Hell Let Loose

I've been compelled to write this review because I'm tired of seeing all these jaded vets rage on and on about how the game is dying despite being part of the problem themselves. There will be a TLDR, otherwise here we go.
This game is a good game. Is it a great game? No. Is it a bad game? No. It is a solid good title if you are looking for a game that is not a twitch, run and gun shooter, but also don't really have the patience to learn to play something like ARMA III. This game is all about team play and communication. If you can't do either of these things this game is not for you. Having a mic is pretty much required if you want to play in anything other than a regular infantry squad, and even then you are putting your team at a severe disadvantage by not having one. The game is strongly in favor of being historically accurate (with some minor tweaks for gameplay reasons), so much so that the maps you play on are straight up recreations of the real life locations from back during the years of World War II. The various fronts, uniforms, and sounds this game uses to create its atmosphere is awesome. When you're in the shit with your face in the dirt you honestly get scared from how intense it all can be. Players will even do some light hearted roleplay over proximity when they're calling for a medic which can get pretty funny.
This game is slow and the gameplay reflects this. The fact that the two game modes (Warfare and Offensive) can last for a whole 1 hour 30 minutes or 2 hours respectively frequently speaks to this. You will be running for minutes on end a lot. You will be dying a lot. Respawn waves often take 20+ seconds depending on where you spawn. Capturing points takes 2 minutes and the enemy can stop you very easily. There will be many times where you will be shot, burned, blown up, or knifed and you will never see your attacker. There will be times where you will never know where the enemy is coming from. There will be times where you will go half an hour without a single kill, or maybe even a whole game. There will be times when you push the enemy back to their last point only for everything to fall apart on that final push and suddenly you are the one on your last point.
Then there will be times where you kill 20 people all by yourself. There will be times you singlehandedly turn the tide of a match with one spawn point, one kill, one explosion. There will be times where you work with your squad to accomplish an objective that allows another squad to accomplish theirs which allows the commander to do his thing to clinch you the game. There will be times where you fight for every bloody inch of a point for 30 minutes and then finally come out on top. There will be times where you fight over the midpoint the whole game and it comes down to the literal second on the timer, and then everyone cheers when you successfully cap. There will be times when you lose, but you won't care because the enemy played so well and your team matched them blow for blow that it felt like you didn't lose anything at all. There will be times when you fight an epic last stand and you just manage to beat the clock that it makes you feel like you really are fighting a war.
Hell Let Loose is not without its issues. Medics are alright, but they could be better, the artillery system needs changes in how it affects gameplay (although personally that issue is way down on the list), the British faction is kind of a mess, there are some bugs still stubbornly around, the flamethrower is underpowered, and collision (especially driving) on certain objects is really annoying. But you often forget about a lot of this when your charging towards the point and people are blowing up around you and machine guns are laying down suppressive fire and you finally reach the trenches and sweep through them killing everyone in your path. Those cinematic moments straight out of Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan is what you play for.
Sometimes you will hate this game and wonder why you wasted your time on such a hopeless match with such idiotic teammates. Other times you will love it and wish you could play with the guys you met in that game forever. The lows can be really low, but the highs can be really high.
There are those that say this game is going down the drain and this is not a true. Some of this game's veteran community has become extremely jaded over the past year and a half or so for a variety of reasons. Some of them are warranted and some of them aren't. When I first got this game back in December of 2021 the community was awesome. Never met such nice and patient people so consistently in a game about brutally murdering each other during the worst war of human history. This community is no longer that most of the time. It is full of veterans who are no longer understanding of new players. It is full of servers run by admins who think they are always right, who can't be challenged at all lest their fragile egos crack. Bickering is frequent, arguments and name calling are plenty, roaming bands of clan tags will constantly complain and heckle in chat, and most people don't want to lead teams because they don't want command screaming in their ear constantly the whole game.
Not all veterans are like this, but most of the whining does not come from the new players because these vets constantly scare them off with their horrid attitudes and elitism. It's like watching a CoD lobby unfold over the course of an hour and a half. There are those who still try to make the game as enjoyable as possible (shout out to McBluffin and his crew, go check them out and join their discord awesome people), but they are unfortunately the minority of interactions I see nowadays. I will never forget teaching a new player how to tank and him telling me at the end of the match "Hey, thanks for teaching me. I was gonna drop this game because of the previous crew I was working with, but you guys made me change my mind."
To all the new players or prospective buyers there are kind veterans out there, so stick it out. It is worth it, trust me. Once you find the right group this game is like magic (and drugs), you will never want to stop playing. This game is worth your money. The Team17 take over has been bumpy regarding the release of U14 and the "trailer", but this game is far from dead. Most of the bugs seen nowadays are legacy bugs from when Black Matter was still developing (something the vets will neglect to tell you due to their hate boners) and Team17 is currently ironing them out. They've already tackled/fixed quite a few and I am hopeful that they will figure the rest out soon. This game is in no worse a state than it was a year and a half ago, and is no worse off than when Black Matter was developing. So please, give this game a try. It will surprise you. I know it surprised me.
TLDR: This game is solid. It's got problems concerning various longstanding bugs and certain systems need attention, but they are being worked on. Its got great atmosphere and some real cinematic moments. Its had some bumpy trials since Team17 took over, but they have smoothed them out for the most part. Some of the veteran community could use a real attitude adjustment, but not everyone is crotchety. Its not great, its not terrible, but it is good and worth your time. Give this game a try, hop on with some buddies or find some of your own in-game and go win the war. 7/10

Steam User 1438

Reviewed last year

My Grandpa fought in the Battle of the Bulge and lived to be in his 90's... I died 17 times attempting to leave spawn. Truly the greatest generation.
Steam User 3325

Reviewed last year

>Join a German match because it had the lowest ping
>Join a squad
>Everyone is speaking German
>They ask me a question
>"ja"
>They buy it
>I probably did something wrong at some point as they start yelling at me
>My limited German recognises some words
>I managed to make out some "Gott verdammt" and "Scheisse" in between the yelling
>They kick me from the squad
>Join another one
>This time they seem more chill
>The squad's medic comes close to me and whispers
>"I don't know German either"
>We stay close together for the rest of the match
>I'll never forget that guy
Steam User 700

Reviewed last year

I watched my friends legs get blown off right in front of me right after he told me artillery cant hurt you if you don't believe it can.
10/10 would get PTSD again
Steam User 2049

Reviewed last year

>Join a German match because it had the lowest ping
>Join a squad
>Everyone is speaking German
>They ask me a question
>"ja"
>They buy it
>I probably did something wrong at some point as they start yelling at me
>My limited German recognises some words
>I managed to make out some "Gott verdammt" and "Scheisse" in between the yelling
>They kick me from the squad
>Join another one
>This time they seem more chill
>The squad's medic comes close to me and whispers
>"I don't know German either"
>We stay close together for the rest of the match
>I'll never forget that guy
Steam User 223

Reviewed last year

DO NOT LET GO WHEN THE MEDIC IS 5 METERS FROM YOU
Steam User 302

Reviewed last year

I've been compelled to write this review because I'm tired of seeing all these jaded vets rage on and on about how the game is dying despite being part of the problem themselves. There will be a TLDR, otherwise here we go.
This game is a good game. Is it a great game? No. Is it a bad game? No. It is a solid good title if you are looking for a game that is not a twitch, run and gun shooter, but also don't really have the patience to learn to play something like ARMA III. This game is all about team play and communication. If you can't do either of these things this game is not for you. Having a mic is pretty much required if you want to play in anything other than a regular infantry squad, and even then you are putting your team at a severe disadvantage by not having one. The game is strongly in favor of being historically accurate (with some minor tweaks for gameplay reasons), so much so that the maps you play on are straight up recreations of the real life locations from back during the years of World War II. The various fronts, uniforms, and sounds this game uses to create its atmosphere is awesome. When you're in the shit with your face in the dirt you honestly get scared from how intense it all can be. Players will even do some light hearted roleplay over proximity when they're calling for a medic which can get pretty funny.
This game is slow and the gameplay reflects this. The fact that the two game modes (Warfare and Offensive) can last for a whole 1 hour 30 minutes or 2 hours respectively frequently speaks to this. You will be running for minutes on end a lot. You will be dying a lot. Respawn waves often take 20+ seconds depending on where you spawn. Capturing points takes 2 minutes and the enemy can stop you very easily. There will be many times where you will be shot, burned, blown up, or knifed and you will never see your attacker. There will be times where you will never know where the enemy is coming from. There will be times where you will go half an hour without a single kill, or maybe even a whole game. There will be times when you push the enemy back to their last point only for everything to fall apart on that final push and suddenly you are the one on your last point.
Then there will be times where you kill 20 people all by yourself. There will be times you singlehandedly turn the tide of a match with one spawn point, one kill, one explosion. There will be times where you work with your squad to accomplish an objective that allows another squad to accomplish theirs which allows the commander to do his thing to clinch you the game. There will be times where you fight for every bloody inch of a point for 30 minutes and then finally come out on top. There will be times where you fight over the midpoint the whole game and it comes down to the literal second on the timer, and then everyone cheers when you successfully cap. There will be times when you lose, but you won't care because the enemy played so well and your team matched them blow for blow that it felt like you didn't lose anything at all. There will be times when you fight an epic last stand and you just manage to beat the clock that it makes you feel like you really are fighting a war.
Hell Let Loose is not without its issues. Medics are alright, but they could be better, the artillery system needs changes in how it affects gameplay (although personally that issue is way down on the list), the British faction is kind of a mess, there are some bugs still stubbornly around, the flamethrower is underpowered, and collision (especially driving) on certain objects is really annoying. But you often forget about a lot of this when your charging towards the point and people are blowing up around you and machine guns are laying down suppressive fire and you finally reach the trenches and sweep through them killing everyone in your path. Those cinematic moments straight out of Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan is what you play for.
Sometimes you will hate this game and wonder why you wasted your time on such a hopeless match with such idiotic teammates. Other times you will love it and wish you could play with the guys you met in that game forever. The lows can be really low, but the highs can be really high.
There are those that say this game is going down the drain and this is not a true. Some of this game's veteran community has become extremely jaded over the past year and a half or so for a variety of reasons. Some of them are warranted and some of them aren't. When I first got this game back in December of 2021 the community was awesome. Never met such nice and patient people so consistently in a game about brutally murdering each other during the worst war of human history. This community is no longer that most of the time. It is full of veterans who are no longer understanding of new players. It is full of servers run by admins who think they are always right, who can't be challenged at all lest their fragile egos crack. Bickering is frequent, arguments and name calling are plenty, roaming bands of clan tags will constantly complain and heckle in chat, and most people don't want to lead teams because they don't want command screaming in their ear constantly the whole game.
Not all veterans are like this, but most of the whining does not come from the new players because these vets constantly scare them off with their horrid attitudes and elitism. It's like watching a CoD lobby unfold over the course of an hour and a half. There are those who still try to make the game as enjoyable as possible (shout out to McBluffin and his crew, go check them out and join their discord awesome people), but they are unfortunately the minority of interactions I see nowadays. I will never forget teaching a new player how to tank and him telling me at the end of the match "Hey, thanks for teaching me. I was gonna drop this game because of the previous crew I was working with, but you guys made me change my mind."
To all the new players or prospective buyers there are kind veterans out there, so stick it out. It is worth it, trust me. Once you find the right group this game is like magic (and drugs), you will never want to stop playing. This game is worth your money. The Team17 take over has been bumpy regarding the release of U14 and the "trailer", but this game is far from dead. Most of the bugs seen nowadays are legacy bugs from when Black Matter was still developing (something the vets will neglect to tell you due to their hate boners) and Team17 is currently ironing them out. They've already tackled/fixed quite a few and I am hopeful that they will figure the rest out soon. This game is in no worse a state than it was a year and a half ago, and is no worse off than when Black Matter was developing. So please, give this game a try. It will surprise you. I know it surprised me.
TLDR: This game is solid. It's got problems concerning various longstanding bugs and certain systems need attention, but they are being worked on. Its got great atmosphere and some real cinematic moments. Its had some bumpy trials since Team17 took over, but they have smoothed them out for the most part. Some of the veteran community could use a real attitude adjustment, but not everyone is crotchety. Its not great, its not terrible, but it is good and worth your time. Give this game a try, hop on with some buddies or find some of your own in-game and go win the war. 7/10
Steam User 265

Reviewed 04.2023

Didn't see enemy. Got shot. Came back same place. Got shot again. 10/10

Hell Let Loose

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