Hell is Us

The demo won me over, but the final release helped solidify my feelings. The fact there is a comic book prequel and it has a kick ass score, makes Hell is Us one of my favorite games of 2025 and one of the best of the last 10 years for me in the genre.

Hell Is Us arrived with a similar surprise effect as the excellent Clair Obscur. It proves to be a unique game that depicts, without filtering, the atrocities of civil war and the reasoning that leads to such horror. Its world-building is of the highest quality, enhanced by an oblique atmosphere and the striking design of Hadea’s war-torn landscapes. Top marks also go to the complete absence of hand-holding, as the game trusts players to pay attention to details, notes, and clues to navigate its world and uncover its clever secrets.

Hell Is Us succeeds in a fantastic throwback premise; to do away with modern quest markers and maps and just exist in the game and find your own way. Yet you are never lost, because its world breathes and lives and guides in far subtler, deeper ways. An incredible modern classic of both mystery and narrative structure that I hope inspires a whole new generation of game developers.

A bold and uncompromising action-adventure that strips away modern hand-holding like maps and quest markers, forcing players to rely on pure instinct and observation. Hell is Us masterfully blends the grim reality of a 90s-inspired civil war with surreal, 'New Weird' horror, creating a deeply immersive and rewarding experience for those willing to embrace its demanding, yet brilliant, design philosophy.

Hell Is Us is a game about the depravity of humanity and the consequences of our actions. Almost everything about Hell Is Us is crafted to perfection, from its incredible environmental storytelling to its characters and world. Though some may find it difficult to progress due to a lack of direction, its exploration becomes a key to its success. Its combat is fun with plenty of mechanics to mess around with, but it could have done with a little more enemy variety.

With an incredibly dense lore and labyrinthine level design, Hell Is Us is a captivating experience. The game takes its solid (but tough) combat and chin-scratching puzzles and elevates them with a century spanning mystery that goes deeper and deeper. Its hands off approach means there is a huge emphasis on the world, and thankfully Rogue Factor does not disappoint. It’s not going to be for everyone, but for those that love a good lore-filled mystery, this is a PS5 must-play.

Hell is Us is a game that stands out for its boldness in making you think. It breaks from the norm and manages to captivate you in a way that perhaps other similar titles in the genre couldn't. With a well-told narrative and top-notch exploration, the title is worth every second of your attention.

With its combination of Souls-like combat, unguided exploration, Resident Evil-esque puzzles, and Zelda-esque dungeon crawling, Hell is Us is one of the most gritty, challenging, and surprising experiences of the year.

Hell is Us is a narrative-driven action-adventure game that focuses on exploration and investigation rather than guiding the player directly. Set in a war-torn land shaped by human cruelty, it offers a deep and symbolic journey filled with secrets and environmental storytelling. Strong art direction and a haunting soundtrack enhance the atmosphere. While combat is straightforward and bugs are present, the experience stands out for its originality and immersive world-building.

Hell is Us delivers a distinctly unique experience through its approach to story and exploration, which does not guide the player at all and instead relies entirely on their intelligence and creativity to progress through the protagonist's odyssey. Its combat offers complexity, challenge, and enjoyment, enhanced by experimentation with various weapons. Only its suboptimal performance with extensive pop in, texture issues, and frame drops prevents it from reaching greatness.

While we don't envy it going up against Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hell Is Us is one of the best games we've played this year.

Hell is Us is an impressive milestone for a small team of developers, with the player-plattering design resulting in a strong vision. Whilst simple combat and mechanically shallow traversal hold the title back, there’s an undeniable clarity of vision that creates an overall cohesive package. Each of the game’s many elements feeds into one another to elevate the true star of Hell is Us, Hadea. The way themes are handled with such care should also be applauded. Few places in all of video games feel so present and fully realised, especially in a debut entry. So despite Hadea’s ongoing problems, I would highly recommend you consider crossing the border and staying a while.

Hell is Us was a pleasant surprise, featuring a great story and robust gameplay. Despite low enemy variety and challenging puzzles for casual players, its positive aspects stand out. Rogue Factor outdid itself with this project, and I look forward to the studio's next games.

Hell Is Us is a rare gem that we don’t normally see in the gaming industry. It’s more than a game that simply “doesn’t have waypoints or quest markers.” Instead, it’s an engaging experience that truly trusts the player’s intelligence, curiosity, and active listening skills. Figuring out how to progress the main story or its side quests through pure investigative work is immensely satisfying and constantly rewarding, to the point that I couldn’t put the controller down. It feels as if Rogue Factor has created its own genre in a way, similar to how FromSoftware spawned Soulslikes. The game’s only true disappointment is the lack of enemy variety and minimal bosses, which can result in the combat growing stale pretty quickly.

Hell is Us isn't a one-size-fits-all game, and that's precisely what makes it so powerful. Rogue Factor clearly poured a lot of love into its production. The game relies on you to take the time to explore, solve puzzles, and find your way, sometimes leading you to get lost in the beautiful environments, each with its own unique story. The combination of mystery and unknowing, the unique environments, an interesting combat system, and the immersive audiovisual experience give the game its unique character. While a bit more variety in weapons and enemies wouldn't have hurt, these elements more than compensate. Combined with a relatively reasonable price tag, Hell is Us delivers an unforgettable experience that's both challenging and memorable, provided the game's premise appeals to you. A clear recommendation.

Hell is Us feels like a modernized spin on the classic action/adventure game that, as a third-person game, feels obligated to include combat. The game’s investigation elements are much more fleshed out in comparison to the action, which is, at least, passable enough to endure while I enjoy the main treat of running around and solving puzzles. I’ll be deciphering the game’s remaining riddles well after I rolled credits, and I can’t wait to see what revelations await. Hell is Us isn’t perfect, but it’s a bold and respectable debut that largely delivers on its promise, laying a strong foundation for future stories in its fascinating world.

If you’re looking for a new type of action rpg that has a good mix of many other games, Hell Is Us is a good choice to try out. The game has a lot to explore and it’s not just about combat. It has much exploring, puzzle solving and character interaction throughout its gameplay. Fans of Dark Souls that want a “Dark Souls” type of challenge, should look elsewhere, because this game only has the core mechanics of Dark Souls and it basically ends there. Hell is Us has a very fresh feel to it overall and I highly recommend it to players that want a dark story mixed with various RPG elements taken from different games.

Hell is Us may not have been made with a substantial budget but by choosing a path less travelled with its unusual design, it feels more rewarding to a jaded player sick of being led by the nose in many in a blockbuster rival.

Despite the limited bestiary, difficulties in exploring the world, and not the most engaging plot, Hell is Us is impossible to put down.

Hell Is Us has a unique tone and setting that complements a deep combat system and exploration puzzle elements, but its complex layout and crisscrossing sidequests may have you begging for a map that the game proudly withholds.

With a haunting atmosphere, clever exploration design, and strong visual personality, Hell is Us delivers a rewarding sense of discovery, though its shallow combat, repetitive enemies, and underwhelming story keep it from fully realizing its potential.

Hell is Us is an amazing experience thanks to its story and narration. Unfortunately, it loses steam over time due to an underutilized combat system. With a little more variety, it would undoubtedly have been a clear contender for game of the year. Rarely do we see worlds as interesting as Hadea, capable of arousing many mixed feelings while making us reflect on our own emotions.

Hell Is Us is a brave gaming experience that chooses to speak through silence, symbols and pain rather than dialogues or conventions. It’s not a game for everyone, but it’s a title that dares to be different, and in a landscape saturated with repetitive formulas, this is already a victory. The absence of on-screen indicators, the disturbing aesthetics, and the blend of emotional combat with environmental storytelling make it a disturbing, alienating journey, yet deeply captivating. Those looking for a classic action game might feel disoriented. But for those willing to lose themselves in a world that reflects the cracks of humanity, Hell Is Us is a hell worth crossing.

Hell is Us isn’t without flaws, but it’s one of those rare games that dares to be different. This sci-fi survival adventure thrives on atmosphere, tension, and mystery, pushing players to figure things out on their own instead of spoon-feeding answers. The combat could definitely use more depth and variety, yet the overall experience feels refreshing in a landscape crowded with safe sequels and predictable formulas. As a debut, it’s bold, ambitious, and brimming with vision. This is the kind of game that might not please everyone, but deserves attention and respect.

Admittedly, we were rather skeptical when we started playing the game. We associated publisher Nacon with annual sports games (Tour de France, Pro Cycling Manager, WRC) or gaming-related peripherals, and developer Rogue Factor had only two smaller Warhammer games in its portfolio until now. But with the intriguing ‘Hell is Us’, they have together released one of the most surprising games of the year.

Hell is Us is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious games of the year, and it is recommendable for that reason alone. It only gets better as Rogue Factor actually achieves many of their central goals here, creating a striking setting, a well-functioning combat system against enemies with deep mythology behind them, and a fantastic visual profile as well.

Admirable for both its consistently creative vision and risky ambiguity, Hell is Us is an intriguing expedition you’ll absolutely want to see through to the end, even if its ambition exceeds its grasp. Go in as cold as possible and do your best to avoid the deluge of online walkthroughs sure to come; you’ll discover a game that’s attempting something new and is excited to show it to you.

For all its shortcomings in the combat and enemy variety departments, Hell is Us is one of my favourite games of 2025, and is sure to be close to the top of my rankings when the time comes. Hands down the most refreshing experience I’ve had on console in quite some time, Hell is Us takes years of tropes and bad habits built up by the industry and discards them in favour of player agency. It’s a game that I hope finds its fans, as while I anticipate it being an incredibly polarizing experience, we need more experiences like this to stand alongside the AAA junk food that is undoubtedly satisfying, but frequently hollow. If you’re like me and want to reprogram your brain to not instinctively climb a wall or squeeze through a gap that might happen to have yellow paint splashed across it due to years of being indoctrinated by video games, then please take the time to sample the delight that is Hell is Us this summer.

With its sometimes chilling civil war setting and general lack of guidance, Hell is Us isn't a game for everybody. Those who embrace its hands-off approach, however, will likely find it an incredibly compelling experience provding they can tolerate its occasionally frustrating combat. And it's ever so rewarding being a force of good in such a dark world.

Hell is Us still stands as a genuine piece of boldness, a gamble that Rogue Factor has mastered from start to finish. A cry of love for those who no longer wish to let their instincts be numbed on the altar of autopilot offered by most action-adventure games, Hell is Us empowers the player without mistreating them. It rekindles the taste for exploration, observation, and deduction, without ever tipping into elitism. Between those games that hold our hand without ever letting go and those that abandon us at the bottom of the pit, Rogue Factor has found a remarkable middle ground—both rewarding and accessible. Supported by a production quality well above the AA average and, above all, by writing that shines just as much when depicting human tragedies in times of war as when exploring the historical subtleties of a fictional country, Hell is Us has far too much merit for its combat limitations to be held against it.

Hell is Us impresses with its symbolism, its dark world, and its free exploration, but it still has a lot of room for improvement in terms of optimization and enemy design.

Hell is Us is a game based on exploration. It invites you to discover the story and secrets of its world at your own pace, without a single mission indicator in sight. The result is a challenging adventure that constantly rewards the player with very positive feelings. Although the combat system does not reach the expected level, Hell is Us stands out for its immersive atmosphere, complex story, and clever puzzles.

You might think that Hell Is Us is just another Soulslike among many, but its blend of classic elements and unique touches gives it tremendous potential. Rogue Factor offers an original and refreshing journey, sometimes shaking up established codes to bring its own vision of a challenging ARPG, and they do it well.

It's a harsh world full of woe, yet making your way through Hell is Us still manages to be enjoyable. A lack of hand-holding and some great puzzle design regularly provides a sense of achievement, with frustrating moments unwelcome but just about rare enough to forgive.

An action-adventure that fortunately gives us a lot of credit, captivates us with its world, but offers too little variety in the battles.

Hell Is Us uses its magical setting to show us the cruelty of man in a realistic way. The brutal world has a central mystery that's worth unravelling, while the game shows us how small kindnesses can make a big difference when everything seems hopeless. The combat, while slick, is a bit on the easy side, which can be a bit jarring. But despite that, it still manages to feel good.

It's a shame that the combat system, too basic and repetitive, fails to impress. Hell is Us is a bold, visceral, and engaging game. It's a story that tackles harsh and raw themes without mincing words, with fascinating lore and an immersive world. However, it's not an experience for everyone due to its uneven pace, which fails to strike a balance between exploration and action.

Hell is Us is a video game unlike most others: it is bold in addressing current and brutal themes such as the war ravaging the Middle East, showing the atrocities of conflict without compromise, and in giving players both the honor and the burden of keeping track of their own progress in the story, completely removing from the equation any markers or indicators that might point out the path or highlight elements of interest. At times, perhaps, it overestimates the player’s attention span, perceptiveness (and memory!), forcing connections that aren’t always immediate, but it’s flattering that it dares to try, and that it succeeds most of the time. It’s a pity, then, that the combat system clashes with the rest of the game: it feels uninspired, simplistic, and never tries to reinvent itself to provide the same kind of mental stimulation that the rest of the experience strives for. Not everything holds together as it should in this title, but we are certain that some of its elements will stay with us for a long time.

Hell is Us is a sci-fi adventure with soulslike ADN with a great context, but its genre mix flaws.

Despite some obvious flaws (especially in the combat department), Hell is Us is a good action-adventure game that shines particularly brightly thanks to its atmosphere and its ability to surprise the player. Rogue Factor has managed to create a rather unique blend of exploration, action, and puzzles, supported by a technique that commands respect. In short, if you're looking for a game at the crossroads of the genre, we recommend it. Be careful, however, if you have high expectations in terms of action-RPG or puzzles.

Hell is Us has a clear vision and translates it effectively into a captivating adventure. The game rewards curiosity and independent thinking in a way that almost no major contemporary game dares to do. Hadea is therefore a joy to explore, even if the writing sometimes feels a bit rushed. The combat is its biggest Achilles' heel: it's too simplistic and repetitive for the significant role it plays.

While Hell is Us is fairly inconsistent, when it shines, it does so in a grand way. Its ambition is ultimately its greatest enemy. If the story were focused on a single conflict, and if the combat were more direct, it would be a hidden gem in 2025. The end result is something that will likely be forgotten this year, but with a little luck, it can be remembered in an interesting way in the future.

Hell is Us is an experience that won't appeal to everyone, particularly those who prefer clear objectives. You will spend a lot of your time figuring out what to do next, piecing together what clues you might have missed. But, the game also represents something increasingly rare in modern gaming: a title that respects your intelligence and isn't afraid to make bold design choices. Now, get ready to take some notes.

Hell is Us impresses with its dense atmosphere and, to a large extent, its blend of action game and classical adventure. Initially, the lack of the excessive hand-holding of many other current games is appealing. However, later on, or for those who simply don't like puzzles or have trouble finding their way around, this enticing approach becomes increasingly lost. Overall, however, it's still a good action-adventure game that has a lot to offer, especially for old-school gamers and adventure fans.

Hell Is Us is an interesting experiment that deviates from the standard hand-holding exploration games and lets the players play on their own with little to no guidance. However, simplistic combat with a bit of reflex-based healing mechanics will deter casual gamers or even curious players that do not want to invest so much time in learning specific timings. However, for the patient and tenacious players, they will find a lot of fun here.

Hell is Us is an ambitious game, both in its presentation and subject matter. Exploring a dour setting without waypoints may not be for everyone. But for those looking for something different and experimental, Hell is Us offers a unique experience granting a sense of achievement.

Hell is Us is an ambitious and unconventional project that tries to blend souls-lite gameplay with distinctly old-school ideas, but in practice, it suffers from repetitiveness and a sluggish pace.

Hell Is Us is a game that captivates through its sound, enemy design, and overall grim aesthetic. It immerses you in a world that doesn’t hand out answers but instead encourages and compels you to seek them on your own. For some, this will be a source of frustration; for others, a motivation to uncover the truth and reach the finale. Rogue Factor has managed to create a game that feels both familiar and, in some ways, innovative, though its shortcomings are often just as noticeable as its strengths.

Hell Is Us takes some welcome risks by refusing to resort to handholding in its mechanics, and is made all the more enjoyable for the trust it puts in its players. This brave design choice — alongside an exceptionally crafted and well-realised setting — more than warrants a visit for players looking for an immersive, lovingly crafted adventure through a bleak but compelling world. An enigmatic story and compellingly written characters round out the pros, but disappointingly shallow combat, a lack of enemy variety and an uneven final act ultimately let it down. Regardless, Hell Is Us is a labour of love, and the passion that’s gone into its creation shines through despite its weaknesses.

Hell is Us thrives on exploration, offering a world that feels mysterious, untamed, and rewarding to uncover. By stripping away waypoints and traditional maps, the game encourages players to navigate by instinct and curiosity, making every discovery feel personal and earned. Its atmosphere pulls you in from the very first moments, and the sense of isolation amplifies the thrill of finding your own path. Unfortunately, the combat lacks the same depth and polish, leaving exploration as the true centerpiece of the experience, an aspect that will deeply resonate with discovery-driven players, even if it may not captivate everyone.

Hell is Us has a blend of exploration, puzzles, and combat that, while familiar, pushes you to really pay attention to the world around you in a way that’s both compelling and occasionally frustrating. Its stark approach to quest and map tracking forces you to use your own powers of observation and take notes to solve its challenges, and the puzzles littered throughout the world kept me on my toes more than action-adventure games like this typically do. Though its lack of enemy variety and fairly straightforward combat mean the action sections don’t stack up in the same way, though there are enough tools in Remi's arsenal to at least have a good time while taking down its monsters. Hell is Us doesn't shy away from showing the dark reality of a country ravaged by war while doing so, as well as how the worst parts of humanity are, in the end, more harrowing than our most terrifying nightmares. It holds up a mirror to us and the world we live in, pushing the boundaries of its own audience's discomfort in a way that will stick with me past any of its fights.

Hell is Us is a unique take on bringing back classic RPG mechanics in a modern fashion. While it has clear flaws in its narrative and gameplay aspects, it’s a new experience with an inspired setting and a heavy atmosphere to boot.

Hell Is Us has loads going for it, and its political messaging has more weight than its comparatively shallow tagline gives it credit for. But I was initially enticed by its promise of exploratory restrictions, and they just aren’t strict enough to sell that idea for a full 30 hours. While Hell Is Us confidently executes upon its story, quests and puzzles, so much of it feels hampered by the fear that players would give up too quickly if it kept on taking risks. I really, really wish it did, though.

Hell Is Us is a game difficult to ignore, even though it is far from perfect. It certainly excels as puzzle adventure game and leaves the player with a lot to think about, not shying away from provocative statements about the nature of war.

Despite its engaging narrative and impressive art direction, Hell is Us suffers from repetitive combat, limited enemy variety, and uninspired bosses. Still, for fans of puzzles and immersive atmospheres, it manages to deliver a memorable journey, even with its shortcomings in the action department.

Hell is Us is a fascinating yet strange game, weighed down by its own risks. While it has the atmosphere and mythology for a great sci-fi experience, its ambitious “no objective markers” system turns exploration into tedium. Coupled with a story that ultimately goes nowhere, it stands out as one of the year’s most bizarre cases of wasted potential.

A largely successful experiment in limiting the amount of onscreen help given for exploration and navigation, but the game it’s tied to is far less interesting and wastes some interesting story elements.

The first few hours of Hell is Us are fantastic. You find yourself in an unfamiliar world torn apart by war, with shrieking, humanoid demons and ancient mysteries hinting at something earth-shattering, but once you pierce that bubble, the shaky foundation becomes clear.