The new title from Flagship Studios, Hellgate: London, promises to provide gamers with an ever-expanding universe of content if they subscribe but also promises to provide none-subscribers with compelling online gameplay so that they don't feel left out. These claims have not been taken lightly and Flagship now has the job of keeping those promises.

So what is in store for those who will be paying and playing this title over the next coming months?

Patch 0

This one has already been covered on Curse by Kody with Patch 0 being the patch that is going to go live with the release of Hellgate :London and weighs in at a not-so-heavy 30mb. Interestingly, the patch will not be subscriber-only and will extend to none-subscribers as well. Promising exciting new multiplayer features and a range of other content, this isn't the biggest patch seen in the gaming world but does promise to spice up Hellgate: London for everyone involved.

Patch 1 - December

With Flagships aim to release new subscriber content every 3 months, Patch 1 is a little earlier than expected. The patch looks set to be a massive, content rich addition to the game. The timing is as important as the content with the patch sliding neatly into the holiday season and the holidays that all of us will be looking forward to at Christmas.

Patch 1 look set to not only extend the basic gameplay but also the lore behind the game with progressive content being pitched for this patch. The major addition is a new hub located outside London which deals with Stonehenge which seems to be impervious to demon attacks. The area will serve as a transportation hub, allowing players to travel the world of Hellgate whilst the humans find a way to harness the power that seems to be keeping the demons away from the legendary area.

Along with this, subscribers can expect to enjoy new items, quests and monsters and possibly new classes as well. Although Flagship has promised new classes in patches, they have not said this will happen in patch 1 and have been very hush hush about the fine details which is unsurprising, seeing as the game isn't even on sale yet.

Auction Hous and Mail Systems

Despite people avoiding the question, "Is it an MMO?," it seems the Flagship want to throw us some traditional MMO mechanics for the ride, two of which being player Auction Houses and a Mail system that will be accesible by subscribers and none-subscribers alike. When will we see them? Flagship hopes that they will appear previous to Patch 1 but in traditional designer talk, "when it's ready," came to mind.

Criticism

One of the main criticisms I and many other players on both the US and EU beta programs had with Hellgate was that the environments felt very linear. Noteably, there is more diversity in Hellgate than there was in Diablo 2 but Hellgate isn't seperated into convinient acts like D2 was and so things just feel too samey. Flagship have said that changes have been made to the game to account for this and also that beta players did not experience the final two acts and as such, don't have a full awareness of what the game will be like.

Hellgate: London promises to be one of those massive titles that proves something to some of us but there are those who would label anyone who plays this game as a fan boy simply because it has a lot in common with the Diablo franchise.

You can read a more detailed look into the future of Hellgate: London here.