One Shell Straight to Hell

About

One Shell Straight to Hell is a single player survival shooter game with a horror theme. It was developed by Shotgun with Glitters and was released on February 9, 2021. It received neutral reviews from players.

One Shell Straight to Hell is a top-down roguelite shooter with base defense elements starring the unordinary priest and bad-ass demon hunter Padre Alexander.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

45%

Audience ScoreBased on 22 reviews

gameplay4 positive mentions

stability4 negative mentions

The game features a fun blend of twin-stick shooter and tower defense mechanics, providing an engaging gameplay experience.
The writing and voice acting, particularly for the character El Padre, are enjoyable and add a humorous touch to the game.
The game has interesting concepts and a charming aesthetic, with a unique setting that combines horror elements with campy humor.

The lack of a save function and proper checkpoints makes the game frustrating, as dying forces players to restart from the beginning.
Controls are often unresponsive and buggy, leading to a poor gameplay experience with issues like weapon switching and movement.
The game suffers from repetitive gameplay and unbalanced mechanics, with some weapons being overpowered and enemy AI lacking challenge.

gameplay
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
63%
16%
The gameplay of "One Shell Straight to Hell" combines roguelike dungeon-crawling with tower defense and twin-stick shooter mechanics, offering a mix of fun and simplicity. While the art style and humor are well-received, players note issues with repetitive and clunky mechanics, as well as environmental elements that can hinder visibility and flow. Suggestions for improvement include enhancing combat impact, refining movement speed, and adding features like weapon reloading for deeper engagement.
- “One Shell Straight to Hell lets the player experience the best of two worlds with its well-put-together roguelike dungeon-crawling gameplay mixed with base defense elements.”
- “Gameplay is simple but fun; the main character is entertaining, and it's easy to pick up and play for a little while and then dive back in.”
- “Fun twin-stick shooter with great voice acting that made me laugh quite a few times. It has nice tower defense mechanics and a dash ability to get out of sticky situations.”
- “Make no mistake, One Shell Straight to Hell frustrated me in bad ways from the get-go: from repetitive gameplay that not only felt clunky but unrefined to boot, to enemy interactions in presentation that make you wonder if your system is glitching out, or you somehow stumbled into a beta.”
- “Certain environment and presentation elements conflict with the gameplay, making it hard to see things and dragging down the overall experience.”
- “Being able to see past the doors the moment you open them, and not until you enter the room, would really speed up gameplay, as both the timer on exploring the manor and getting back to help defend your base depend upon moving through the manor quickly.”
story
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
The game's story is criticized for being unclear and disjointed, making it difficult for players to grasp the main objectives and narrative. While there are elements that provide insight into the plot, such as the Halliwell family and the demonic presence, many feel that the storytelling is poorly executed, with incomplete text and superficial dialogue that detracts from the overall experience.
- “The game presents two major tasks to puzzle together: the story of the Halliwell family and what’s going on with Hell’s Gate, while also defending the young girl against all odds.”
- “Storylines are quite handy, providing more insight into the narrative and offering something to look for while exploring.”
- “He must defeat the demonic presence and piece together the story to learn the true cause of their outbreak.”
- “Subpar story where it exists.”
- “It took me a few deaths and a couple of rage quits to figure out the main point of the game and its perma-death feature; as the game doesn’t convey your goals and missions that clearly, it took me a while to figure things out.”
- “The story pickup items commonly cut off their text before the player can read the whole thing in the English mode, so that needs to be resolved.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous glitches and bugs that detract from the overall experience. Many players find it frustrating and incomplete, leading to a lack of recommendation, especially given its price point.
- “After playing it for a while longer, the glitches mounted up.”
- “It's just too buggy and there's not enough to it for me to recommend for twenty dollars.”
- “Glitchy and buggy game, with highlights on incomplete or improper design decisions.”
graphics
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The graphics received mixed reviews, with some users criticizing the inconsistency in art style and performance issues, such as low frame rates on capable hardware. However, others appreciated the overall aesthetic and color scheme, noting that it complemented the gameplay effectively.
- “It looked good and played out very well; the art style and color scheme were just fine for the gameplay.”
- “At one point, the frame rate on my NVIDIA RTX 3060, 16GB RAM PC hit the single digits for a game that has graphics only slightly better than Minecraft.”
- “Graphics and assets are egregious - why would you voxel some parts and not all?”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The music and sound effects in the game are generally well-selected and complement the gameplay effectively, though some users feel that the soundtrack could benefit from a bit more variety or enhancement.
- “Music and sound effects: well-selected background music suits the game just fine, but could be spiced up a little.”
- “Music and sound effects: well-selected background music suits the game just fine, but could be spiced up a little.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, particularly due to the repetitive nature of the tower defense mechanics and the lack of tactical growth. The alternating phases of navigating a procedural maze and defending a fixed area contribute to a monotonous gameplay loop that can feel rushed and unengaging.
- “This in of itself isn't a problem, but once you get the tools, the tower defense element becomes vastly tedious with no growth or development in tactics.”
- “The play cycle is a little tedious, with hurriedly running a procedural maze while a clock counts down to the next invasion, alternating with a fixed area defense phase where you defend a house with five entrance points from an invasion swarm from several directions.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by the main character's comedic personality and engaging voice acting, which elicits genuine laughter from players. The lighthearted tone complements the simple yet enjoyable gameplay, making it easy to pick up and play in short bursts. Overall, the humor enhances the experience, making it appealing to both solo players and those sharing it with friends.
- “Gameplay is simple but fun; the main character is a funny guy, and it's easy to pick up and play for a little here and there and then be able to dive back in.”
- “Fun twin-stick shooter with great voice acting that actually made me laugh quite a few times. I showed the game to my friends on stream, and they seemed to like it as well. It has some nice tower defense mechanics and a dash ability to get out of sticky situations.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
While the emotional impact of the game is noted, some users feel that the environments, particularly the rooms and narrow corridors, lack polish, which may detract from the overall emotional experience.