Hellgate: London (Windows)

From the savvy team that created the mega-popular Diablo franchise comes this four-years-in-the-making thriller. Played from an immersive first-person perspective, HELLGATE: LONDON is an action-heavy role-playing shooter game that challenges players to save Britain's capital city from demonic attacks in the year 2038. A "hellgate" has opened up, a kind of inter-dimensional portal responsible for letting in all kinds of creatures, and so it's up to you to seal it back up -- only after you've cleaned up the mess of creatures wreaking all kinds of havoc in (and under) the city.

This post-apocalyptic shooter has a lot of replayability because you can select from one of six distinct character classes, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Also it features dynamically generated levels and randomly created items, meaning no two environments play out the exact same way twice. In fact, even the story-driven side-missions will vary depending on the player. And as with many role-playing games, you'll be upgrading your strength and abilities, buying and selling items, and accepting quests from characters you'll run into. Along with the lengthy single-play campaign are a handful of hell-raising cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes playable online with other likeminded PC gamers.

Because of its intense fantasy combat, attractive graphics, and interesting locations (including hell itself, if you make it that far), Hellgate: London is an exciting and addictive game. Plus, the randomness of the game world, multiple character classes, plenty of collective goodies, and free online modes also make this action RPG hybrid a serious value proposition.

Available on: Windows
Available online
Genre: Role Playing
Developer: Electronic Arts
Released on: October 31, 2007
Price: 49.99
ESRB Rating: M for Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Violence