Hellboy Web of Wyrd is an upcoming action roguelite based on the iconic comics of Mike Mignola. The third-person beat ’em up comes from studio Upstream Arcade, which previously released West of Dead, and will be published by Good Shepherd Entertainment, known for its work on releasing titles like Monster Train and John Wick Hex. Though the game utilizes the well-known character and world of Hellboy, Web of Wyrd presents an entirely new story for players to explore.
When Hellboy Web of Wyrd was announced at the 2022 Game Awards, it made a fast impression through its distinct visual style that mimicks that of the comics. Players will be able to control the titular character and utilize melee moves, spells, and guns in order to take down enemies in the Wyrd, the interdimensional world that connects different realms. Though not much of the main narrative has been revealed so far, the story begins when a B.P.R.D. agent goes missing and Hellboy sets off to track them down.
Screen Rant sat down with Patrick Martin, the art director of Upstream Arcade, to learn more about Hellboy Web of Wyrd‘s features, how it’s setting itself apart as a new story, and what fans can expect from the game.
Screen Rant: Can you describe how the game’s levels are set up?
Patrick Martin: So the levels that you go through are procedurally generated to try and mimic the style for how Hellboy always has a surprise around the next corner. The players never get the opportunity to learn the levels but they understand the rules of the levels and how they present themselves in many different combinations.
What was it like working with Mike Mignola?
Patrick Martin: He’s very much a person who is very much a comic guy is not a games guy; he doesn’t really get games and he freely admits that. And I think that’s really useful because he knows that it’s important that you let games people do games things, film people do film things, and he has the comics. He was really happy for us to once we showed that we could do something in the style and that we kind of got Hellboy, he’s like, “these guys know what they’re doing.” So he didn’t feel the need to get involved. And he realized that it’s better for us to have a story that we could make up that suits the game, so he’s very happy.
And when did you say this was set?
Patrick Martin: 1982.
Is there anything in this you think will be surprising to people who are already fans of the Hellboy comics?
Patrick Martin: I think it’s the nods really. I think they’ll go through and there’ll be some things there that make them smile. I always get a bit of warmth from that, that someone’s actually taking the time, and it’s not rammed down the face. There’s just some softballs there, and it’s like, “Okay, I get that, that’s nice.” And there are some elements to the story that may be revealed that are related to some people where fans go, “Ah, right.” I can’t give too much away, I’m afraid.
Is there a length for the game in mind?
Patrick Martin: So it depends on how you play and your skill set, but between 10 and 15 hours. Once you’re done with the story, there are some post-game treats.
Could you talk a little bit about just how this specific aesthetic was created?
Patrick Martin: It certainly comes with challenges. Hellboy is quite a unique silhouette. For example, if you look at his shoulders, they’re quite slanted, sloped down. Usually when you’re creating a character you model them in a T-pose or an A-pose before they go to get rigged. It’s quite hard to see exactly where the position of the shoulders are once rigged, the shoulders are all up around his neck and there’s quite a bit of iteration going backwards and forwards, trying to bring those shoulders down. Also you probably noticed a lot of imagery from the front of Hellboy, but rarely from the back. And as you’ll see from running around, in this case it was a lot of detective work really to try and realize what he looked like.
Also, there’s things like no one quite knows what’s inside the Right Hand of Doom, so there’s things we have to hide or make an approximation on. And also usually there’s artistic license for him to be drawn differently in every frame, but we have to automate the character to work in 3D all the way around. So we could get it looking right at some angles, and then other times it’s not quite right. So there’s a lot of scratching our chins huddled around the monster making sure it looks right.
One of the fun things: we were trying to figure out the length of his tail for so long. Normally you draw it in and it’s kind of around about this size, but for us, obviously, it’s a constant for the tail to be there. So there’s all those sort of things, little challenges to figure out, which is quite super exciting to be very happy with that now.
You touched a little bit on the sort of main plot of the game, is there anything else you can tell me about the story?
Patrick Martin: I don’t think I can. It follows sort of issue structure really. So it’s a mystery you’re going to try and solve as you come to make your way down through the world.
Check out more Gamescom 2023 coverage here!
Hellboy Web of Wyrd will be released October 4 for PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
