HELL ON EARTH

Stack: Unity, C#, 2.5D Graphics, Audio Systems

HELL ON EARTH

A Metroidvania with combat on the beat, a world built from voxels and characters in 2D pixel art. Sounds like it shouldn't work. It does.

The question was: what comes out if you mix Hollow Knight's exploration with Crypt of the NecroDancer's rhythm combat. No deep story, no cutscenes: gameplay, combat that lands, and bosses that will wreck you.

Spare time project. No release date.

Why voxels and sprites together

The world is voxels because it lets me build with real depth without being a 3D artist: I lay out a level fast, change it fast, and it all stays coherent.

The characters are 2D because the animation is more expressive and the combat reads better, which is the only thing that matters when you either dodge in time or you don't.

And the areas are 2.5D: you move on a plane, but the world has a background. You can see the area you're heading to, enemies on another plane, and there are secrets behind a wall.

The rhythm

You attack, dodge and use abilities on the beat. Miss it and you hit for less; land it and you chain.

It isn't as strict as NecroDancer — you move freely — but the combat rewards following the beat instead of mashing.

::two-columns split="50-50"::

Exploration

Interconnected map, abilities that open areas, secrets, multiple routes, and backtracking that pays off.

::column-break::

Combat

Hits on time, rhythmic dodge, musical parry, and enemy patterns synced to the track.

::/two-columns::

The bosses

They are the game. Each has its own track, its own phases and its own tempo changes, and you have to learn the pattern: there's no shortcut and no exploit around it.

They aren't fair. They're brutal. That's why taking one down feels the way it does.

The music isn't background

Every area has its theme and every boss has its own. The combat works because it's synced: without the music this is half a game.