July has been absolutely stacked for roguelikes, including much-anticipated sequels Neon Abyss 2 and Undermine 2, as well as promising newcomers He Is Coming and Xenopurge. More on the monthly update here.
Among these promising new faces, Hell Clock immediately stood out to me. It’s a roguelite ARPG hybrid with a brutal ticking clock mechanic that is guaranteed to make you sweat. Wrapped up in gorgeous comic book-style visuals, it’s also set in a fascinating and bloody chapter of Brazil’s history, which few games (if any?) have explored before.
With all that in mind, the question is: does Hell Clock carve out a bloody niche for itself—or does it just leave you watching the seconds tick by? Let’s dig in and find out…
What is Hell Clock?
Hell Clock is a relentless roguelite and ARPG hybrid that draws inspiration from games such as Hades and Path of Exile. Its three-act story unfolds during Brazil’s War of Canudos in 1896, during which 25,000 were left dead after they defied the new republic. Players step into the shoes of Pajeú, a gun-toting, red cape-wearing warrior, who is trying to rescue the soul of The Counselor, his fallen mentor, from literal Hell.
The action in Hell Clock is fluid and fast-paced. With hordes of nightmarish hell-creatures swarming at you from all directions, your reflexes are put to the test, and you’ll need to string together a mix of basic attacks and active abilities to survive. By left-clicking, you can fire multiple bullets at once – perfect for crowd control – and right-clicking unleashes a single powerful shot. As well as these two attacks, you have several other abilities that you can activate using mana. One is a powerful evasive dash, another fires knives in a small circle around you, and my personal favourite fires a rapid chain of bullets in the direction you’re facing.
These abilities can be upgraded each time you level up, allowing you to improve their effectiveness and add potent secondary effects. I was always on the fence whether to go all in and create one super potent ability or evenly spread my level ups. The gold you gather from opening chests and gunning down enemies can also be used to level up your character at angel statues on each floor. These abilities instead buff your character’s core stats, improving attributes such as your health, damage output, and resistances.
A Race Against Time
All of the above might sound like a pretty typical roguelite affair, but Hell Clock sets itself apart with a unique time-based mechanic. At the start of each run, a ticking timer begins and once this hits zero it’s game over. The clock adds an extra layer of pressure, as taking the time to hunt for resources and farm for XP are essential for your survival. I constantly had my eyes glued to the clock when playing and many actions, such as venturing off the beaten path to open a treasure chest, felt like a real gamble.
Luckily, you can earn more seconds on runs through beating bosses and mini-bosses, and there are skills you can unlock in the skill tree to extend your timer (more on that later). There’s even a Relaxed Mode that you can turn on and off every time you load your save and this completely removes the timer. Personally, I’d recommend giving the game a try without this enabled – it feels designed with that heightened sense of pressure in mind. Still, it’s great that the developers have given this level of flexibility.
Beastly Builds
Hell Clock also succeeds in giving players a wealth of stat-altering mechanics to tinker with between runs. The skill tree here is absolutely enormous and it took a good few mouse-wheel scrolls to reach the bottom. Here, players can unlock general upgrades, such as potion potency, physical damage resistance, or how much gold they receive. As you unlock these skills, you’ll eventually unearth some truly game-changining abilities, like being able to skip floors you’ve beaten or add more time to the clock.
I was a big fan of the game’s relic system. Each time you beat a boss, you’re rewarded with a relic. This can bolster several stats and add permanent secondary abilities to your active skills. Inventory management is essential here – it almost feels like a game of Tetris in itself, as your storage space is limited and each relic takes up its own space. In my eight or so hours with the game, I rarely came across the same relic twice and receiving new ones helped to take the sting a little more out of failed runs.
The Verdict
With a unique backdrop, a wealth of build options, and a challenging time-based system, Hell Clock delivers a fun, adrenaline-fueled experience that I really enjoyed. Not only that, but its deep skill tree and clever relic system meant I always felt like I was progressing, even after a punishing string of failed runs.
While its ticking timer might feel a bit too intense for some, I found it added a great layer of tension, forcing me to think twice about simple choices. In fact, the time pressure created an added edge that sets Hell Clock apart, and for that alone I think genre fans would do well to give this one the time of day.
Hell Clock is out on PC (Win) on July 22. We played the game via access provided by the developer. Speaking of which, they also kindly provided us with a couple of game keys, so if you’d like a chance to win a copy of Hell Clock, head this way!
