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Hell Let Loose – PS5
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3257 Victory Points
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Description
Fight in epic 50 vs 50 multiplayer battles.
9 maps with more added frequently – land at Omaha Beach, fight through Carentan and into the frozen forests of Foy before climbing Hill 400.
Never fight the same battle twice – 99 capture point variations per map, means thousands of potential battles.
Play and master one or many of 14 unique roles, including: Officer, Medic, Machinegunner, Commander, Crewman, Sniper and more.
Constantly updated with new maps, weapons, features and fixes.
Hell Let Loose... So, you’ve respawned with a small crew around you, armed with the trusty M1 Garand. Your squad commander has issued you the task of capturing a control point, bullets are whizzing past you and planes are flying in the distance. Bunkered down, you peek over cover but for a moment, revealing in front of you a massive field baron of cover, smoke grenades cover precious amounts of space to cover your advances.
The moment has come, as your squad waste no time and dart towards the objective, picking out enemy soldiers as they make haste towards the next cover. After nearly getting hit by a swarm of bullets, you make it to cover, feeling relieved and excited to press ahead. Suddenly, you hear the unavoidable scream of an artillery rocket plummeting down towards you. There’s absolutely nothing you or your squamates can do as the bomb hits the ground, and you see the respawn timer once more.
How this unavoidable death makes you feel will pretty much determine if you’ll find enjoyment of this game. Does it make you feel frustrated and cheated? Probably not the game for you. But, if you’re simply excited to be immersed in the frantic WW2 mayhem surrounding you, then this may be the multiplayer shooter you’ve been looking for all your life.
This Is War
Hell Let Loose is an Online Multiplayer first-person shooter set in an extremely authentic WW2 era. Up to 100 players are split into two teams, and must fight against each other to dominate the battlefield with artillery, infantry and armoured units. This is no simple team deathmatch however; the teams must utilize co-ordination and teamwork to help them fight on sprawling maps with fierce choke points and risky open fields.
When you open the game for the first time, you are informed that a microphone is strongly recommended to play Hell Let Loose, and I couldn’t agree more. This game goes far and above the “ping” system that has emerged from some team shooters, and your team will definitely benefit from you having a mic to play this game. Not only that, but it also adds to the fun of the core gameplay. You’ll be a rookie at first, and may even stay quiet in the first few hours. But eventually, you’ll start calling out enemy locations to your squad, and further still, recommending actions and tactics to help your squad contribute to your whole team. This game doesn’t just level up your avatar, you’ll also be improving and learning as you play more and more matches.
No 1 In Team
Teams are split up between squads, and each serve a different but crucial purpose. First up, we have the recon squad, who serve as the snipers creeping round and finding enemy hot points and potential flanking areas. Only two people in the entire match will wield snipers, which are incredibly useful on the realistic maps covered in open fields. The limit of snipers is a very welcome thought, as getting sniped over and over is not a fun prospect in any shooter.
Next, the armour squads, who are in charge of controlling the tanks and other offensive vehicles. Tanks are genuinely terrifying to go up against, especially when its controlled by a strong co-ordinated team. Finally, we have the infantry squads, which are groups of your normal foot soldier classes that we’re all used to.
For the most part, and especially in your first 10-15 hours of playing, you’ll stick to the infantry squads. Squads are formed of a maximum of 6 players, and within this squad there’s a variety of roles you can undertake. The very basic class is the Rifleman. You’re armed with a semi automatic and a few other supplies (grenades, bandages etc) and your job is to simply respond to your squad leaders’ orders. This is a great starting point for newcomers, as a good squad leader will be able to guide you to your objectives on a huge threatening map.
After that, it becomes a case of shooting any enemies you see. Shooting in this game feels very authentic. Guns are punchy with hefty recoil and reload times, meaning every shot had to be carefully taken, as you risk being exposed as you pull the bolt back on your Kar98. Most classic include semi auto and bolt action rifles, with just a few full auto machine guns.
Once you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll naturally want to move on to more involved roles. There’s a decent choice here, and for the most part each are different enough to keep things varied. Medic class arms you with morphine as you race around reviving your team mates, whilst the machine gun class gives you a huge machine gun that’s only useable when set up on a bipod. Each class offers you a new challenge, and you can’t help but yearn to perfect every single one. There’s no doubt you’ll be lost for a while, but if you stick with it, you’ll be mowing down hordes of enemies in your well-placed flanking position.
Resource For Victory
Now we move into some of the more advanced roles, which you most definitely shouldn’t touch until you have a good understanding of the game, and are comfortable talking to others via the mic.
The squad leader, the middle man between the commander and your squad, is extremely important to the success of a Hell Let Loose match. Leaders have access to a separate voice chat that includes the commander and other squad leaders. You’ll be using this new channel to ask for resources or supplies, co-ordinating with other leaders, or passing on information to your squad. In fact, this chat channel is truly where the battles are won or lost.
Believe me when I say, this is a demanding role, and even the veterans of shooter games may feel overwhelmed with the tactics being thrown around. It’s quite a fantastic feeling honestly, the feeling of being out of your depth is something that I’ve not felt all that much in recent multiplayer games, it was weirdly nice to feel like a beginner once again.
And finally, the pinnacle of the team, the commander. The most important role of the team who will be directing each squad and spending resources to help win the match. The commander has access to a pool of tools, from the small box of supplies to the chaotic and game changing missile barrage.
As squads utilize mechanics and engineers as much as possible, they’ll be able to contribute more resources for the commander. More resources mean more tanks, airstrikes and artillery ammunition. It’s a small system that influences the game massively, and adds another branch to this truly deep online shooter.
A Mountain Of Things To Learn
I’ve gone through as much as I can in this review, and yet there’s so much I have missed out. Truth is, this game has a steep learning curve, and it goes far beyond being good at shooting enemy players. Tactics and team play are far more powerful than a player’s shooting skills. Sometimes you’ll just be sat on a point defending for over ten minutes, keeping your eyes on an empty walkway waiting for any potential attackers, just in case they sneak up on you. It can be slow and dull, but positioning and covering entrances are more impactful than running around hoping to spot swarms of enemies to kill. If you want to flex your crazy kill streak, this isn’t the game for you.
It can also be frustrating when you find yourself stuck in a death loop. I’ll be clear right now, you will die, A LOT! Whether its from a stray bullet from a bush yards away or an unavoidable bombing run, it will happen over and over again no matter how good you are. Be prepared to wait sometimes up to a minute to re-join, as spawn timers are fairly unforgiving. Obviously, the timers help with balancing and affect the outcome of the game, but it doesn’t stop you being frustrated when all you want to do is get back in the game.
In contrast to the spawning menu, the game itself is staggeringly beautiful, in an authentic WW2 way. It’s not due to the visuals either, which, although are amazing in their own right, don’t blow me away. The star of the show is the audio. Do yourself a favour and get a good set of headphones, because the sound design of Hell Let Loose is surreal. Everything from the echo of an MG in the distance, to the whistle of a missile heading for the ground is accounted for. The atmosphere is stunning, there’s truly nothing out there that comes close to it. The sound design mixes so well with the HUD-less visuals, it really makes you feel like you’re part of a world war.
Power To The People
Finally, we hit the potential worst part of the game. Everything I’ve mentioned on teamplay and co-ordination relies on who you are playing with. Hell Let Loose is a very popular game, so don’t worry about not being able to find full servers, but there’s a good chance that you’ll be joining matches where only a few people (or worse, none at all) are using microphones or giving orders.
It’s a shame that such well-crafted tools that work so well together can be easily ruined by simply not having enough players getting involved with the talking/teamwork aspect. At least half of my matches (which most are played for a maximum of one hour) I’ve experienced dead chats and no teamwork. It truly does hamper the experience, and keeps you from getting too excited when playing.
Final Thoughts
Hell Let Loose is a difficult game to score, because when everything is working as intended, it’s the best online shooter I’ve ever played hands down. I’ve had one or two matches that have been simply incredible. It’s not unnatural to suggest that there’s a hint of role playing in this game too, being a medic and hearing the screams of your team through their mics cements this fact.
The handful of players that get into character when playing are the ones that will keep this game going for years to come. I do hope that more and more players start to understand the role-playing element, and grow to become more comfortable using their mics with other players. Until that time however, Hell Let Loose will be an amazing authentic WW2 shooter – Only if the other 99 players in the match help make it so.
Ready to jump into Hell Let Loose? Welcome to bootcamp!
Everyone has those comfort games that they just keep coming back to. Maybe it’s your go to game when a couple of friends are online, or a personal favourite that you just love to revisit and unwind with. For me, over the past 2 years it has been Black Matter’s (and now Team 17’s) multiplayer WW2 shooter Hell Let Loose. Hundreds of hours spent leading squads through muddy trenches, ruined factories and scorching deserts have finally brought me here to teach YOU how to climb up this game’s steep learning curve and make yourself an asset to any team. The game was recently updated with a new map along with being added to Games Pass Ultimate meaning it’s a great time to jump in with all the other new recruits, so listen up private!
Communicate
First of all I strongly recommend you grab a headset to go with this game because no matter how many guides you read, communication is likely to be the number one thing that pops up throughout. Hell Let Loose is not won by the team with the best individual shooters, it’s won by the team that can work together the best. Half the battle as a new player is just knowing where the enemy is and a good trigger finger is not going to help you identify the rifleman lying prone in a bush across the other side of the field, but the eyes of your teammates might. As a squad member you can only talk to those in your proximity and the other 5 members of your squad. Your squad leader can then relay that information to all the other squad leaders and the commander to get a steady flow of key intel around the team.
Spotted an enemy tank?Report it so your armour knows where to aim. Seeing a concentration of enemies?
The soldiers manning the artillery would love to hear about it. Shots coming from behind you?
Make sure your fellow soldiers are aware to avoid being flanked.
Get talking, sharing information, asking questions and you’ll get that squad camaraderie feeling in no time. Don’t be afraid to move squads until you find one that communicates well, it truly elevates the game.
There is no “I” in Team
If you have been playing shooters to try to climb the scoreboard and hit the best k/d ratio, then you need to unlearn these habits real quick jumping into matches of Hell Let Loose. Your kills are not even visible on the scoreboard to other people, just a rough offensive score that makes up a small percentage of your overall points for a match.
You win or lose this game as a team so don’t be afraid to adapt to what the team needs, listen to your squad leader and switch class if needed (more on that below). Be aware how your actions impact others. If you are sneaking up on a point and the enemy isn’t aware yet then don’t start taking potshots and giving away the whole squad’s position, return fire only. The aim is to take the point, not increase your kill count. Be prepared to redeploy from an attack to help defend if the enemy is taking your point as losing it will immediately block you from capping the enemy teams’. Try and flank enemy squads, not to get kills, but to find where they are spawning from and destroy it. These are the actions that impact the match far more than any individual kill and the feeling of securing an objective for your team is great.
Angles, People, Angles
If you jumped into the game without any guides you are probably already sick of that “ding” sound and instant black screen signifying an enemy bullet found its way directly to your cranium. The number one cause of which is sticking your head out where it doesn’t belong. Always be looking for ways to minimise your profile against cover, aim for where the enemy is moving to rather than where they are currently so they run into your sights. Most shots are lethal in this game so the less of your body showing, the better.
In the example above, initially looking out over the path seems to give you the best view of any incoming enemies, however the house ruin acts as a giant “enemies probably here” marker for the other team and they have a whole lot more space to hide in than you. Hiding behind the lower point of the wall at least covers more of your body but anyone approaching still has a clear view (and more importantly shot) of your freshly issued helmet. Instead look to creep round the side wall so you can scan the area a little at a time while only exposing your shoulder.
Know Your Role
If you are new and especially if you are not using a headset, I strongly recommend you avoid leadership roles, below we’ll talk through the roles you SHOULD look to dive into as a new player.
Rifleman, Automatic Rifleman, Assault: These are your basic soldier classes, hold objectives, push points, shoot at enemies. The assault class does come with smoke grenades which can provide the vital cover needed to push across an open zone but broadly, no special knowledge needed here and they are great classes to play while you learn the game’s mechanics.
Medic: Everybody’s best friend, you come with a lower amount of clips for your rifle however have the ability to revive your teammates (at least those who haven’t been shot in the head or turned into giblets). Allies can see how close you are as a medic when they go down, so if you plan to revive someone make sure to let them know to wait, otherwise they may opt to give up and take the normal respawn. Give them both their morphine shot to revive them as well as bandaging their wounds to prevent further bleedout. As a medic you are able to bandage faster than any other class and come with smoke grenades to cover downed allies so be a Good Samaritan and help your teammates out!
Support: You get one box of supplies every 5 minutes… Doesn’t sound like much does it but I cannot overstate how important those little boxes are. They can be used to build resource generating nodes, fortifications to help bulk up a point or most importantly a garrison which acts as a spawn point for the whole team. Games are won and lost off the back of spawn points and the support is vital in quickly getting them to needed points. There is no penalty for swapping class so if in need, hop to support, throw your supplies down and go back to what you were doing. Your squad lead (and team) will love you for it.
This is what a garrison (team wide spawn) looks like. Making sure the enemy does not reach these is often a top priority. Even enemies being too close will stop it working.
Engineer: The support has just thrown down supplies? You are the one (along with squad leads) who can turn it into something useful. Resource nodes are top priority as they allow your commander to use more abilities however you can also build barricades and bunkers to fortify choke points. Use the wrench to put down some blueprints and hammer away to build them. Need more supplies? Get a request up to the commander who can give you a supply drop or truck. The class also spawns in with both AP and AT mines and you will get points for throwing them down even without some poor sap stepping on them, so don’t be afraid to plant them on key pathways and roads. The enemy will have to slow down their push to avoid a well hidden bomb sending them back to spawn.
Machine Gunner: Fire support and suppression. Running and gunning with an MG in Hell Let Loose is intentionally slow and unwieldy because instead your job is to find a spot and be an absolute menace to infantry within your vision. With your bipod deployed your burst accuracy is high even at long range. Enemy infantry anywhere near your stream of fire will have their vision blurred and accuracy reduced so don’t be afraid to let loose at a manned enemy trench just to pin them down and allow your team to push in. You also have the ability to destroy enemy trucks with sustained fire, watch for the ones with canvas backs which hold supplies and are especially worthwhile targets. Just be aware that you are not exactly stealthy and you will be a priority target for enemy sharpshooters so move position every now and then.
Anti Tank: No prizes for guessing your job here, but what I need to stress is the dedication required from a good AT soldier. I don’t care if that tank is 200m away through a crater ridden field, Your job is to crawl over and disable that armour! I want their tank commanders to be scared that every unchecked bush has you waiting for them to roll by so you can punch a rocket through that weak rear plating. The bigger and scarier the tank looks, the more likely that it needs to be hit in the side or back to do any notable damage. You only have two shots each life and your rockets have quite a downward arc, so aim high if firing over distance! Rockets are not particularly useful at flushing out infantry but can be used to destroy enemy spawn points in a pinch.
If you don’t have an anti tank rocket or satchel charge you better lay down in a bush and hope the tank doesn’t notice you.
Tank Crewman: Maybe being infantry isn’t for you. Can’t say I blame you for wanting to put 5 inches of armour plate between you and the enemy fire. Unlike the other classes this crewman does not find his home in a standard squad, instead he will be in a three man vehicle crew controlling the team’s heavy firepower. In many other games one person can utilise all functions of an armoured vehicle while with Hell Let Loose each offensive vehicle has individual seats for a driver, gunner and spotter. Gunner is the most friendly role for a new player and will see you commanding the tanks main gun and coaxial machine gun. You will need to juggle ammo types between armour piercing (for tanks) and high explosive (for infantry) for maximum effect. If in doubt, keep the AP loaded as enemy tanks are your main threat. Just remember to listen to the tank commander so you know where to aim and manually reload after every shot, as it is not automatic.
Have Fun
The Hell Let Loose community on the whole is great and will try and immerse you into the experience but it can be frustrating to die repeatedly while you are learning the ropes. Take breaks and have a laugh with your squad mates because if you can push through and get involved with this game, I promise you will leave with stories you will remember for the rest of your gaming career.
See you on the battlefield soldier!
Zatu Score
You might like
- Sublime 1st person shooting
- Deep, match winning tactical play
- A variety of roles to master
Might not like
- Long respawn timers
- Enjoyment dependant on other players
- Steep learning curve