Taken for a Quickie: Hell Let Loose

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In the return of our conversational quick look series, we check out Team 17’s Hell Let Loose.

​by James Michael Parry

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​@james_parry

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So, war is hell then?

You could definitely say that – from the word go, Hell Let Loose aims to capture the chaos of battle. It throws you knee-deep into the mud and blood without much explanation of what’s going on.

Things can get messy, huh?

Yes. For example, after getting a squad of six together – aided by crossplay functionality – we joined a match and encountered various communication issues. Different platforms could and couldn’t hear each other, not helped by the three in-game chat channels (party chat, squad chat and proximity chat) that further complicate matters. 

Even after figuring things out and aligning everyone’s settings, there was seemingly still a bit of pot luck involved. Not ideal in a hardcore simulation game.​

What are the basics?

There’s a long list of classes, though it’s best to keep things simple at first by picking a Rifleman. Clutching an M1 Garand, you might be charged with storming the beach at Normandy, or defending it, then the game plays out a lot like Battlefield’s Rush mode. It’s on a much larger scale, however, so enemy encounters can be few and far between.

​What happens when you get into a fight?

There’s a realistic slant on gunplay in that you won’t take more than a hit or two before going down. You can bandage yourself up to avoid bleeding out, or a Medic can do the job for you, but supplies are very limited. 

Working as a squad helps, since the Officer can put spawn points down in an attempt to keep everyone together. There’s also an element of wider team coordination here; Officers have access to a special command comms channel, enabling them to coordinate with other squads and even tanks.

Ooo I like tanks, can I drive one?

Vehicles are fairly hard to come by, but yes. Those different roles include a Tank Commander and Crewman, both of which must work closely together. 

In even rarer air, there’s a spot on each team for one Commander. This role directs friendly forces in a kind of a real-time strategy meta game, without ever getting stuck in on the frontline alongside everyone else.

Sounds interesting. Is it worth sinking some time into?

Because of how matches are structured, each leg of an attack has a fairly significant time limit - if the defenders almost hold out at each stage, an individual match can last well over an hour. 

Hell Let Loose is a faithful and unforgiving take on World War 2, but some players will miss the creature comforts offered by almost every other modern shooter. It definitely throws back to the heyday of the Medal of Honor series, both in the way it plays and the inevitable similarities in weapons and themes. Overall, it’s definitely worth a go – especially for PS5 owners as it’s an October 2021 PlayStation Plus title.