HELL: A CYBERPUNK THRILLER

Beyond imagination, to the pits of man's fears, lies a new breed of evil. Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller. A place where evil is right, and mercy is wrong. The year is 2095, the government controls the gates of Hell and has declared you a fugitive for sins against the state. You must unlock the secrets of the underworld to prove your innocence as you battle demons amid a cyberworld of sinister deceit and ruthless evil. 

Lavish high-resolution graphics and full motion multi-media videos make this nightmare disturbingly real. Prepare for the horror... of Hell.

Starring

• Dennis Hopper
• Stephanie Seymour
• Grace Jones
• Geoffrey Holder

~ from the back of the box

Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller is one of those early point-and-click CD-ROM adventure games that did everything it could to show off the power of shiny discs. It touted impressive pre-rendered graphics, a Hollywood cast, and a hyped up cyberpunk aesthetic that signalled "I'm hip and futuristic" before the Y2K scene took over. Released in 1994 by Take-Two Interactive, the game tries very hard to be edgy, prophetic, and cinematic. Sometimes it works. Other times, well, let's just say the title wasn't chosen by accident.

The setting drops you into Washington D.C. in 2095, a grim dystopia where authoritarian theocrats called the Hand of God have outlawed fun - literally. Comics, VR, good music, and anything resembling joy is banned, while their loyal police force, the ARC, keeps everyone in line. When two of those officers, Gideon Eshanti and Rachel Braque, discover they're suddenly on the hit list of their own employers, the story kicks off into a mix of political conspiracy, rebel factions, and occasional demon-hunting. It's the kind of overstuffed cyberpunk premise that screams 90s.

Chose to play as either Gideon Eshanti or Rachel Braque, though there's little change to the actual game (left).

You can recruit an additional 3 members to your party to help in solving puzzles or other sticky situations (right).

Gameplay-wise, this is a pretty straightforward adventure title. You point, you click, you collect items, you interrogate shady characters in dive bars. The UI is functional, with a handy top panel for your inventory and city map to move to different locations - a feature that replaces leaving by the front door. If you've played BloodNet (and the developers clearly had a hand in it), you'll feel right at home. In fact, there's even an in-game nod to BloodNet - a cheeky little poster referencing its game-over screen. At least they were self-aware about their inspirations.

Where Hell gets interesting is in its character system. Gideon and Rachel are joined by up to three companions at different points, each with unique skills - like a counterfeiter for fake passports or a demolitions expert for those moments when subtlety isn't an option. It's not an RPG, so don't expect stats or leveling, but it does add some flavor to the otherwise standard puzzle-solving loop. Sadly, only Gideon and Rachel are ever visible onscreen. The rest hang back, chiming in with the occasional voice line like cyberpunk groupies.

Your inventory. Each character has their own backpack which is more than enough space for everything (left).

Dennis Hopper stylishly overplays the devilish Mr. Beautiful, but expect to hear other famous folk too (right).

Now let's talk puzzles. Object-based problems are generally fine, maybe even fun if few and far between. But the word puzzles? Absolutely brutal. The game is obsessed with passwords, riddles, and obscure codes. Every five minutes, someone's computer or locked door demands a magic word, and heaven help you if you don't have it. Some clues are hidden in conversations or background details, but many feel designed to test your patience more than your brainpower. It's the kind of puzzle design that makes you grateful for modern walkthroughs - and pity anyone who played blind back in 1994.

Speaking of conversations: buckle up. Hell loves to talk. The game is packed with long, verbose cutscenes where characters deliver monologues about politics, religion, or philosophy. The voice acting is actually pretty great - especially Dennis Hopper, who lends his talents to the flamboyant demon Mr. Beautiful - but even Hopper's gravelly charisma can't save you from sheer exhaustion. What could've been sharp, punchy world-building often drags into endurance-testing lectures. The future is bleak, yes, but did we really need the TED Talk?

The menu bar at the top gives you access to your map.

It's the only way to leave a location, even if where you want to go is right next door.

Still, there's no denying the production values for the time. The graphics were fully rendered and looked sharp compared to many contemporaries, with atmospheric lighting and smooth animations that put clunkier games from the same period like Dragon Lore to shame. Even today, it holds a nostalgic charm marred only by the complete disregard for perspective. In some scenes the characters look like they've been shrunk to hobbit size and let loose in the world of The Warriors or Robocop. Live-action FMV cutscenes blend in decently with the otherwise CGI art style, and the sound design - while sparse - mostly works. The music, however, is forgettable industrial beats on loop, which don't exactly help when you're already stuck in dialogue purgatory.

The big marketing hook, of course, was the Hollywood cast. Alongside Dennis Hopper, you've got Stephanie Seymour, Grace Jones, and Geoffrey Holder lending their voices. Seymour even appears as a digital likeness. It was a bold attempt to add star power, and while not everyone gets a ton of screen time, the performances are leagues ahead of the wooden deliveries that plagued many adventure games of the era. Hopper's Mr. Beautiful in particular is one of the few characters who genuinely feels alive, chewing scenery in the best way possible.

In the end, Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller is a relic of the 90s - ambitious, stylish, and occasionally brilliant, but bogged down by its own excesses. The world-building is fascinating, the cast is impressive, and the visuals hold up surprisingly well. But the endless word puzzles and marathon-length cutscenes make it seem more like an interactive movie than an actual game. If you can tolerate a little suffering in exchange for a dense cyberpunk atmosphere, Hell might be worth a trip. Just don’t expect salvation.

To download the game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber uses the DOSBox-X build of DOSBox to bring the game to modern systems. Manual, Liner Notes and Official Strategy Guide included. Read the ChamberNotes.txt for more detailed information. Tested on Windows 10.

File Size: 411 Mb.  Install Size: 785 Mb.  Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

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Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller is © Take 2 Interactive Software
Review, Cover Design and Installer created by me

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