When it comes to games with zombies or demons in them what do you think of? What if we were to include waves in hordes of them come at you?

Based on these two questions alone, we would guess that you were talking about Call of Duty Zombies, Gears of War Horde, Killing Floor, Doom Eternal, or Halo Firefight.

Killing waves of enemies is not a unique game mode to any specific game but certain ones have become more reputable than others.

As a fan of FPS horde survival game modes, we made it a point to check out Hellbreach: Vegas at PAX East 2023 – here’s our preview:

HellBreach: Vegas Demo

Going into the HellBreach: Vegas demo, based on the trailers, we were expecting a game similar to Call of Duty Zombies. What we didn’t expect was how similar it was. Loading into the game, we were shocked on how many similarities there are with it being nearly a carbon copy.

Players could choose between different characters and customize their character’s looks; players could customize the character’s outfit, weapon skins, and other customizable details. The four characters are: Stan, Riley, April, and Frank.

Once the player loads into the map, they will need to fight off demon hordes and gather money in order to buy better weapons. Players can also use their money to buy skills, open doors, and buy power-ups. Once a door is open, the player can choose to barricade the door to inhibit the demons’ progress.

Hellbreach: Vegas features multiple levels but at PAX East 2023 we only got to play on one level. The demo only allowed players to fight up to Round 5 giving players only a taste of what they can expect.

For the demo, we were required to use a mouse and keyboard to play which caused a bit of a learning curve and time to get adjusted. In fact, the first time we attempted to play the demo, we died on round 2 which was a bit demoralizing.

Despite previously dying on round 2, we were determined to get further on each run. By the end of our PAX East preview, we were able to survive the 5 rounds even just barely by the skin of our teeth. In fact, at one point, we went down and killed the last demon while down.

The game drops a fair amount of power-ups for the player to use in order to survive but does not make it too easy. A player who is already used to the game’s mechanics can easily run around the map killing the demons as they spawn.

Looking at Hellbreach: Vegas, it looks like the developers used the Unreal assets to help design their demons and levels but added their own special textures and designs to those assets.

The base weapons feel rather generic but do not feel out of place; even the raygun has its own spin that makes it stand out with more of a 50s to 70s art-style vibe.

Despite being rather similar to Call of Duty Zombies, it still creates its own spin on the horde survival game type. In fact, when we spoke with publishers, they stated that the developers were inspired by Call of Duty Zombies and other horde games.

We wish we could share with you our interview with the Hellbreach: Vegas team, but sadly, the ambiance from the convention floor was too overpowering to overcome.

Demo Available on Steam

If you would like to try Hellbreach: Vegas, a demo is available on Steam to play. At the moment, the demo appears to be only single player but gives you a good taste of what to expect. If you are a fan of zombies, then you will enjoy slaying Hellbreach: Vegas’ demons.

Yes, there are similarities, but it ultimately scratches the itch that you might not have even known that you have. Hellbreach: Vegas is launching sometime later this year for Windows PC.