Helskate
- February 15, 2024
- Phantom Coast
- 6h median play time
Get on Steam"Helskate" is a single-player sports game that combines skateboarding with roguelite elements, set in the hellish labyrinth of Vertheim. Grind, perform tricks, and chain combos to slay monsters and upgrade your weapons, gear, and abilities in classic arcade-style skating action. Despite some bugs and heavy grinding, "Helskate" boasts beautiful visuals, ingenious game mechanics, and a perfect soundtrack, making for a unique and engaging experience.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game combines the fun of Tony Hawk Pro Skater with hack and slash mechanics, creating a unique and enjoyable gameplay experience.
- The art style, music, and overall aesthetic are praised, contributing to a vibrant and engaging atmosphere.
- The developers are actively listening to feedback and regularly updating the game, showing commitment to improving the experience.
- The game currently lacks content, with many areas marked as 'under construction' and limited enemy variety, leading to repetitive gameplay.
- There are numerous bugs and glitches, including issues with controls, falling through the map, and inconsistent camera behavior, which detract from the overall experience.
- The game feels unfinished for its price point, with placeholder text in cutscenes and a lack of clear tutorials or instructions for new players.
- gameplay50 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally praised for its fun and addictive mechanics, blending elements from popular titles like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Hades, creating a unique experience that combines skating with combat. However, players note issues such as a lack of content, frustrating bugs, and inconsistent controls that detract from the overall experience. Despite these challenges, the core gameplay loop shows significant potential for growth and improvement, making it an exciting prospect for fans of both genres.
“The gameplay loop feels like sprinkles of Risk of Rain and Roboquest, mixed with Helskate's own strengths and elements, of course.”
“By combining elements from popular games like Devil May Cry, Hades, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, this game offers a captivating and enjoyable experience where you engage in intense battles against waves of foes while mastering new techniques that double as combat strategies, allowing for diverse gameplay styles.”
“The gameplay is super responsive, the gameplay loop is addictive, the music completely slaps, and the graphics are cool too.”
“I would like the developers to work on kinks, bugs, performance, and gameplay.”
“The gameplay is often slow moving and feels very split.”
“I love THPS, Underground 1 and 2 were my childhood, probably clocked more than 7k hours in total, I spent day and night playing those games; however, the roguelite combat gameplay and classic THPS styles do not mix here.”
- music23 mentions
- 65 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received praise for its quality and fitting aesthetic, often drawing comparisons to the iconic Tony Hawk series. However, players have noted issues with the limited track selection, repetitive nature, and low volume, expressing a desire for a custom playlist feature and more diverse songs. Overall, while the soundtrack enhances the gameplay experience, there is room for improvement in variety and volume.
“From the beginning, I fell in love with the music, the art style, and the gameplay loop.”
“The soundtrack is really good and fits the game perfectly; I kinda wish it told you the names of the songs in-game though.”
“The skating feels great, the soundtrack is perfectly punk, and the game will challenge you to really improve your skills if you're looking to progress further into the helskate.”
“Wish there was a music playlist I could look up in-game or set up my own playlist.”
“My main issue is the music is too low, some bugs, and not enough content, but I will say it does scratch that pro skater itch; the mechanics are there.”
“The music is limited and quickly becomes repetitive - it achieves the aesthetic of a Tony Hawk game, but only for 20 minutes.”
- story18 mentions
- 39 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The story in the game is described as intriguing but incomplete, with players noting that it takes time to fully engage with the narrative. While some elements remind them of "Hades," the overall execution feels disjointed, and the missions are unique but may lack depth. Players express a desire for a more developed quest system and character interactions to enhance the storytelling experience.
“The story is cool, the art is even cooler and damn is it fun... when this game releases, I will be making sure all my friends are playing it.”
“There is a storyline here which is interesting and adds to the overall experience.”
“What bits of the story we have so far are intriguing.”
“The story isn't complete and beating the first boss actually corrupts your save.”
“The story is unfinished, so events can execute weird and out-of-order.”
“They have a backstory but you won't know until like an hour or two later!”
- graphics13 mentions
- 62 % positive mentions
- 15 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received praise for their unique and gorgeous art style, which enhances the overall aesthetic and charm. However, some players have noted issues with camera mechanics that can obscure gameplay, as well as inconsistencies in controls that detract from the visual experience. Overall, while the visuals are considered a highlight, they are somewhat hindered by technical flaws and early access limitations.
“The aesthetics and art are fantastic, a visual treat.”
“The art style leaves so much room for fun designs, too.”
“The art style is gorgeous!”
“It used to follow behind you at a comfortable distance; now it manically zooms in and out every time you attack something, completely blocking or obscuring anything attacking from a close distance or from behind you. They managed to completely over-engineer what was a simple and effective combat system into a mess. While I usually don't comment on graphics because I let gameplay carry a title, I will say that the developer is going a little overboard.”
“The music is limited and quickly becomes repetitive. It achieves the aesthetic of a Tony Hawk game, but only for 20 minutes.”
“Overall, the art style, game concept, developer pedigree, and music choice have been great so far.”
- stability12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- -17 % neutral mentions
- 92 % negative mentions
The game's stability is notably problematic, with frequent bugs and glitches such as falling through platforms, getting stuck behind objects, and issues with character movement. While these problems can detract from the experience, many players express a level of acceptance, anticipating future fixes and improvements. Overall, the game is described as "buggy" but still enjoyable, particularly on platforms like Steam Deck.
“Runs great on Steam Deck!”
“The game maintains a steady frame rate, providing a smooth experience.”
“I haven't encountered any crashes or bugs, which makes for a stable gameplay experience.”
“There are also bugs and glitches that include falling through platforms or ending up behind objects that you shouldn't be, but to be honest, I expected bugs like these so I'm not that bothered by it, and I'm sure it'll be ironed out, but it's worth mentioning.”
“I fall through the world regularly and switching between walking and skating often has glitches.”
“Edit: now that I have beaten chapter one (all that's available so far) I have to warn anyone considering the game that the main boss of chapter 1 is buggy as hell and there are some half-developed levels that you run into.”
- optimization8 mentions
- 63 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization has seen significant improvements since the demo, with many players reporting smooth performance on high settings. However, some users express concerns about visual effects being overly exaggerated, leading to a cluttered aesthetic, and there are calls for further refinement to address bugs and enhance gameplay. Additionally, external drive performance has been criticized, indicating room for improvement in that area.
“The game has been heavily optimized from the demo and the performance is great.”
“Looks beautiful, runs smoothly, and I can't stop doing runs for those dark gems.”
“The performance is very good; I am running the game on maximum settings and I'm having no trouble.”
“I would like the developers to work on kinks, bugs, performance, and gameplay.”
“With the post-rendering effects at this point, I actually liked how the game looked in older versions; it was fine, but now everything has this shiny, overly cartoonish, layered filtered effect on it. Anything with a particle effect spray or glow has been cranked up to 11, making everything look like a mess. It's like a visual wall of noise and unnecessary. So at this point, I'm overall bummed and I refunded... for now. That being said, I will still follow this title and will purchase again in the future once they decide on what kind of game they want this to be and get more optimized.”
“Pretty terrible external drive optimization.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players express frustration with the grinding mechanics, noting that they can feel inconsistent and overly restrictive, leading to a "sticky" experience. Many desire less emphasis on grinding for resources and more engaging content, while some specific mechanics, like grinding angles and enemy interactions, are criticized for being poorly designed and frustrating. Overall, the grinding aspect detracts from the enjoyment of the game for many users.
“Grinding really just locks you to whatever you're on and it feels really...sticky.”
“All I wanted was less grinding for resources and more content.”
“The grinding snake enemy specifically is a pain here; you can't even jump on the thing to grind it without injuring yourself 90% of the time due to the hitbox for its spikes on the sides.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as light-hearted and entertaining, with players finding amusement in both the gameplay mechanics and the storyline. Users appreciate the comedic potential of character movements and the absurdity of certain situations, contributing to an overall fun experience.
“My current goal is to try to get a Christ air in immediately before respawning because that seems like it'd be funny.”
“The story for now is nothing serious but funny enough; I haven't met the main antagonist yet.”
“I will also mention that the stat boosts you can receive do so much extra, like giving you an extra jump or how fast you can spin, making your skater do really funny movements.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Helskate boasts strong replayability thanks to its procedurally generated levels and unpredictable encounters, reminiscent of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater formula combined with roguelite elements. Players can expect high replay value, especially with additional content planned for the future.
“The procedurally generated levels and unpredictable encounters enhance replayability.”
“Helskate is a fantastic return to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater formula mixed with the replayability of a roguelite like Hades.”
“It's already high on the replay value due to the roguelite elements, but the fact that more is on the horizon makes it that much better.”
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight that the character design is exceptional, with users praising its quality and creativity.
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the emotional aspect of the game requires improvement, suggesting that it lacks depth and resonance in its storytelling and character development.
