The MMORPG Hellgate: London from 2007 was quickly discontinued due to technical flaws, leaving fans disappointed. To this day, it is considered a Diablo-like hack and slay shooter. Now fans are reviving the dead MMORPG as London 2038.
This is Hellgate: London: The MMORPG Hellgate: London was discontinued in 2009 and after several developer changes and unsuccessful revival attempts in recent years, the title eventually landed in 2018 as a single-player variant on Steam. Many fans wish for the multiplayer to return. Modders have taken on this request since the end of 2016 and are now launching their beta.
Basically, hack and slay mechanics should be combined with shooter gameplay in a world ravaged by demons.
Due to the dark aesthetics, the demons, and the hack and slay gameplay, fans quickly drew comparisons to Diablo, only as a shooter. And that’s no surprise, as the founders of Flagship Studios were former Blizzard employees who had worked on the ARPG.
The cinematic trailer left MMORPG and horror fans in 2007 with their jaws dropped, and even today the concept looks exciting.
Since 2016, fans have been working on a reboot of Hellgate: London and call it London 2038. The beta has been playable since October 31, 2020.
This is London 2038: London 2038 is a multiplayer mod for Hellgate: London that is completely free. It is created by fans and runs on a private server.
The mod imitates the multiplayer known from the time between 2007 and 2009, which was from the first phase of the game. An open beta is currently running. The team explicitly states on their homepage that they do not own the copyrights to the game, do not make money from it, and that every player needs an original copy of Hellgate: London from 2007.
London 2038 is thus at the level of the original, specifically the TCv4 patch from 2008. The Stonehenge and Abyss Chronicles expansions are included. Only the content from Hellgate: Global with the Hellgate: Tokyo expansion from 2011 is not included.
How you can play London 2038: On the official homepage for the mod, you can currently sign up for the open beta, which has been running since October 31. Afterwards, you need to follow these steps:
- Install the original Hellgate: London via CD – select English as the installation language and the region North America.
- Install the MP 2.0 TCv4 patch.
- Download the launcher for London 2038 and place Launcher.exe and Patcher.xml in your Hellgate installation folder.
- Start Launcher.exe, a patch will be installed.
- Then click on Play and enter your username and password.
The guide and the corresponding download links can be found on the official homepage of the London 2038 team. Are you among the original players from 2007 and will you recheck the MMORPG? If you are interested in other MMORPGs, check out our list of the best MMOs and MMORPGs 2020.
