Hellboy Web of Wyrd
Review
Web of Wyrd is certainly weird, but not always for the better...
by Dan Lenois
reviewed on PC
The Return of the Red Right Hand...
Web of Wyrd sees the long-awaited re-emergence of Mike Mignola's cult-classic part-human/part-demon saviour or harbinger of destruction Hellboy into pop culture. 2023 marks the fifteenth anniversary since humanity's red right hand of doom last starred in his own mainstream gaming adaption, in 2008's poorly-received Hellboy: The Science of Evil. While the character has appeared in other franchises, such as a DLC character in NetherRealms Studios' Injustice 2, rarely has he been given his own spotlight to shine.
Web of Wyrd throws players into the odd, eccentric world of Hellboy and the other agents from the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, an organization dedicated to protecting humanity from any and all threats emanating from other worlds and dimensions. However, as is so often the case with such organizations in film, television, and games, you get the dubious honour of doing all the heavy lifting and field work, while the dozens or hundreds of other agents presumably amuse themselves doing paperwork or playing Galaga on their phones.
A Labyrinth of Mysteries...
Web of Wyrd incorporates procedurally-generated dungeons comprised largely of rooms full of enemies, connected by smaller corridors and passages often likewise featuring traps or other obvious dangers. The greatest problem with this design is that, a troubling amount of time, it makes the levels feel less like a creation of human hands, and more akin to the unpredictable inventions of ChatGPT.
Other recent roguelite and roguelike games like Remnant: From The Ashes or Ziggurat have made strong use of procedural generation, namely in regards of enemy placement. GTFO utilizes procedural generation to organize the layout of entire levels. The difference between those games and Web of Wyrd, however, is the unspoken human element. Web of Wyrd's level layout at no point feels like it was even remotely overseen or guided by a human level designer. Rooms will appear in unorganized order.
In one run, I started with the initial item blessing, which increased my pistol clip size, then walked through the first corridor, through a gate, into a larger room. After defeating the half dozen enemies there, I proceeded to the next room, which contained a free health potion. This ultimately ended up being the only health potion throughout that entire dungeon, which continued on for around a dozen consecutive rooms until I was finally allowed to leave.
This isn't including how the level would often double back on itself pointlessly, with no clear in-game indicators or subtle cues hinting where the player was supposed to go next. It is one thing to simply miss a subtle tip or two while hurrying through a dungeon. It's another matter for the developer to not even bother to include such things.
Seeds of Destruction...
There is no memorability at any point in the dungeons themselves, beyond their cosmetic value. The art style is vivid, and pays evident homage to Mike Mignola's iconic art style, as do the deliberately-slow and choppy comic book panel-esque animations that the player will notice in every attack and movement animation. However, the enemies themselves are, largely, both basic and tedious. Smaller enemies can be dispatched in one or two hits, whereas bigger enemies will require you to shoot them, in order to remove their armor, before then following up with close-range melee swings. This pattern can be repeated on bosses, albeit many more times.
Boss fights are one of the few areas where Web of Wyrd really shines. Each boss will harshly punish poor play, although there is some room for the player to learn from their mistakes, as few attacks will actually kill a full-health and armored player in only one or two consecutive hits. Be prepared to die a few times before you overcome some of these particular foes.
Home Sweet Home
Acting as the central hub throughout the game, the Butterfly House provides plenty of opportunities for the player to learn more about the story and the world at large, by interacting with several fully-voiced NPCs, whose dialogue evolves and changes over time in-between missions. The voice acting is fairly mixed. Hellboy himself, of course, is voiced by the late Lance Reddick, known best for his ongoing roles as Charon in the John Wick films, and in Destiny 2 as Commander Zavala. It's unfortunate that, for such a talented actor with great vocal range, there is something jarring and off-putting about his vocal performance here as Hellboy. One can only assume that the issue lays at the feet of the game's voice director, or its possible lack thereof.
The house itself is very awkwardly designed. Every room has its clearly-intended gameplay purpose, such as a training room containing a solitary punching bag, (no shooting range? seriously?) two central locations for quest givers, an armory for changing your weapon, and that's about it. Everything is designed exclusively for function, with no thought for aesthetic. Design choices like this makes Web of Wyrd feel more like a playtest build that someone accidentally published, rather than a fully-finished game intended for market release.
There are many moments where the game demonstrates clear understanding of how a game's design functions and visual aesthetic are supposed to function, but never once do both respective elements flow together seamlessly into a cohesive whole. The levels provide great visual design, but lacking mechanical design, whereas the hub zone reflects the complete opposite.
Final verdict:
Hellboy Web of Wyrd is a masterful visual representation of Mike Mignola's body of work, clearly created out of passion from the development team. However, the widespread consistent issues with the core game design make it difficult to unreservedly recommend it as a must-buy for either diehard Hellboy fans or for newcomers to the franchise.
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7.0
fun score
Pros
Comic-accurate art style, challenging boss fights, immersive hub zone
Cons
Minimalistic and contrived story, poor VA direction, limited enemy variety
