Requiem of Hell

With Diablo clones saturating the market on nearly every platform, it was only a matter of time before one finally ended up on Nokia’s N-Gage platform.  Requiem of Hell represents Nokia’s effort, and for the most part it is a pretty solid one, certainly one of the better games on the N-Gage.  While the game does have a few apparent problems, it is still a very solid hack n’ slash RPG.

In Requiem of Hell, you begin by choosing between two heroes, either Troy or Linda, both of whom have been murdered by a band of evil marauders.  A fairy named Gigi comes along and brings you back to life, charging you with the task of defeating the evil King Dalu, who is unleashing a fury across the world.  Your newfound mission has you hacking your way through hordes of monsters throughout the land completing quests and gaining experience.

While the game’s Diablo influences are very apparent, the combat system is a bit more action oriented.  The gameplay occurs from the same kind of top-down isometric view as Diablo, with which you can speak to villagers and fight enemies.  You can perform multi-hit combos with your weapons, gaining experience for kills.  While the game is technically an RPG given that your character can level up, it really feels like more of an action game than anything else.

The action elements in Requiem of Hell are pretty solid, although the gameplay does feel a little disjointed given the jerkiness of the graphics.  There are often a lot of things going on at once, with many enemies attacking your character at a time, and it can be quite easy to lose track of what is going on.  While the graphics are very good looking, featuring detailed sprites and backgrounds, but the jerkiness of the animation can make this a bit difficult and frustrating.

The text translations are also pretty poor. The game features a lot of dialog between the two main characters, the protagonist and Gigi, but this feels very cheesy and poorly interpreted.

The sound presentation is still pretty good, even though the text translation leaves a bit to be desired.  The music is well rendered, although it does grow a bit redundant after a while.  The sound effects also get by without sounding too compressed.

All things considered, Requiem of Hell is a good action-heavy RPG.  The game features a very nice presentation and some good story elements. It also has some problems, like jerky gameplay and lousy text translations.  However, these problems can be overlooked, as Requiem of Hell does more things right than it does wrong.

Gameplay: 8.0
Requiem of Hell’s gameplay is very overtly inspired by Diablo and other action RPGs of that nature, although the game does have a bit more of focus on action elements.  Your character can perform a variety of different combos in order to dispatch foes, gaining experience points and leveling up along the way.  The gameplay is affected a little bit by the jerky graphics, making it a little tough to play when many enemies are attacking you.

Graphics: 7.5
Requiem of Hell has some nicely detailed sprites and environments.  However, the animation is kind of jerky, to the point of being detrimental to the overall gameplay.

Sound: 8.0
The music is pretty good, although the tunes can grow repetitive before too long.  The sound is also good, not sounding too tinny or compressed.

Difficulty: Medium
 

Concept: 7.5 
Requiem of Hell has a pretty intriguing storyline, involving your character’s past and current quest.  The game also has some funny banter between your character and Gigi, your fairy assistant.  However, the text translations can often feel a little bit cheesy.

Multiplayer: 8.0
Requiem of Hell features two-player co-op that lets you and a buddy play through the main game campaign.

Overall: 8.0

Aside from a few issues with disjointed graphics and lousy translations, Requiem of Hell is a pretty fun (albeit derivative) hack n’ slash action RPG.  Fans of the genre with an N-Gage would do well to check it out.