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 art direction and soundtrack are fantastic, creating a vibrant and engaging atmosphere.
- The combination of arcade skateboarding mechanics with rogue-like elements offers a unique and enjoyable gameplay experience.
- The level design is well-crafted, providing fun new lines to discover and challenges to overcome.
- The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, including issues with hitboxes and falling through the map.
- The current content feels limited, with some players completing all available runs in a short amount of time, making it feel more like a demo than a full game.
- The controls can feel inconsistent, with combos dropping unexpectedly and the lock-on feature often being ineffective.
- gameplay61 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay effectively merges classic Tony Hawk's Pro Skater mechanics with roguelite elements, creating a unique and engaging experience that appeals to both skateboarding fans and action game enthusiasts. While the core mechanics are fun and addictive, players note the need for more content, polish, and clearer tutorials to enhance the overall experience. Despite some frustrating jank and control issues, the game shows great potential for growth and offers a satisfying gameplay loop that keeps players coming back.
“It brilliantly merges the mechanics of a skateboarding game with those of a roguelite.”
“The gameplay loop clearly has potential, and the roguelike magic powers that grant you movement abilities really seem to elevate the skating gameplay.”
“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.”
- music26 mentions
- 62 % positive mentions
- 27 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received widespread praise for its energetic punk rock soundtrack, reminiscent of classic skating games like Tony Hawk's. While many players find the tracks enjoyable and fitting for the gameplay, some express a desire for a larger variety to prevent repetitiveness and for features like in-game playlists. Overall, the soundtrack enhances the game's charm and addictive gameplay, though some players note issues with volume levels and a lack of song identification.
“The soundtrack is full of bangers.”
“The soundtrack is also very reminiscent of old-school skating games, with a punk rock genre.”
“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.”
“The music is limited, and quickly becomes repetitive - it achieves the aesthetic of a Tony Hawk game, but only for 20 minutes.”
“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.”
- story22 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The story in the game is currently described as intriguing but incomplete, with players noting that it lacks depth and clarity at this stage. While it features interesting character backstories and a unique premise reminiscent of titles like Hades, the narrative is sparse and unfolds slowly, leaving players eager for more development. Overall, the story adds a fun layer to the gameplay, but expectations should be tempered as it is still a work in progress.
“Love the concept, the art, and the story so far.”
“While the story isn’t the central focus of this adventure, it’s intriguing to note that each character plays a significant role in the protagonist’s evolution.”
“There is a storyline here which is interesting and adds to the overall experience.”
“The story isn't complete and beating the first boss actually corrupts your save.”
“The game kind of unceremoniously drops you into the game without any intro to the main character or story.”
“The story is unfinished, so events can execute weird and out-of-order.”
- graphics14 mentions
- 64 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their unique and gorgeous art style, which enhances the overall aesthetic and gameplay experience. While many players appreciate the visual design and its alignment with the game's concept, some have noted issues with camera behavior during combat that can obscure important elements. Overall, the graphics contribute positively to the game's charm, despite some concerns related to early access development.
“From the beginning, I fell in love with the music, the art style, and the gameplay loop.”
“The aesthetics and art are fantastic, a visual treat.”
“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've 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.”
- stability14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- -14 % neutral mentions
- 93 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with players reporting numerous 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 users express a level of acceptance, noting that they expected such issues and believe they will be addressed in future updates. 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.”
“The vibe is great, the skating is okay but buggy and the combat needs massive work.”
“There are bugs and glitches that haven't necessarily messed up runs for me but have been pretty prevalent.”
“I fall through the world regularly and switching between walking and skating often has glitches.”
- grinding9 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding mechanics in the game to be inconsistent and frustrating, often feeling "sticky" and limiting in terms of movement compared to other titles like Tony Hawk. Many express a desire for less grinding for resources and more engaging content, while also noting issues with hitboxes and the overall speed of currency collection. Overall, the grinding experience is seen as a significant downside, detracting from the enjoyment of the game.
“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.”
- 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 appearance, and there are calls for further refinement to address bugs and enhance gameplay. Additionally, optimization for external drives 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.”
- humor5 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as hilarious and enjoyable, with fun music and amusing gameplay elements, such as attempting tricks like the "christ air" for comedic effect. While the story is lighthearted and not serious, players appreciate the funny movements and antics that arise from the game's mechanics, despite some technical issues that detract from the overall experience.
“The idea is hilarious in a very good way, the music is a lot of fun, the skating is surprisingly well done for an arcade skater.”
“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.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game offers high replayability, particularly for fans of roguelites, thanks to its procedurally generated levels and unpredictable encounters. While the story is currently minimal, the combination of classic gameplay elements and roguelite mechanics promises even greater replay value as the game continues to develop.
“The procedurally generated levels and unpredictable encounters enhance replayability.”
“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.”
“The gameplay loop is very replayable if you're into roguelites, but the story is fairly sparse for now since the game is not finished.”
“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 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.
