The developers behind the upcoming dark action-adventure game, Hell is Us, criticize many modern games for diminishing exploration by constantly marking objectives on mini-maps. This development is also why the duo deliberately chose an opposite design philosophy for their project. That said, are they right that most games present exploration variables too readily? By taking this bold approach in reshaping the game’s minimaps, both men seek to provide an answer.
Developers Make Exploration Challenging Again
During the Future Games Show Summer Showcase, executive creative director and art director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête and studio head and executive producer Yves Bordeleau explained their reasoning. According to the duo, most games present exploration and discovery elements too easily. As a result, they eliminated these conveniences entirely, making Hell is Us a more demanding and rewarding exploration experience.
When recalling his discussions about classic Zelda games with Jacques-Belletête, Bordeleau noted their effective balance of providing just enough direction without excessive hand-holding. Moreover, Jacques-Belletête further compared this navigation philosophy to real life, suggesting people naturally orient themselves using sight, sound, and shared information. With Hell is Us implementing this principle directly, players can expect to see this philosophy potentially manifesting during actual gameplay. An NPC, for example, might state she doesn’t know anything precisely about enemy movements but mentions seeing them head towards a distinctive monument visible in the distance behind her.
Locations and Weapons
In terms of weaponry, players discover unnaturally sleek melee weapons after encountering others wielding them, contrasting sharply with the goopy white Hollow Walkers. Similarly, conventional firearms in Hell is Us prove useless against Hadea’s unnatural threats. According to creative director Jacques-Belletête, these deliberately off-kilter weapon designs are phantasmagorical. Beyond its weaponry, how does the game juxtapose its environments? Locations ranging from bizarre crypts housing smooth doorways and disturbing racial conflict lore to ruined cemetery shacks and World War I-style trenches offer players unique places to explore.
Ultimately, these two extremes create a deeply uneasy atmosphere through their collision. Furthermore, diverse global sources were inspirations for Hadea’s fictional setting. While Eastern Europe contributes, Jacques-Belletête consciously avoids relying solely on this region. The developer consciously avoids relying solely on this region, finding it potentially clichéd and wishing to minimize comparisons to games like Stalker 2, which shares similar military themes. Additionally, the game’s world design was also significantly influenced by the British countryside, especially the New Forest, which he considers magical.
Meaning Behind the Hell Is Us Name
The title ‘Hell is Us’ is purposefully used in a plural sense, reflecting the game’s core challenge as players combat against the pale, fleshy Hollow Walker humanoids. When these creatures are defeated, they often trigger a transformation, where a glowing variant emerges, releasing a suspended mass of shifting red cubes connected by a disturbing umbilical cord. To make the game harder, players will have to counter erratic, Green Lantern-like shape assaults, but how do they accomplish this? When compared to the Hollow Walkers’ stop-start attacks, parrying proves difficult against their unpredictable movements.
Beyond these bizarre enemies, the title, Hell is Us, signifies an even deeper meaning within the protagonist Remi’s journey, who returns to his homeland, Hadea, during its brutal 1993 civil war, after being smuggled out as a child. He’s compelled to join a peacekeeping force to cross the border for unknown reasons, before going AWOL to find his parents. Meanwhile, the civil war’s bloodshed masks an even more disturbing problem, as Remi discovers a reality-defying phenomenon that emerges from Hadea’s ancient tombs.
No Minimap Markers, No Problem
Since players won’t receive minimap markers, they’ll have to explore independently, combining gathered clues with environmental observation—and sometimes luck—to locate objectives. In Hell is Us, players are transported to an isolated nation torn by conflict, tasked with uncovering secrets about their past and confronting the fallout from a mysterious disaster. With the game set to be released on September 5, 2025, the wait among players to experience this approach firsthand is nearly over.
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