A haunting detective-style adventure, Hell is Us rewards curiosity and puzzle-solving but stumbles with clunky, frustrating combat.
Hell Is Us is the kind of game that demands your full attention. It doesn’t hold your hand or feed you breadcrumbs. Instead, it drops you into a strange, war-torn country that feels like a vision of Hell itself—complete with bleak landscapes, clever references, and locations that ooze with dark meaning. From the very start, it wants you to explore, observe, and piece things together on your own.
Developed by Rogue Factor, this is a game built around discovery. At its best, Hell Is Us shines when you’re exploring, playing detective, and unraveling riddles hidden in its lore-soaked world. Its combat system, however, is clunky and frustrating, dragging down an otherwise fascinating experience.
Remi’s Inferno
The story follows Remi, a man sneaking into the closed-off country of Hadea to search for his family. Smuggled out as a child, he’s returned years later with little more than a family heirloom to guide him. Things kick off with Remi strapped to a lie detector, interrogated by a strange, deformed figure. What you play is essentially his testimony—his version of events—told across three acts. It’s a clever framing device that builds intrigue and also explains why death in the game isn’t permanent. When you “die,” you’re simply refocusing, remembering what really happened.
Hell Is Us, Rogue Factor, 2025
Hadea itself feels like a living nightmare. Ravaged by a brutal civil war between the Palomists and the Sabinians, it’s equal parts political battleground and occult mystery. Runes, cults, and religious traditions all thread through the narrative, giving the world layers of depth. At first, the flood of information and lack of guidance can feel overwhelming, but once you settle in, the pieces start to click.
The writing and performances sell the world, too. Caught in a brutal civil war, Hadea’s people are believable in their desperation and brutality. Neither faction feels redeemable, making the human conflict as monstrous as the supernatural one. Themes of violence, cycles of suffering, and the cruelty of war are woven throughout, giving the game real weight.
PROS:
Deep and rewarding exploration that makes puzzle solving feel genuinely satisfying;
atmospheric world building with strong lore, mystery, and cultural depth;
clever storytelling keeps narrative engaging.
CONS:
Clunky and unbalanced combat system drags down the experience;
lack of guidance or hints can lead to frustrating dead ends;
fighting multiple enemies can seem unfair.
Hot on the Trail
Hell Is Us doesn’t believe in maps, waypoints, or glowing quest markers. Your first mission—finding your family—gives you only that heirloom to work with. From there, it’s all up to you. You’ll need to ask questions, talk to every person you meet, and use a compass (yes, a literal compass) to navigate. Characters give you directions, and it’s up to you to figure out the rest.
This detective-style loop—collecting clues, solving puzzles, and unlocking the next area—forms the backbone of the game. And it works. The abundance of riddles and mysteries makes the whole experience feel like a mash-up of The Talos Principle and Professor Layton, with a pinch of Dark Souls’ brutality thrown in. Each church, dungeon, or tomb presents new challenges: locked doors, cryptic notes, or riddles that demand real attention. Exploration feels like classic Zelda dungeons—but harder, because figuring out where to go is half the battle.
Hell Is Us, Rogue Factor, 2025
The absence of a map makes things tougher, but also refreshing. We’ve been spoiled by modern games that tell us exactly where to go, and Hell Is Us feels liberating in comparison. Walking into new areas feels dangerous, uncertain, and exhilarating. The downside? You will get stuck. The game gives no hints, so one overlooked note could set you back hours—it did for me. Thankfully, your inventory keeps track of documents and clues, letting you revisit evidence like a proper detective.
Combat Woes
Unfortunately, combat is where Hell Is Us stumbles. Scattered across Hadea are eerie white creatures called Hollow Walkers, each tied to different emotions like rage, grief, or ecstasy. They come in all shapes—ranged attackers, tanky brutes, even ones that are tied to others via an umbilical cord. To fight them, you use “lymbic” weapons such as swords and axes alongside lymbic abilities for damage, disruption, and healing. In theory, this should add depth. In practice, it’s clunky.
Hell Is Us, Rogue Factor, 2025
Targeting enemies is required in order to successfully hit them, but locking on feels inaccurate and you can’t reliably hit anything without it. Once multiple foes join the fight, things quickly spiral. You can use your drone’s abilities to help distract enemies while you focus on others, but if you try to switch to another enemy, you may end up hitting the one the drone is focusing on essentially ruining the distraction. Add in stamina management, dodging, and parrying, and fights become messy and frustrating. Sure, runes and lymbic abilities give you flashy tools, but they never feel meaningfully different nor are their benefits explained to you. Combat ends up being something you tolerate to get back to the good stuff—exploration and puzzles.
Hell Is Us, Rogue Factor, 2025
To its credit, the health-recovery system adds a neat risk-reward mechanic: time your strikes right and you’ll see a pulse surround Remi. Time your button input just right and you’ll recover health. But when you’re swarmed by enemies, it often feels unfair rather than challenging. It doesn’t help that the balance is off—sometimes you’re overwhelmed, and other times you miss hitting an enemy due to poor placement. Hell is Us is actually not a Soulslike game as you don’t lose experience when you die, but these issues make the game feel more like an obstacle rather than a thrill.
VERDICT:
Hell Is Us makes bold choices: no hand-holding, no maps, no shortcuts. That design philosophy is both its biggest strength and its biggest frustration.
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Final Thoughts
What keeps Hell Is Us compelling, despite its combat, is its atmosphere. Hadea is grim and haunting, yet alive with mystery. Its semi-open world structure lets you wander freely once you reach new zones, uncovering cultural traditions, disturbing sights, and breathtaking scenery. One moment you’re admiring a pristine lake, the next you’re passing corpses strung up on signposts. Even its soundtrack is beautifully unsettling.
Hell Is Us makes bold choices: no hand-holding, no maps, no shortcuts. That design philosophy is both its biggest strength and its biggest frustration. Solving a tough riddle feels euphoric; missing one clue feels maddening. Its combat never quite supports the brilliance of its exploration, but the puzzles, atmosphere, and story carry it through. At the end of the day, Hell Is Us is a throwback to games that made you work for progress. And while it’s not perfect, the moments of discovery and satisfaction it delivers make the struggle worthwhile.
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