As a hardcore metal head, I found the opening of SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell to be the most metal opening in gaming since the first reveal for the Doom reboot. The game opens with our hero sitting back and relaxing with a six pack when the devil comes along and steals his beer. Now, no self-respecting metal fan will allow this to happen without a fight. Sadly, the devil also took one of your hands, but not before you could steal his in return. So, what do you do if the devil takes your hand AND your beer? You duct tape his hand to your own stump Ash William’s style and go after him.
Upon entering a very detailed, vivid depiction of Hell, you are set forth to make it from point A to point B at neck breaking speeds. I found the depiction of Hell to be straight from my nightmares and only comparable to Doom or the upcoming Agony. Not that you have much time to take in the sights, since this is a speedrunning game with a painfully short timeframe allowed to complete each level. As you’d expect, failing to complete the level in the limit results in the option to replay it. I often was able to only achieve a bronze medal, after multiple attempts, within milliseconds of the deadline. While it’s an exhilarating feeling when you complete the section within this timeframe, it is disappointing many players will not be able to see all this game has to offer.
I found this time limit to be somewhat unfair, as I was unable to find any obvious shortcuts through the level, nor was I able to achieve a gold rating on a flawless run. The leaderboards presented at the end of each level only confirmed my claim, as I was in the top 10 of the prerelease player base on multiple levels, which steadily declined from around 50 entries, to under 10 by the second chapter. While you can skip ahead to other runs, you must receive a set number of medals prior to facing the “boss” battle.
I use this term loosely, as you don’t truly fight a boss; you are faced with a less linear map to run through with more traps that are akin to an actual puzzle opposed to a battle. These were a high-point, as I found the puzzle levels to be much more enjoyable and the time limit to be more forgiving.
While not used on any enemies, you are equipped with the devil’s hand, which can summon and throw fireballs at will. In my time with the game, I was only able to use these against mines blocking the path and to trigger switches. As you progress, you will acquire other abilities that add additional depth to the game.
Controlling said abilities works as it should; however, there is a bullet time-ish delay when you hold the button to trigger the ability – this was an annoyance and caused some unneeded deaths due to the jarring effect it has to your own momentum. Since momentum is your friend and losing it at the wrong time causes you to over or undershoot your target, I was thankful this option could be turned off.
Boasting a whopping 90+ levels and featuring collectible cans of beer throughout the levels, there is a wealth of content here. It’s a shame that I, and I am assuming a number of gamers who take the plunge, will never get to see all of it due to the time constraints.
6 out of 10
Pros
- Heavy Metal Theme
- Wealth of Content
- Fun…
Cons
- …until the difficulty spikes
- The Difficutly
- This Game is Freaking Hard
- The Timer
- Awkward Controls
SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell was developed by Pine Studio and published by Headup Games. It was released on PC July 28th, 2016, will launch October 22nd, 2017 on X1, and on PS4 at some point. The game can be purchased for $14.99. The game was provided to us for review on Xbox One. If you’d like to see more of SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell, check out the official site.
Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.
Check out OpenCritic for a better idea of how our review stacks against others.