When I visited EA's booth at E3 this year, I was asked what I wanted to see first. They had prominent displays for Madden 08, Burnout Paradise, Mercenaries 2 and NBA Live 08, all swarming with people. But without hesitation, I promptly requested to be taken to see Hellgate: London. I have never been one to stray far from console gaming, but one of those rare moments of weakness saw me devoting hours, days, weeks and months to hacking, slashing and looting in Blizzard's Diablo II. So when I heard that the spiritual successor to that series was coming via the Flagship Studios - formed by key ex-Blizzard North employees after a tiff with Blizzard parent company Vivendi - there was little doubt in my mind that I'd be lining up for, gasp, a PC title. After watching the E3 demonstration that initial response was only reinforced as interactive worlds, interesting character types and wonderful graphics captured my attention.

Now that Hellgate: London is finally here, did it live up to all the personal hype I built up for it? Not quite. Spotty collision detection, graphical repetition, too much RPG in my FPS and the abandonment of Diablo's multiplayer accessibility and random player interaction hit Hellgate with a flattening tackle, setting it back more than a few yards. Despite the heavy hit, Hellgate pulls quite the convincing Brett Favre impersonation, dusts itself off, returns to the huddle and throws a come-from-behind touchdown pass in the form of intricate character customization, seemingly bottomless loot gathering, spectacular graphics and an overall sense of fulfillment from the gameplay. Not everyone will make it past that initial state of disappointment, but those who can should find enough reason to keep playing until the further refinement that one can only assume is bound to come.

What would happen if a demonic army, nearly invincible to traditional weapons, emerged from the bowels of Hell to conquer Earth today - think we'd stand a chance? Nope, probably not. Can you see the world's leaders heeding the warnings and grabbing hold of an extended hand of fellowship from people claiming to be descendants of the Knights Templar - a Christian Crusaders sect from way back when - that speaks of lost arcane arts as the only way to save the planet? You've got to be kidding, right? World leaders would throw them to the streets with the pure strength of their laughter as the evil forces crushed society as we know it in a swift and relentless killing spree. After winning control of Earth, all that is left for Hell's forces is to convert our world into, well, Hell on Earth, a process being dubbed The Burn. Humanity has only one chance left to vanquish the demons from their world and take control back before our very planet is lost forever. Three factions remain, huddled in the London Underground, a series of abandoned train stations turned into safe havens - the aforementioned Templars (melee specialists), the Cabalists (magic specialists) and the Hunters (firearms and robotic specialists).

The game opens with the usual character creation, mixing and matching from a under-whelming set of body pieces before selecting one of six character classes. The Templars offer the Blademaster and the Guardian classes, who are in generic terms the Barbarian and Paladin classes from Diablo II. Each of these classes excels in melee weapons while using auras to increase their abilities in battle, with the main difference between the two being that Blademaster is tapered towards offense (one of their unique abilities is dual-wielding) and the Guardian towards defense. The Cabalists offer the Evoker and Summoner classes, which are not unlike the Sorcerer and Necromancer classes from Diablo II. Both classes take a little from the other, as both can use spells and summon creatures, but it is the main focus of either of the two becomes their main difference. Finally, the Hunters offer the Marksman and Engineer classes, which have no real previous basis in the Diablo games. Marksmen are exactly what they sound like - gun-toting FPS characters whose skills augment their ability to blast through wave after wave of enemies. The Engineer is somewhat like a mixture of the Marksman and Summoner classes, as he can build robot allies who can aid him in battle as he picks off enemies from a safe distance.

Regardless of the class you choose, in Diablo fashion there are plenty of routes to take with character building, thanks to their superior skill tree building. Though it may take a few characters to learn the nuances of each class, what their inherit strengths and weakness are and which skills work with which tactics, once you find that combo that clicks it's hard to keep from smiling and rushing to share your tactics with friends. You cannot, however, change the distribution of a character's stat and skill points once set, which doesn't bother me in any way as raising characters to a moderate level, discovering a better way to level, taking my best loot and starting again has always appealed to my gaming tastes. If you could just change your character at whim - even if there was some sort of payment involved to do so - it would strip away the vital connection between maker and creation, as perfection takes time and commitment, not a cache of money.

Once your character is created, you are thrown right into the scuffle, as your character runs into a man needing help completing his mission and returning to the nearby station. Complete this and you will be forever entangled with humanity's fight against Hell, as your exemplary skills will have what seems like all of the London Underground clamoring for your assistance like some sort of messiah. Sadly though, the story falls apart quicker than Earth's leaders told the Templars to take their horse and pony show somewhere else. A very interesting setting hastily boils down to complete a ton of "I'm too [insert lame excuse here] to do my job. Can you do my job and [insert mindless task]?" missions for each story-pushing quest. With the majority of people asking for your help being lazy, selfish and/or incapable, it's a wonder that the London Underground even exists! I understand the reason to add missions along with the quests, but in a game with linear progression they should never overtake the spotlight from the main story, and in Hellgate they do almost immediately and never relinquish control.

Thankfully, the gameplay swoops in and generally keeps the meandering story as an afterthought, though it is not without its share of troubles. Diablo in 3D still serves as the best way to describe how Hellgate plays and it should come as no surprise that Flagship Studios were able to bring the 2D series into the 3D realm with few shortcomings. The action is quick and furious as you plow through wave after wave of baddies. Using the tried-and-true point and click system, with number buttons for skills, veteran dungeon crawlers will feel at home within seconds and newcomers should be ready to trudge through any darkness within the first half hour. The dynamic camera, which can be pulled into first person, pushed out to third person and everything in between, gives you the freedom to view the game in whatever way you feel most comfortable with, as neither comes with any sort of game-created downside.

The levels - whose layouts are randomly generated each time the player enters the game - are decently large, with many nooks, crannies, treasures and enemy nests scattered throughout. At first these levels are engaging and full of surprises, as the dark abandoned railways and desolate streets paint a delightfully bleak image of a post-apocalyptic London. But it doesn't take very long for those moments of wonder to wan into annoyance, as multiple areas share the same exact level designs, with the only possible changes - random level generating aside - coming in the enemy types held within them. This is a huge letdown because not only was Diablo II able to handle rehashing admirably, but the use of London as a backdrop ends up being wasted, as only a handful of areas receive a truly unique, real world based levels. The levels that do use real-world London, such as the London Museum, Piccadilly Circus and the Tower of London are absolutely amazing and serve as stark contrasts to the revolving door of tunnels and streets that plague level design.

Not everything made the transition to the 3D plane with perfection though, as some unfortunate issues crop up. Collision detection isn't as solid as it should be in a retail product, as clipping, getting stuck on larger objects such as cars and train cars (at least you can use a quick in-game command to free yourself), and enemies and NPC allies phasing in and out of walls, floors and other solid objects all plague the game on a consistent basis. The use of firearms - one of Hellgate's main hooks - falls victim to being RPG'd and as a result the weapons aren't really differentiated from using magic. When you fire a shot, especially in first person mode, you expect your aim to be a factor into the damage caused, but that feeling doesn't exist in Hellgate. You shoot and then wait for some invisible math to determine the damage and it sucks much of the fun factor out of role-playing with firearms. Precision shooting has been permanently ingrained into the minds of everyone who would find the FPS aspects of Hellgate intriguing, so reworking them comes as a perplexing design decision.

Shortcomings aside, the loot system brings the entire game together into a total package that is not only palatable but tremendously addicting. Diablo II's greatest feature was the sheer amount of interesting and usable loot that was out there for us to find and Hellgate is no different. Multiple classes of rareness and tons of item classes are to be expected, but the incredible amount of customization that can be applied to these items was not. Any items can be broken down into materials, which can then be used to craft new items, new add-ons and more, which can then be used with various blueprints, machines and people to craft yet more items. Drops are randomized every single time, the fact that an awesome item might drop at any time keeping the tension high. There don't appear to be any set parameter items though, such as the set and unique items from Diablo II, which is a shame, as collecting and pursuing those was a huge drawing point and the payoff of landing one was unimaginable. Nevertheless, this is still Hellgate's best feature.

Hellgate's presentation is very attractive, at least from a graphical standpoint. Sharp textures, dynamic lighting and slickly animated, ferocious monsters make the visuals a huge helping of eye candy. Firing off explosive rounds that light up dark hallways, admiring the sheering reds of Hell's sky or slinking through the night as Hell's aircraft fill the sky are just a few of the visual wonders to behold. The special effects are brilliant, with flashes lighting up darkened areas, purple particles erupting from gun blasts and the various death animations - based on the weapon you're using - never seem to lose appeal. Character models, which are graphically dumbed down when online to keep performance up, update based on equipment used but are otherwise rather generic thanks to the aforementioned limited character creator. Character battle animations fall into a similar rut, as the ability to keep the game moving seems to have overridden the ideal that a Hell-smiting bad ass should have bad ass moves in their arsenal. In-game NPCs don't appear any better, with nearly every one of them looking like the same dreary, boring person with a few tweaks.

Don't expect to find any ear candy though, as the sound took an obvious backseat during Hellgate's development. A musical score was ditched for ambient sounds for whatever reason, but with the rather generic and weak sound effects on offer, the trade-off was definitely not worth it. It isn't as if the demon screeches, voiceovers, explosions, clanking of metal, firing of guns and the rest of the barrel of RPG noises were poorly created, as that is not the case. The problem lies in that they very rarely register anything above an average rating. Very few moments, if any, will stand out in your memory when it comes to the sound, as the entire product rides a horse of mediocrity through every passing level. This is hardly a breaking point for a game of this sort, but if you are going to ditch one aspect for another then I'd hope that the difference is made up and the choice justified, rather than the result being the mishmash of forgettable noises compiled here.

The lasting appeal of this stems from the amount of gratification you can pull from taking the experience online, which the majority of people will do from the get-go. Online play is handled much like it is in Guild Wars - players meet in central hubs, in this case the stations, where they can meet, interact, form parties and so forth; when they enter a level though, only party members are allowed. This has the game heavily tilted towards single player exploration and multiplayer looting, as you will only see strangers in your levels if you select random partying as an option. I personally enjoy this, as I am more inclined to enjoy the game either by myself or with friends. Mixing and matching the classes together in attempts to making the perfect parties is a blast, just as it was in Diablo II, and looting in a party rarely ends up in a bore. Add in the $9.99 subscriber features, including the always-extraordinary hardcore mode, additional character slots and classes, and there are plenty of sights to see, characters to build and loot to be had.

Anyone looking to enjoy the social aspect of gaming will not find much in the way of fulfillment however, as the chat system is a mess - the chat box is small, not always on and not easily accessible, while the hubs show only a tiny fraction of the people in there due to the lack of space. Having to leave the entire game to reset the random levels is a minor annoyance too, especially if adventuring with friends, considering that Diablo II and Battle.net only asked that you exit back to the lobby. These aren't the biggest problem on Hellgate's plate though, as the online component is currently plagued with experience-ruining bugs. The servers are jam-packed, leading to lag, slowdown issues and frequent crashing (I don't know how many times I've been attempting to manage my inventory and the game has crashed). The sheer amount of people populating the game makes trudging through the tight corridors of the stations a battle against the frame rate at times. Having spent time in the beta, I definitely did not experience the game-killing slowdown and lag that at times is crippling the retail version, so it seems as if the initial response to the game has been a bit overwhelming. I am sure that these problems are being addressed as we speak, but for now, these and the other bugs mentioned in this review have to be factored into the final score and without hesitation drop the game down a full point.

I hate to make this assumption, but it feels as though Hellgate: London is yet another victim of the Christmas buying bonanza, due to the publishers wanting the game out at a time that maximizes its revenue potential. Regardless of whether or not this is the case, if you can get over the fact that this isn't quite the Diablo sequel that many of us were hoping for, like I have managed to do, then there are still enough positive facets to make Hellgate a worthwhile long-term purchase - especially once the bugs are cleared up and more of the subscriber-only features are available online. As long as Flagship Studios continue to support the title as they have reiterated time and time again leading up to this point, Hellgate should be able to overcome this shaky start and prove to be a fitting side story to the Diablo franchise.

Reviewed by Tony Peters for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).