A third-person semi-open world action game, with (mostly optional) Soulslike elements, sounds like an extremely generic pitch on the surface. There are plenty of games that meet that brief released every year, but Hell is Us might just be one of 2025’s most interesting releases. And this new title from developer Rogue Factor could become a sleeper hit.
Its fusion of an intriguing and mysterious sci-fi setting with player-driven exploration is compelling. And while its repetitive combat represents an unfortunate blemish on the overall experience, players looking for an absorbing adventure in a lore-rich setting will want to give it a chance. Just be prepared to pay close attention to your surroundings because in the world of Hell is Us, you’ll often need to rely on your detective skills.
After completing the game on PS5 Pro in around 20 hours (with plenty of side content left untouched, at least double that playtime if you’re going for a 100% completionist run), here are the three main reasons Hell is Us is worth experiencing, alongside the one major drawback.
3 reasons to play Hell is Us
Welcome to Hadea
Hell is Us casts you as protagonist Remi, a United Nations peacekeeper, who sneaks into the locked-down country of Hadea. It’s quite the powder keg following a bloody civil war and the emergence of a supernatural threat known as Hollow Walkers. Oh, and the stakes are extra personal as Remi was born in the country, but smuggled out as a young child.
Remi may be the star on the box art, but Hadea itself feels like the real main character. Fans of optional lore pick-ups and exhausting every option in dialogue trees for additional information will be in heaven. There’s a lot to learn about Hadea, and slowly unraveling its dark history is one of the game’s biggest draws. A lot is bubbling under the surface.
The sense of atmosphere, conveyed by the somber world design and the deliciously eerie score, is highly effective. The developers claim the 2018 movie “Annihilation” served as a major inspiration, and it really shows. There’s also a dash of “Blade Runner” about Hell is Us, most apparent in its core narrative setup that sees Remi interviewed in a smoky room.
From the drop, you always feel on edge as you take your first steps in Hadea’s lush wooded area, serving as the introductory stage. As you venture deeper into the setting, exploring towns, underground temples and scientific facilities, the sense of intrigue only deepens. Even as someone with a bad habit of skipping collectible pick-ups, I felt encouraged to read every note, journal and computer log I could find to further unspool what happened here.
Following an unmarked trail
An early splash screen informs you that Hell is Us shuns some of the player-friendly conveniences that have become commonplace in modern gaming. Namely, there’s no in-game map, luminescent trails on the ground, or flashing waypoints in the sky instructing you where to go next. Instead, Hell is Us wants you to engage your noggin and figure stuff out for yourself.
Now, it would be false to suggest that you get no assistance whatsoever; you are given a useful compass (many notes suggest you travel in a specific direction), and the objectives section in your always-available tablet-style device helps track what you’ve learnt from exploring and gives you a quick way to recall what NPCs have told you. But you can’t just mindlessly follow a glowing marker to your next objective; you need to pay close attention and rely on environmental cues.
Still, Hell is Us offers pretty robust guidance towards main story beats — like an NPC telling you to check out a nearby church isn’t exactly subtle guidance — but to complete optional objectives and find the biggest secrets, you’re given very little to go off, and instead need to explore thoroughly, and sometimes use your own intuition to fill in the blanks.
You can even automatically fail side objectives if you progress too far in the main story before seeing them through to the end.
Puzzling things out
My favourite aspect of Hell is Us is its approach to the many puzzles you’ll encounter along your journey to unearth Hadea’s secrets and stop an event known as the “Calamity” from occurring.
Some puzzles are as simple as finding items in the environment, like the correct key for a locked door or a wooden gear to restore an elevator. However, the most involved and most satisfying require you to piece together information from numerous sources, ranging from scrawled writing on walls to computer terminals with clues buried in email logs.
You might be tempted to look up an online guide when you get stuck, but I implore you to meet the game on its own terms and put your brain power to the test. The lightbulb moments when things click are the most enjoyable part of Hell is Us. It’s also the game’s credit that almost all the puzzles feel logical, and once you have the solution, you’ll feel like it was always staring you in the face.
Unfortunately, there was one puzzle that involved cracking a hidden safe code in the office of a government official obsessed with a historical figure, which felt illogical. Even when I got the correct solution, it seemed cheap and designed to stump you rather than test your critical thinking.
1 reason to skip Hell is Us
Haven’t I fought you before
For all the praise I’ve heaped on Hell is Us above, the major area where it stumbles is pretty significant: Combat. You’re going to find yourself square off against hordes of Hollow Walkers very often, and these battles become mundane very quickly.
It’s in combat that the Soulslike element of Hell is Us comes into play. Melee-based skirmishes revolve around careful stamina management, timing your parries to deflect blows, and making use of an extremely finicky mechanic that lets you recover a portion of health after striking an enemy. The more damage you dish out without getting hit, the more health you recover. If you want to ramp up the challenge further, you can also toggle an optional "Death Penalty" mode that sees you lose all your collected XP upon death, and all defeated enemies respawn as well.
A further complexity comes in the form of enemies linked to the Haze, described as “expressions of emotions.” These are basically color-coded floating beings that burst from regular enemies and must be defeated first before you can deal any damage to the host. It’s a novel conception, but it results in overly long fights that are more tedious than engaging.
You’re given all the expected ways to vanquish your enemies, from a range of upgradable melee weapons, special abilities (such as one that lets you fire a ranged projectile), and even a companion drone that can perform various powerful combat moves. Ultimately, the upgrades are all functional, but I never felt a genuine thrill when picking up a new one.
There’s a lack of enemy variety in the game, and the few boss encounters presented on the golden path are extremely drawn-out and simplistic. Combat serves more as a blocker to all the stuff that Hell is Us does well, and never managed to engage me in the same way the exploration did.
Should you buy Hell is Us at launch?
If you’re looking for an action game that won’t just have you following markers around a map covered in an overwhelming number of icons, then Hell is Us could be the refreshing approach to (semi) open world design you’ve been seeking. Players who love diving into intriguing lore and wandering a world hiding plenty off the beaten path will have a blast.
However, if you’re primarily looking for a game that will get your heart racing thanks to challenging and/or mechanically interesting combat scenarios, then you might not be so taken with Hell is Us. The combat checks the necessary boxes it needs to, but rarely, if ever, did I come away from a set-piece showdown with its supernatural foes feeling satisfied.
Nevertheless, looking back at my playthrough of Hell is Us, it’s the highs of discovering a hidden secret or piecing together various clues to solve a complex puzzle that stayed with me most. I just wish that I didn’t have to slog through so much repetitive combat to enjoy those highs.
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