Hellgate: London Rising from Grave, Returning as Free-to-Play MMO

Posted 05/19/2011 at 9:00pm | by Nathan Grayson

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Remember Hellgate: London? It was an apocalyptic hack 'n' slasher that rose from the ashes of Diablo II only to make some ugly ashes of its own when its developer went under. Now, though, the game's getting a second lease on life thanks to the helping hand of Hanbitsoft.

Hellgate, of course, was a lot of things to a lot of people. Overly ambitious to some. Rushed to others. And – to our own David Murphy – sort of, like, you know, not good. However, the game's actually been hacking and slashing among the living in South Korea for quite a while now, so with any luck, the extra development time has added a few much-needed layers of polish to the proceedings.

As for the US version, it'll be undergoing the world's shortest beta from June 3 to June 5. We were hoping to participate, but then realized that we were already scheduled to blink during that time period. The full game is set to launch later this year, though an exact date has yet to be specified.

And so continues free-to-play's “can do no wrong” reign over the gaming industry. Sure, swooping in to save MMOs on the verge of breathing their last was one thing, but now – between Hellgate and All Points Bulletin – you're telling us it can raise the dead? This is just getting silly.