Have you ever dreamt of slaying demons with an increasing amount of weapons while the background music features somebody shredding away on a guitar? Well, Doom has been around for a while now, but maybe you’re looking for something a little fresher, more rhythm-y?
Metal: Hellsinger scratches that itch and then some — with a flurry of levels, unique weapons and a leaderboard to show off how skilled you are at the game. If you’re finding yourself getting a little frustrated, we’ve got a list of general tips to get you through the game and up your score down below.
1
Calibrate Your Game
When you first load up Metal: Hellsinger, it will ask you to run a short series of tests to calibrate your machine. It’s important that you do this, as the games scoring system relies heavily on you being “on beat”, and having a screen calibrated to match your input delay and audio setup is important.
2
Play on Normal First
Even if you’re familiar with rhythm games or feel very comfortable with shooters, Metal: Hellsinger has some unique stage designs that can be a bit frustrating on harder difficulties for a first-time playthrough. We recommend playing through on Normal (or “Goat”) difficulty to get acquainted with the game, the levels, and most importantly, the weapons. Speaking of…
3
The Skull and Shotgun Is Your Friend
You start out with two weapons: your sword, Terminus, and Paz, a skull that fires energy bolts (and also serves as the narrator of the game.) While the sword isn’t terribly useful after unlocking other weapons, Paz is absolutely needed. Paz can keep your Fury meter going, even when travelling in between encounters, keeping your score multiplier up as long as you remain on beat. Paz can also weaken enemies to a staggered state easily, allowing you to Slaughter them for health.
You also unlock a few weapons throughout your playthrough — Persephone (shotgun), Orthrus and Cerberus (dual pistols), Soulbreaker (arbalest), and Hellcrow (dual throwing scythes.) Each weapon has its uses, and the “best weapon” will largely depend on your playstyle and beat timing. Personally, I found the most success with Persephone, as the fire rate was slower than others, allowing me to more easily stay on beat, while still retaining enough damage and spread to make it worthwhile.
4
Soar, dash and reload on beat
While Dashing is good for escaping jams and evading attacks, you can combine a Dash and a Jump to begin Soaring. This allows you to cover ground a little more quickly, and soar over environmental dangers as well. Dashing on beat also keeps your Fury combo going, so keep that in mind.
Reloading is also essential to do on beat. While it does not affect your Fury meter, a successful quick reload will allow you to instantly finish the reloading process, instead of waiting several additional beats for the slower reload to complete.
5
Keep a Mental Map of Crystal Locations
When you enter new combat rooms, you will be locked in and have to fight off waves of demons before continuing on. Each room has a set number (usually two to five) clusters of Green Crystals, which when shot will drop enough health to bring you up 50% of your life meter. Even though you can rely on Slaughters to regain health, sometimes enemies don’t want to stagger, and you may be playing with fire trying to wait for a Slaughter opportunity. Keep an eye out for Crystals and grab them if you need them.
6
Stockpile Ultimates
Each weapon has its own Ultimate meter. It’s best to stockpile Ultimate charge on each weapon to use for difficult encounter rooms, or on the boss of the level. For quick reference, here are the ultimates:
Terminus fires off a rapid series of slashes in a straight line in front of you.
Paz summons a bolt of light that spreads to nearby enemies.
Persephone fires a massive burst of bullets, dealing heavy damage to anything in its way.
The Hounds creates a clone of yourself that fires off salvos of bullets over a period of time.
Soulbreaker launches a gravity well that traps enemies in its orbit temporarily.
Hellcrow creates a storm of crows — a Crowstorm, if you will — around you, dealing massive damage to anything that comes near you.
Arguably, the highest damage output you can achieve is with a combination of The Hounds and Hellcrow, but this requires your target to stand still and not move or phase out. Sadly, bosses often phase in and out after reaching certain health breakpoints, so it may be best to consider using different combinations to find what works best for you.
Written by Junior Miyai on behalf of GLHF.
