HellCat

About

HellCat is a single player hack and slash game with a drama theme. It was developed by Verbal Chambers and was released on June 14, 2018. It received positive reviews from players.

The protagonist is a cat. To whom nothing remains but to arm himself in the fight against the army of devilish creatures and become a HellCat.

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83%

Audience ScoreBased on 76 reviews

music10 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

Engaging retro pixel art and solid, responsive gameplay with tight controls.
Fantastic and energetic soundtrack that enhances the fast-paced, adrenaline-filled experience.
Challenging design with well-crafted levels and bosses that provide a rewarding sense of accomplishment upon completion.

Extremely high difficulty with one-hit death and no checkpoints can cause frustration and frequent restarts.
The game is quite short and lacks longer content or diverse level design, resulting in some repetitiveness.
Some usability issues such as lack of multiple save files, no level select, and occasional glitches in boss fights limit the overall polish.

music
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
13%
20%
The game's music is widely praised for its fantastic, retro-inspired soundtrack that enhances the nostalgic gameplay and level design. While some find the music occasionally too loud, adjustable settings allow players to customize volume, and many appreciate the option to play without music to better hear in-game sounds. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout feature that contributes positively to the game's atmosphere.
- “Good retro graphics with solid gameplay, great level design, and a fantastic soundtrack.”
- “The later levels and the boss fights are pretty decent, and the soundtrack is just spectacular.”
- “Still, it does what it does well, and has an awesomely groovy soundtrack, so...here's hoping it finds its audience.”
- “Ugly retro graphics and repetitive music are just the beginning of the problems here.”
- “The music can be quite loud but we can adjust that in the settings panel.”
- “The music is really, really loud, but thankfully you can adjust this in settings. The game is somehow even better without any music at all, as being able to hear the firing of the crossbows and guns really helps.”
gameplay
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
39%
23%
The gameplay is praised for its solid core mechanics, responsive controls, and unique elements like weapon throwing, creating an engaging yet challenging experience. However, the one-hit-death system and some mechanics feel frustrating or underdeveloped, limiting strategic depth and requiring polish. Overall, it offers fun, fast-paced action with potential for improvement in balance and design.
- “Good retro graphics with solid gameplay, great level design, and a fantastic soundtrack.”
- “On the one hand basic gameplay is pretty good as Hellcat is very responsive to input and the various guns all have their advantages and disadvantages that you can put to good use depending on the type of enemies you're dealing with in a particular level.”
- “Easy-to-pick-up gameplay (and addition of a cat!) somehow manage to make this ultra-difficult 2D shoot-em-up fun, even if that isn't generally your genre.”
- “It's not fun, it's just purely luck based, there is no pattern, there is no mechanics or techniques to learn.”
- “On the other hand, I think that a 1-hit-death mechanic is not optimal - it very strongly encourages playing safe and just spraying the enemies with bullets from afar.”
- “I would definitely suggest changing it so that you automatically pick up a gun you run over if you don't currently have one; that would make the throwing mechanic feel a lot better and be more overall usable.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The graphics are characterized by a retro, pixel art style that some users find charming and smooth, while others consider them low-resolution and unattractive. Opinions on the art quality vary, with praise for the art style and level design contrasted by criticism of the simplicity and repetitiveness.
- “Good retro graphics with solid gameplay, great level design, and a fantastic soundtrack.”
- “The pixel graphics are very simple, but the game is smooth and I didn't encounter any problems.”
- “Really good artstyle”
- “This is a 2D retro pixel top-down twin-stick maze shooter where you control a cat or some white blob. Pixel graphics suck, hire an artist.”
- “Ugly retro graphics and repetitive music are just the beginning of the problems here.”
- “The uncatlike gameplay and low-res graphics really don't give you much to go on.”
story
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The story mode involves battling various enemies on a quest to save the protagonist's girlfriend, with added narration providing some context for each level. While the story is straightforward and action-focused, some users wish for more gameplay elements like body armor to enhance the experience. Overall, the story adds basic but engaging motivation to the gameplay.
- “There is now narration with every level, which gives a minor story.”
- “Love the Times Square mode but I wish the story mode had some body armor or such. Great game nonetheless.”
- “I love the Times Square mode, but I wish the story mode included some body armor or similar features.”
- “You adventure through all the minions and berserkers (the enemies with red eyes), killing everything in sight on the quest to save your girlfriend.”
- “There is now narration with every level, which gives only a minor story.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor is highlighted by funny sound effects that add a playful and entertaining element to the game.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from poor optimization, with users noting that even a simple 2D game runs inefficiently. Overall, performance issues detract from the experience.
- “And now I know that this primitive 2D game is overall not optimized at all.”