot, where solving puzzles often requires taking a moment to pause and think critically. These puzzles are multi-stage affairs, transforming spaces into intricate puzzle boxes reminiscent of games like Resident Evil. Clues can be found anywhere: a passing phrase in a conversation, an offhand comment in an email, or a note tucked away beside key items. Solving them isn’t as simple as finding a safe combination scrawled in blood a few rooms over, but neither is it so grueling that you’ll often find yourself stuck and directionless. You won’t get hints about where to go next, but the character and location summaries that populate as you progress provide just enough guidance to keep you moving forward steadily. You can think of Hell is Us as an action game that draws more from classic point-and-click adventures in its approach to exploration than other modern titles in the genre—minus the overly confusing puzzles and hours spent wandering in circles.

As you uncover the current events unfolding in Hadea, you’ll also begin to learn about the centuries of history that led to this crisis. This backstory is filled with monarchs, betrayal, missing heirs, and star-crossed lovers, yet none of it leaves a lasting impression or fully justifies the horrors taking place because of these events. Woven into this historical tapestry is the story of protagonist Rémi, who was born in Hadea before his mother smuggled him out of the region as a child. Returning to find his family, Rémi’s personal journey—and his connection to Hadea’s secret protectors, a group tied to his family—feels uninteresting and formulaic, ultimately concluding with a predictable ending that does little to explain the recurring interrogation flashbacks you experience from the start. It’s a disappointment that while you witness Hadea at its darkest, Rémi rarely offers meaningful commentary on the chaos around him. Voice actor Elias Toufexis, best known for his role as Adam Jensen in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, delivers a lackluster performance as Rémi, with his distinctive raspy voice wasted on weak dialogue and a monotone delivery.

The blend of Hadea’s present-day real-world horrors and the mysticism of its past gives each of its hubs a distinct visual identity. Your journey begins in a small town nestled in a swampy marsh, where smoke from the embers of a recent siege hangs heavy in the air. This contrasts sharply with the open fields you’ll explore next, dotted with old statues of past monarchs and hiding a labyrinthine network of catacombs beneath the surface—filled with archaic machinery and dim stone passageways. Hell is Us takes you from war-torn cities engulfed in smoke to underground laboratories carved into the walls of ancient religious sites, and none of these locations feel out of place. Unfortunately, your ability to move through these spaces is extremely restrictive; the absence of a jump mechanic prevents you from climbing over countless waist-high obstacles that stand between you and valuable loot. This feels artificially forced, especially given Rémi’s otherwise dexterous nature, and it’s clearly a design choice intended to funnel players into solving puzzles in a specific way.

While the soldiers around you wield assault rifles and roll through the landscape in tanks, you’ll be forced to face a variety of monochrome creatures—known as Hollow Walkers—using only melee weapons. Hell is Us’ combat will look and feel familiar to fans of Soulsborne titles: attacks and dodges are tied to a stamina bar, whose total is determined by how much health you have remaining. This confusing link makes early encounters challenging, but it’s balanced by the combat system’s emphasis on aggression. Similar to Bloodborne, each hit you land reclaims some health from enemies. Here, however, you can regain more health than you lost in a fight, allowing you to use enemies almost like healing items when you’re confident you can defeat them without taking damage. This system makes battles highly dynamic, with a few well-timed, measured hits capable of bringing you back from the brink of death to full health. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat like this is exhilarating, creating a similar rush to defeating a tough boss in a Soulsborne game—without having to memorize rigid attack patterns to do so.

Beyond basic and heavy attacks with one of the four weapons at your disposal, combat is enhanced by a variety of special abilities to choose from. These are split between equipable perks for your weapon and bird-like drones, each with its own cooldown timer to manage. Your drone primarily provides support: it latches onto your back to give your dodges a boost in speed and distance, or distracts enemies to create an opening for you to attack. Weapon abilities are more active; I found myself drawn to abilities that let me control crowds effectively, such as one that deals damage to all foes around me, or others that deliver massive burst damage to single enemies from a distance. While the combat has some breadth, its overall depth doesn’t quite match its variety.

Both abilities and enemy types are limited, with the former relying on higher damage numbers and the latter on new attacks at higher levels to compensate for the lack of variety. The small enemy pool is somewhat alleviated by the inclusion of husks—brightly colored creatures that attach themselves to other enemies and shield them from damage. Some of Hell is Us’ best fights feature a husk linked to multiple enemies at once, forcing you to defeat it several times as you pick off its hosts one by one. Unfortunately, these standout moments are undermined by the game’s reliance on enemy quantity rather than evolving challenges to maintain difficulty in the latter half of the campaign, leading to frustrating encounters filled with cheap deaths. These moments also expose flaws in the game’s finicky lock-on system and camera, both of which struggle to target enemies accurately when you’re swarmed in dark, gloomy underground corridors.

The combat is also more forgiving than its Soulsborne inspirations. Enemies do respawn, but only if you travel far enough away from your current location. Each area also contains a timeloop—a recurring moment of intense trauma that keeps enemies in the area respawning. By eliminating certain enemies around it, you can enter the timeloop and close it permanently, clearing the area of enemies and allowing you to explore in safety. You’ll find datapads throughout your journey that let you save your progress and set your respawn point if you die, but you don’t lose anything upon death, making the game significantly less punishing. Difficulty levels also let you adjust the combat to your preference—an option that doesn’t extend to exploration—so you can focus on uncovering Hadea’s secrets if you find fighting Hollow Walkers less engaging. All of this means that while Hell is Us’ combat looks like a Soulsborne game, it differs from the genre far more than you might expect.

While I was left disappointed by Hell is Us’ narrative conclusion, the journey to get there was surprisingly engaging. It was refreshing to not just follow a quest marker through the story, but also a relief that I never found myself stuck for hours, wondering where to go next. This balance is what made traversing Hadea and experiencing all its horrors so rewarding, making each new discovery feel earned rather than routine. The game is supported by an imperfect but engaging combat system, held back only by shallow enemy variety and imprecise controls—but never to the point of being outright frustrating. If Hell is Us is developer Rogue Factor’s first attempt at creating a new type of third-person action game, then while it’s less revolutionary than its initial promise suggested, it’s still a game that manages to stay surprising right up until the end.

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