In the lead-up to this year's Game Awards, Geoff Keighley remarked that the show would be much shorter, and smaller than in previous years. Geoff Keighley may have been lying. The Game Awards 2022 ceremony lasted for well over 3 hours, with a vast number of new game announcements coming between each round of awards. While heavy hitters like Hades 2 and Death Stranding 2 stole the show, there were plenty of smaller announcements that slipped under the radar, with Hellboy: Web of Wyrd being one of them.
Announced during the Game Awards' preshow, Hellboy: Web of Wyrd stood out from the moment its trailer started. Featuring a striking cel-shaded art style, and having a focus on brutal hand-to-hand combat, Hellboy: Web of Wyrd has already managed to gain the attention of comic book fans, and it's already managed to stand out in the overwhelming sea of superhero video games.
How Hellboy: Web of Wyrd Stands Out From the Crowd
One thing that immediately sets Hellboy: Web of Wyrd apart from the rest of the superhero video games currently on the market is its willingness to work directly with the source material's original creator. With Mike Mignola's name plastered on the game's front cover, fans would expect that Hellboy's original creator would have a pretty big role in this game. Thankfully, that's absolutely true, with Hellboy: Web of Wyrd's original story being written by Mignola himself, adding an immediate layer of authenticity to the project.
Another element that already singles Hellboy: Web of Wyrd out is its striking art style. By using cel-shading, Hellboy: Web of Wyrd manages to capture the essence of its source material instantly. Hellboy's character model looks as though it's been ripped straight from the page, with lighting being used masterfully to give him that comic book look. With games like Marvel's Avengers and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League are trying to achieve life-like visuals, Hellboy's authentic art style sets it apart in a clear and memorable way.
Hellboy: Web of Wyrd's actual gameplay also looks as though it'll separate the game from its other superhero competition when it eventually releases. Though Hellboy is a third-person action game, its approach to combat seems a lot different from other games in the genre. Hellboy seems as though it'll put a focus on hand-to-hand combat, with slow, methodical attacks being the primary form of gameplay. In this, Hellboy's fighting mechanics seem almost Souls-like, with players seemingly needing to wait for an opportunity to attack, and use parries to deflect oncoming hits.
In general Hellboy: Web of Wyrd's gameplay seems very different from its competition. Marvel's Spider-Man, for instance, focuses much more on fast-paced combat, with hard-hitting combos, gadgets, and air-juggling being key to success. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy was a third-person shooter that allowed players to command their squad to use abilities. And while Marvel's Wolverine hasn't shown any of its gameplay yet, fans are assuming that it'll be a more grounded version of Spider-Man, which would also be sufficiently different from Hellboy. On top of its more methodical combat, Hellboy is also set to feature roguelite gameplay, with players entering different procedurally generated dungeons in the form of different dimensions connected to the titular Web of Wyrd. On the whole, Hellboy: Web of Wyrd has already managed to stand out in an oversaturated market, which is particularly impressive considering the game has only received one brief trailer.
Hellboy: Web of Wyrd is currently in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.