Hell in video games.

[Deleted member 3534]

Maybe there's something wrong with me but ever since the original Doom, Hell has been one of my favorite settings in video games. It's alien in a different way than your stereotypical alien settings. I mean, it's hell.

Gore and viscera decorating the walls. Red and black is always in season in hell. But so few games venture into this territory. So few in fact that this thread wouldn't be very interesting if I were to limit the discussion purely to the Christian after life.

So what are your favorite hell or hellish environments in games? It doesn't just have to be black and red Demonic gore nests. It can be anything you consider hellish.

Doom is the obvious answer so I going with the Ishimura from Dead Space.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I remember liking Heck from Earthworm Jim.

 

[5taquitos]

Agony

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

[Fiery Phoenix]

The early demos for Agony showed a pretty impressive depiction of Hell, though I haven't been following the game since (apparently it's terrible to play).

 

[Rosebud]

I love the "Underworld" sections from God of War.

 

[Adree]

Painkiller's final level was Hell envisioned as an endless battle in various time periods frozen in time with a nuclear bomb stuck in mid-detonation.

 

[Davoid]

That and Doom, of course.

 

[ChatonPute]

Not the darkest one for sure, but I love the hell setting in Worms ^-^

 

[Derachi]

I read the title of this thread as "Hell is Video Games" and came in to agree until I realized that's not what the title was.

 

[ArjanN]

I like 'I have no mouth but I must scream' and Silent Hill 2 ("for me it's always like this") for some more subtle examples.

 

[Red Arremer]

Yeah, there's very few depictions of hell in games that aren't fiery and gory red/black caverns and gothic cathedrals. There's sections in Dante's Inferno (the game, as well as the novel) that are quite different from that, I specifically remember an ice section based on the Greek Cocytus, the frozen river of Hades.

 

[sn00zer]

Painkiller easily.
Hell is essentially a snap shot in time of every human tragedy all occuring at the same time frozen in time. WW1, the titanic sinking, all wars in history, the nuclear blast. Seriously one of the most haunting visions of hell Ive seen.

 

[Pyramid Head]

The Hell environments were the weakest part of Doom 2016 for me. It was just a pretty vanilla depiction

 

[Carassius Auratus]

Super Paper Mario had an interesting depiction of it.

 

[BizzyBum]

All the different Oblivion realms in Elder Scrolls are great.

 

['3y Kingdom]

Not exactly Hell, but:

Norfair/Ridley's Lair in Super Metroid.
The Deadlands of Oblivion in TES IV.

 

[AllMight1]

similar to hell but i love the otherworld in Silent Hill

 

[SusumuStreet]

Fear Effect 1 had an interesting hell. It was cold and murky with enemies based on Chinese lore.

Not great images but it was the opposite of the red and hot type of thing:

More in line with the typical burning fire type of hell, I always like Earthworm Jim's version. The terrific sprite work and wide array of background pieces they made really sold it.

 

[galvatron]

I remember liking Heck from Earthworm Jim.

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Oddly I just played that level last night. It's still a pretty fun setting with the lawyers and elevator music.

 

[CannonFodder52]

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Strong pick

 

[Acquiescence]

The portrayal of Hell in Fear Effect is really unique and freaky. They don't go for the typical fire and brimstone aesthetic, but something much more different. Its depiction is partly based in Chinese mythology, so that shakes thing up a bit, but combine that with the game's cinematic aspirations and special "MotionFX" tech, and the devs managed to create a place that was genuinely unsettling. It was supremely effective at the time anyway, so it always stuck with me.

Not the best images, but it is a PS1 game after all.

 

[Chopchop]

The Inferno level in Bayonetta 2 looked pretty cool.

 

[scrabble]

Hell to me has always been more psychological as opposed to a lava world with fire everywhere. With that caveat i'd go with Silent Hill 2.

 

[crazy monkey]

Dante's inferno.

 

[Krakin]

Everything in Bloodborne

 

[SkyOdin]

SaGa Frontier for the PS1 had an interesting version of Hell. When you arrive, it looks just like Heaven, complete with angels floating around. If you bump into one of those angels though, you are attacked by monsters.

When you reach the boss at the end, Hell Lord, the dungeon starts to show its true colors. The boss will shift back and forth between two different forms, and the background swaps accordingly between the heavenly illusion and the hellish truth.

The dungeon even has a unique game mechanic called heavenly peace: all damage is reduced until someone breaks the peace by casting a magic spell.

 

[Skittzo]

All the different Oblivion realms in Elder Scrolls are great.

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Except for the actual ones you go to in TESIV.

The descriptions of all of the others sound really cool, but TESIV just gives you generic fiery hellscapes. That was pretty disappointing.

 

['3y Kingdom]

Except for the actual ones you go to in TESIV.

The descriptions of all of the others sound really cool, but TESIV just gives you generic fiery hellscapes. That was pretty disappointing.

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They made a nice contrast with the rest of the game, though. Lush green vs. blasted, fiery red.

 

[Deleted member 43446]

Uhm Dante's Inferno was an interesting hellish setting. The first God Of War had a good section with giant bones, spikes and people falling from above to a sea of lava.
My favorite hell setting so far has been Gat Out of Hell though, nothing too unsettling but instead a fun world to explore.

 

[rusty chrome]

I love Hel in God of War.

 

[Rackham]

Agony has some interesting environments and demon designs. It also seems to be one of the few that focuses on pure evil shit mixed with biblical lust.

The Ishimura is a nice example of an environment gone to hell.

 

[Kthulhu]

What I like more is hell in videogames that isn't in the traditional fire and brimstone way like in God of War.

 

[Megametzelfleischer]

All the different circles of hell as depicted in the game Dante's Inferno.

 

[Noema]

Everything in Bloodborne

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Specially the 'Nightmare' areas. You either get frenzie'd, or invaded, or devoured by giant spiders, or all three.

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

Comcast attempting to use Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 to promote its internet service.
https://www.resetera.com/threads/co...-ops-4-to-promote-its-internet-service.50769/


¯\_(ツ)_/¯


Back on topic: Gat out of Hell was pretty great

 

[Garlador]

Saint's Row had a fun version of it.

 

[CopyOfACopy]

Always loved Hell depicted in the Darkness, demons crossed with WWI&2 german imagery.

 

[julia crawford]

Hell is video games.

 

[Ravelle]

I love Hel in God of War.

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It was cool but it's a shame it wasn't a proper realm like Niflheim, would have loved to explore and meet some characters there.

 

[NotSelf]

 

[Mr. Poolman]

This damn place, Wii's Rainbow Road.

 

[BossAttack]

Fear Effect 1 had an interesting hell. It was cold and murky with enemies based on Chinese lore.

Not great images but it was the opposite of the red and hot type of thing:


More in line with the typical burning fire type of hell, I always like Earthworm Jim's version. The terrific sprite work and wide array of background pieces they made really sold it.

Click to shrink...

Mmmmm Trypophobia.

 

[Khalme]

Hel in Hellblade : Senua's Sacrifice was a pretty depressing place.

I'm not going to say much more because spoilers, but the journey to Hel was harrowing.

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

Hellblade was incredible. That audio.

Depending on your interpretation silent hill 2

 

[Crayolan]

From Cave Story.

 

[IBLiSTRiGGER]

Except for the actual ones you go to in TESIV.

The descriptions of all of the others sound really cool, but TESIV just gives you generic fiery hellscapes. That was pretty disappointing.

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i dunno, the shivering isles were pretty fantastic, reminded me of the seelie and unseelie courts. definitely a very beautiful, alien, and frightening world.

calling the oblivion realms 'hell' is a bit of a stretch, though. they're not really like that.

 

[Zacmortar]

Not technically Hell or even an Afterlife, but Silent Hill's Otherworld acts very much the way Hell is often described as, with fire/blood/brimstone, whilst also being personalized nightmares! Probably the most inventive take on a Hell-like setting I've ever seen in a video game, especially the sheer Otherness of 1 and 3's!

 

[Buff Beefbroth]

Really liked the kinda WWI-flavored hell from The Darkness. It's a damn shame that's not on BC.

 

[lazygecko]

Oddly I just played that level last night. It's still a pretty fun setting with the lawyers and elevator music.

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I always thought they were door to door insurance salesmen.

 

[Chiramii]

I found hell in Terraria to be really fun. Making tunnels mining for hellstone is one of my favorite things to do in that game.