Hellboy Web of Wyrd was provided by Good Shepard Entertainment for review. Thank you!
Ever since I saw the original Hellboy movie with Ron Perlman, I knew this was a franchise I could get behind. I loved his demeanor and the possibilities of what could happen in this mix of horror and Lovecraftian world. Seeing him come to the video game world was something I always liked, but I never got fully immersed in his first two outings. It didn't feel like either had a good gameplay loop or did the half-demon justice. Then, Hellboy Web of Wyrd came along.
Hellboy Web of Wyrd succeeds in creating a core gameplay loop that feels addicting with each consecutive run. This is a roguelike brawler, so you will choose your loadout, pick a level, run around, get upgrades, and fight big enemies with your fists, gun, and charm. You can also dodge and parry attacks, which can be chained into staggering enemies, using an ultimate attack, or flinging them around into walls and crumbling buildings.
The combat is enticing and feels fantastic each time. I especially loved being able to punch enemies into walls, which would cause them to crumble, and then I could throw the rubble to attack. Chaining together these actions can create a ton of damage, which can feel rewarding, especially against bosses.
One thing I wish would change is how the enemies are laid out in the areas you fight in. There are little grunts and bigger enemies, but the grunts are nearly useless. Killing them gives you armor, but you can easily skip them and just kill the big guys, which will automatically destroy the others. I can appreciate 1 on 1 combat, but I wish the grunts had a bit more substance behind them.
In each playthrough, you will come back and use the currency you collect to upgrade your health, armor, and weapons. You will also get new pieces of lore to check out in the library and expand the story. Speaking of the narrative, I did enjoy the original story crafted by Dark Horse Comics and Hellboy's creator, Mike Mignola, but I wasn't captivated by it. The gameplay loop more than made up for it. I do want to make a special note that Hellboy is voiced by the late and incredible Lance Reddick. This was one of his posthumous roles, and he performed very well.
To make things even better, playing on the Steam Deck is easy and really fun.
When it comes to Hellboy Web of Wyrd, there isn't much we can change to modify performance other than resolution. At the default settings, without any caps, the game struggles to hit 60 FPS. It usually fluctuates between 53 - 58 while hitting the max battery drain. Luckily, because Hellboy and the enemy have a lower framerate specifically, bringing the refresh rate down to help with stability and drain doesn't hurt how the game feels overall.
There are enough spots that go under 50 that I felt the best spot for battery and stability is with a refresh rate/framerate lock at 40 FPS. Doing this ensures we can have a great battery life, with a TDP limit of 7, and a stable framerate that rarely goes below. There are a couple of areas that, when looking in a specific direction, do have some minor dips, but these go away almost immediately. You can change the TDP limit to 8 to fix this, but since it almost never happens, I would say keeping the limit at 7 works great.
As for accessibility, there are multiple different options to choose from. You can give yourself a health boost, increase enemy cooldowns, flip the camera and change your lock-on style, alter the language, change different audio options, and set the gamepad sensitivity.
Hellboy Web of Wyrd does support 16:10 resolutions, so no black bars, and it does have full controller support. Unfortunately, there are no cloud saves though, so you won't be able to continue on another device unless you manually bring the save over.
Hellboy Web of Wyrd is an enjoyable roguelike brawler that shines with its core gameplay loop. The combat in the game can be addicting, especially when using the mechanics to chain together attacks and deal massive damage. The story is passable; it isn't the biggest draw for me, but it is carried in part by Lance Reddick's performance. It also runs wonderfully on the Steam Deck, not needing many changes to completely enjoy the game! If you are a fan of Hellboy and roguelike games, this is an easy recommendation.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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Hellboy Web of Wyrd is a great roguelike with an addicting gameplay loop. And, with minimum changes, the game runs great on the Steam Deck.
