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From somewhere in the depths of Serbia comes an indie studio, making a game about being somewhere in the depths of space. This game is called Hellion and it’s certainly intriguing.  To say Zero Gravity Games have given themselves a big goal is an understatement and from what I have seen I am confident that they may achieve something special with Hellion.

Hellion drops you into the body of a waking survivor from an incident involving a random ship in space and your requirement is to survive.  At this point a first-time player will accidentally commit suicide as the find themselves out of an airlock without a spacesuit.  I found myself flying far from my ship, in and out of a space suit, before I discovered how to use the air lock safely. Getting yourself suited up and out of the airlock isn’t always the wisest choice either as if you aren’t near something, your air won’t last long.

This at its core is what makes Hellion interesting, the very limited resources.  With the gameplay being from the first person, exploring the ship to find anything to keep you alive gives some terrifying agency to your actions.  Finding the different ways to restore power to each ship and attend to any required fixes will make a significant difference to how the game plays, allowing you to explore much further.

Despite spending many hours with the game and its main hook being the multiplayer survival elements, I never found another player.  This may havebeen down to bad timing, due to the time of day I was playing, or the relatively small install base at this point. It is worth noting, however, for anyone wanting to drop their money on the game.

At this point, the story is non-existent. Despite the game starting with a small cut scene, the rest of the story is held back for now.  The developers have advised that this is only while they perfect the game and its systems before they put the story in, which is understandable as the game is still in Alpha, but also worth noting.

The game itself is surprisingly pretty.  The ships internals look great and though there are plenty of little bugs around this, its true beauty is in space.  The first time I got shot out of the space lock I was paying attention to myself dying as the planets and galaxies in the distance looked so amazing.

If you are looking to play with a friend, Hellion allows this to happen by letting you to call other players using the different pods in the ship you are in.  Playing solo I tried this a few times with others on the server but nobody ever answered, so I can’t say how well this works.

In its current state Hellion is a tough game to recommend.  It feels very aimless as you adapt and learn the ropes, even as you pick these up this can be frustrating as hell as the game still feels a little bare.  It is very functional even in its Alpha state so if you are interested in being along for the ride as Hellion matures it’s well worthwhile.  If you are looking for a more fleshed out experience it may be worth waiting for later in its development.  I know I’ll be very interested to see where this goes.

What do you reckon?
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