Haven't heard about Hellgate: London? Seriously?
Ok, for those that haven't, here's the quick rundown about the game, and the company behind it (Flagship Studios):
From Flagship Studios – creators of the award-winning Diablo® series and the fathers of the action role playing genre – comes HellGate: London, the next benchmark in the evolution of the RPG genre.
Combining the depth of traditional RPGs with the frenetic, visceral feel of first-person shooters, HellGate: London offers infinite replayability with dynamically created levels, monsters, items and events that gives each player their own unique hack-and-slash experience.
A post-apocalyptic London has been overrun by hordes of terrifying demons, leaving the city desolate and scorched by hellfire. Those who were unlucky enough to survive now gather in the only sanctuary left, the Underground, banding together in order to gain a foothold against the minions of darkness and ultimately save the bloodline of humanity.
Now, onto the important stuff: How do I get in on the Beta, and where can I buy it?
In the last few weeks, the main Hellgate: London site has a sign-up link for the Beta. They've posted that they're sending invites out in waves to test the server loads, etc. So if you don't hear back immidiately, this is why.
The Hellgate: London site also has a link up to pre-order the game. Currently they list Best Buy, Gamestop, and Wal-Mart as places to get it (I also found it on EB Games and Amazon.com). Note that depending on who you pre-order from, you will get a different dye kit that allows you to change the appearance of your in-game characters. Note that they will also have a collector's edition coming out that will give you an in-game pet, the game soundtrack, map poster, and a graphic novel!
Need another reason to pre-order? How about an automatic invitation into the Beta? That was enough for me to pick it up (Just ordered it from Amazon.com). Very important: they have posted that the start of the Beta is September 17th, and the end is October 7th, so you better hurry!
OK, OK, so when can you get it? In case you haven't heard the news, Hellgate: London will be available October 31st. That's right, Halloween! Many of the pre-order sites are listing that the game will be shipped on the 30th, but I'm hoping the let them go a little earlier so that I can have my copy in-hand on the 31st.
Hope to see you online!