Hellgate: London Still Canceled, New Expansion Announced

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
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Hellgate: London Still Canceled, New Expansion Announced


Is it dead or is it alive? If you live in North America, Hellgate: London [http://www.hellgatelondon.com/] is still very much dead. For now.

Following the shut down [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/84985] effective February 1, 2009.

But then came a curveball. Game Espresso [http://www.hanbitsoft.com/].

"Our US development studio is currently working on an update that is to surpass The Abyss Chronicles. This game will be available through our web site," he contined. "We thank you once again for showing your interest and ask for your continuous support for Hellgate: London, as we hope to bring good news shortly. In the meantime, we will continue developing the world's best game!"

Like some kind of "Schroedinger's shitty action-RPG," this state of simultaneous life and death was a little confusing for the average gamer, although that confusion was mitigated somewhat by the fact that just about none of them care anyway. Bad news for those who do: Asian markets (minus Japan), where the game has apparently done fairly well, might see more Hellgate, but North American and European gamers won't be so lucky.

"People are speculating and I don't want anyone shocked on January 31, 2009 when the server and forums shut down and there is nothing," Community Manager Diane Migliaccio wrote in a post [http://forums.hellgatelondon.com/showpost.php?p=1227111&postcount=9] on the Hellgate forums. "Let me explain things a bit to see if it clears up any issues for you. [Expansion developer/publisher] Hanbit owns the IP and rights to publish anywhere other than the US and EU and I think the other territory is Japan. Namco owns the rights to publish in the US and EU."

Is this really the end, then? Stay tuned!

Source: videogaming247 [http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/11/04/hellgate-still-facing-western-shutdown-despite-upcoming-expansion/]



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GothmogII

Possessor Of Hats
Apr 6, 2008
2,215
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Hmm, I'm assuming though, that someone will eventually (if they've not done so already) would look at setting up some kind of private server? Like they do with a lot of online games who's support is ceased right?
 

Greyhawk

New member
Sep 29, 2008
83
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It is so funny to see all the copies of Hellgate sitting on store shelves. I find myself wondering what will happen when some clueless person buys one of those heavily discounted copies March of next year, only to find that there is no way to play it.
 

Ralackk

New member
Aug 12, 2008
288
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Hellgate london does have a single player component, it just doesnt have a lan part to the game.
 

TheBluesader

New member
Mar 9, 2008
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BleachedBlind said:
Will somebody drive a stake into the heart of this damn game and put it to rest?
And then cut off its head and burn the body. Oh, and circle the coffin AND crypt with crushed Eucharistic wafer. Make sure it can't wander around, spreading its plague of gameplay mediocrity and inexcusable glitches.

(The premise is still pretty cool. But that alone does not a great game make. Look at Fracture. Or not.)
 

Terazeal

New member
Sep 10, 2008
31
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Why must the good die so young? No, really, why did this game fail? I'm very confused.
 

Ralackk

New member
Aug 12, 2008
288
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Terazeal said:
Why must the good die so young? No, really, why did this game fail? I'm very confused.
Buggy on release, uninspired and frankly terrible story, Bad choice of subscription model, just to name a few of the larger reasons.
 

babyblues

New member
Apr 22, 2008
145
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Khell_Sennet said:
And this boys and girls, is why a game with no single-player component is only good so long as the company supports it. Can still play Diablo and Diablo 2, mind you Battle.net's still up. Can still play Total Annihilation, online even, and Cavedog's been dead for over a decade. But alas, Poor Hellgate will be offline and DOA in the new year.
Er, Hellgate has a single player mode.
 

TsunamiWombat

New member
Sep 6, 2008
5,870
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Alas ye Hellgate.

It was buggy and unbalanced on released, it's subscriptions was wierd, the gameplay mechanics needed refinements. No one wants to play an all instanced MMO, sortof defeats the purpose... and YES I know Guild Wars thrives but thats because of it's PVP (something I don't think Hellgate had)

I didn't mind Hellgates story actually. Lucius Aldin was the BEST NPC EVER. Anyone who did the "seer" questline will agree with me, Lucius Aldin and Techsmith 314 = Awesome.
 

reaper_2k9

Keeper of the Beer
Oct 22, 2008
493
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It looked like a promising game but now its just time for it to die and fade away.
 

Ralackk

New member
Aug 12, 2008
288
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TsunamiWombat said:
Alas ye Hellgate.

It was buggy and unbalanced on released, it's subscriptions was wierd, the gameplay mechanics needed refinements. No one wants to play an all instanced MMO, sortof defeats the purpose... and YES I know Guild Wars thrives but thats because of it's PVP (something I don't think Hellgate had)

I didn't mind Hellgates story actually. Lucius Aldin was the BEST NPC EVER. Anyone who did the "seer" questline will agree with me, Lucius Aldin and Techsmith 314 = Awesome.
That however was the only good quest parts and they were still silly. It was like the entire game was some gaint joke, except the joke wasn't funny. The horrible voice acting didn't help it any either. It may be because I live in England but those voices I thought were about as poorly sterotyped as you can get.
 

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
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I still want to pick this up and play it, actually. I'm just keeping my eyes open for a collector's edition copy for 20 bucks or less. I've seen the regular edition going for that price, but if things are really as bad as they seem, the CE should be there soon enough too.