Hellboy Web of Wyrd

Hellboy Web of Wyrd’s sharp art direction, warm voice performances, and goofy if basic combat struggle to shine through in a roguelike that is otherwise too messy in too many ways.

Hellboy Web of Wyrd has some issues when it comes to the combat, but it's still fun to play, and fans of the comics are going to love diving into a new story featuring the surly yet loveable demon.

Based on the popular Dark Horse Comics franchise, Hellboy Web of Wyrd is a beat 'em up roguelike. From the Butterfly House, Hellboy can access procedurally generated levels set in The Wyrd dimension, and his mission is to try and find a missing agent.

Donning the crown (of the apocalypse) as the best Hellboy game ever made might not sound like an extraordinary achievement, but this is a character that has been starved of games, let alone good ones. Web of Wyrd is exactly that, which is maybe enough.

Web of Wyrd’s loving recreation of Mike Mignola’s iconic art style and satisfying, if occasionally frustrating combat made me want to fall in love with it, but its half-baked roguelite mechanics, lack of challenge, and repetitive nature hold it back from greatness. This is still the best game Hellboy has ever had, but that’s a high bar to clear when your competition is The Science of Evil.

If the game was merely simplistic, or lamentably brief, or even a little janky here and there, that would be something to work with. Instead, Hellboy: Web of Wyrd takes a carefully crafted tale, some A-1 voice talent, and a convincing sensation of walking around an actual Hellboy comic as Big Red himself, and dashes everything against the rocks of its gameplay.

Hellboy Web of Wyrd does a fantastic job of drawing you into the dark, sullen, and highly strange world born by Mike Mignola, but the roguelike structure that underpins this brawler's progression and structure doesn't offer enough challenge or variation to become truly compulsive. A solid first effort in need of refinement and iteration.

Hellboy: Web of Wyrd is not without its hiccups, and one such problem seriously needs to be addressed as soon as possible by the developers. Besides this, the game is clearly a labor of love, faithfully recreating the look and feel of the Hellboy comic’s art style and characters. Unique takes on gameplay make you feel like a true badass demon from hell, slugging down mooks as you seek out the secrets of a mysterious world before it’s too late.