Hell Pages | Switch Review

When it comes to the occult you have faux satanic, or really satanic as a measure of evil. On that scale of value Medusa Head's "Hell Pages" definitely lands itself in the latter category with thematic elements that blend ultra violent imagery with nudity for added shock value. It's one of those gaming spectacles where the selling point is actually that shock value. Wherein the developer pushes whatever envelope, and crosses the line drawn into the sand to see if it's enough to make bank.

In the midst of the mature display what is left is a basic shmup setup centered around demon summoning gone wrong. That and in-fighting amongst demonkind for the throne of the desolated world. The game's story, in this regard, starts off way back in 1981 in a cabin in the woods where some absolute morons summon some demons through a cursed book. Seeing the error of their ways in real time as a legion of demons tries to force it's way through into the mortal realm they invoke the help of evil Goddess Skintae (or whatever?) to seal those demons back up. As it often happens though in such predicaments the seal wears over time. As such 37 years down the road all hell breaks loose on Earth. Humans become slaves, and food to the warring demons as said demons fight over who gets the throne. This is where Bael steps in to put an end to the war, and claim his rightful place among his fellow fallen. 

As Bael, an insectoid-like demon lord, you'll fight and flight through over ten stages of demon infested battlegrounds as you lay waste to minions, and the bosses therein. All to the tune of a grinding heavy metal soundtrack. Shmup abilities in your rise to the top are basic to begin with, with a forward shot and a screen clearing bomb that is known as magic, in this game's case. As you collect power-ups you'll earn two additional turrets that can be aimed forward or backwards for additional screen coverage via a button press. This comes in handy in stages where there are enemies that approach from behind, or come in from the front in clusters. 

As enemies are blasted into oblivion coins will drop in both a silver, and golden form. Crediting Bael with currency that can be spent on shops that appear after a stage's boss has been bested. The shop offers up several items for collected coin including health refills, magic spells, pages needed to reach the final boss, and continues/saves for progress sake. You'll more often than not have enough of the currency to buy everything, and doing so definitely helps. Seeing as the three tier difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard) makes things trying at all levels this one stop shop with a succubus sales lady at it's counter is definitely any opportunity worth partaking of. 

When it comes to stage orientation Hell Pages is a horizontal 2D side-scrolling shmup that sees the screen auto-scrolling from left to right as waves of lesser enemies come into view. With an end boss lying in wait at the end of a rather lengthy run. Between the power-ups, and hidden health vials survival in any given run is made only slightly easier. As it is Baels life bar is small in size, and damage taken will quicken your demise should you get too careless. Patience, and bullet hell awareness is the key to victory.

Visuals & Audio ...

Visually Hell Pages comes off as being a hand drawn style game with art that looks like it belongs on the cover of a heavy metal album. It is kind of crude by design though, and mostly static in nature with light animations on the more articulated demons. Level design has a slight layered nature about it, and also adheres to an artistic design similar to that of the demons. Nudity, and blood are displayed throughout the game as well, and players are given ample warning of this before any of it is shown. Audibly, the soundtrack hits all the right chords. Sometimes wholly instrumental, and other times with female vocals thrown in for good measure. Tracks are varied per stage, and fitting of stage themes. You can actually access the soundtrack at the main menu, and listen to each individual track if you so desire.

The Verdict ...

Hell Pages is obviously a game meant to capitalize through shock value. Through it's very maturely applied occult themes, nudity, and violence it tries to win over the kind of audience that is into that sort of rebellious thing. Unfortunately the gameplay is very basic by design leaving the game's only standout feature to be the morbid art, and the heavy metal soundtrack. Two things which would have been better paired with a shmup that had actually went the extra mile to impress. The shmup gameplay definitely feels like it got a backseat afterthought to the more shocking elements. To that end I cannot recommend this to the one audience who likely would have been interested. The shmup fanbase will more than likely not find this game to be noteworthy among genre greats.