In the modern-day world where video game remakes, remasters, and re-releases seem to be all the rage, new and unique games seem left in the lurch. Your old favourite games you played relentlessly as a kid now have a 1080p coat of paint applied, bringing a wash of nostalgia and a warming to your heart. Other re-releases are ported games that have had no upscale or new painting added to them at all! At times like these, a wonderous thought emerges: Where has all the originality gone?

Well, wonder no longer! Most unique and original games are now being pumped out by independent developers and publishers almost daily. Two such companies, 43 Studios and Joystick Ventures respectively, have teamed up to produce one of the most unique approaches to the platform genre in the last 10 years!

Fortunately, Hell of an Office is an original concept and suffers no damage from the threat of being a remake or a re-release. This is 100 per cent pure original HELL-istic gameplay at its finest! So, put on your best corporate shirt, slap on a dapper tie, pack a lunch, and bring a cold drink because this game will leave you sweating!

Welcome, to Hell of an Office!

Hell of an Office is a faced paced time-trial-based platformer, where you play as an unnamed employee, who works for Hell0, run by C.E.O. Mr. Stan Morningstar (who looks remarkably like The Devil, only Stan wears a nice suit).

From the animated trailer alone, you can tell that the creative team involved share a deep love towards animation, combined with fast-paced action, and a fun easy-to-follow storyline. Shortly after taking the lift down into the negative levels, a perky, cheerful corporate mascot named Mr Stapley (who quite literally has a stapler for a head) greets you and welcomes you to Hell…0. Stapley advises you to climb up through the corporate in-game world without having your lungs turn black – like many former Hell0 employees before you.

So, we’ve got that going for us. Nice.

Your goal is simple: race through the floating, demonic, fire-breathing, lava-flowing, destroyed remnants of your office, sprawled across 10 worlds, with 10 levels in each world in hopes of making it to the escape portal. Oh, and if that doesn’t sound stressful enough already, your efforts are being timed!

The quicker you escape; the higher rank of level completion medal you obtain! What’s unique about this portion of the game is that, upon level completion, you are taken to the level completion screen that not only shows your awarded medal, but you can also view your worldwide timed ranking placement against other real-life players!

Hey! There’s nothing wrong with global ranking level 1063 now is there!… Right?… RIGHT?!

To compensate for the increasing levels of heat, lava, demon spawns, and overall chaos, the game rewards you with new abilities – yay for personal growth!

Now you may be thinking: Hey, I’ve played platformers before and they bore me out quickly, why should I pick up this game and tempt my platforming fate one more time? Well, allow me to tempt you with this statement:

This game is no joke. By level 3 of World 2, I was already starting to sweat – literally! After overcoming the stress and personal hygiene situation, I felt I was getting the overall vibe of this game… Until I was suddenly engulfed in flames and introduced to the fire-fuelled carnage of level 4. Imagine the video game Doom mixed with Portal aided by the increased pressure of a stop clock.

After being dunked/falling into in-game lava about 60 times (and hosing myself down with Lynx Africa), I finally advanced to World 3 appropriately named “Stress Valley.” Seems welcoming. Beginning World 3 immediately rewards/adds to your platforming stress with fast-paced wind tunnels, complimented with ghoulish, burnt, zombie-looking creatures from “human resources” now populating the world. Sounds just like the real world, am I right?

The only downfall I found whilst trying to navigate hell was that shooting certain objects sometimes didn’t register, which left me helplessly shooting at anything around me as I plummeted once more in eagerly awaiting lava. It’s not a huge distraction, but when you’re racing for your (in-game) life, it’s a frustrating circumstance.

Hell of an Office graphics are perfectly suited for this type of speed-riddled gameplay. All in-game actions feel influenced by cartoon/90s animation styles, with the in-game avatars crafted with a mix of comic-inspired drawings, perfectly rendered and reflective of the worlds thrust upon you.

The music is also perfectly crafted for this game. Most high-paced action games suffer in either the SFX or soundtrack department, whereby either the punches, hits and kicks don’t reflect well with the action, or the soundtrack is so out loud and out of place that it takes your immersion out of the game, opens a window and throws it into oncoming traffic.

Welp, that felt dark. Bear with me, I’ve been in hell! (get it?)

Hell of an Office is an energetic, intriguing approach to the famed platforming genre. With its rapid-precise timed controls, attractive graphics, and a soundtrack you want to download, Hell of an Office reminds you of the platforming titles that kept you staying up late and ordering more energy drinks!

Written by: Brutaleo