Line #10 VideoGame/HellLetLoose


1	[[quoteright:720:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3536974_7c5ec4255104.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:720:WarIsHell.]]
3
4	''Hell Let Loose'' is a [[TacticalShooter tactical]] FirstPersonShooter developed by Australian Studio Black Matter and published by Creator/Team17. The full version of the game was released for Platform/MicrosoftWindows on July 27, 2021, with a Platform/PlayStation5 and Platform/XboxSeriesX version releasing on October 5th of the same year.
5
6	Set during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII's WorldWarII/WarInEuropeAndAfrica, the game offers 100 player matches on large, sprawling maps. Currently, maps are set in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and the Soviet Union, with the current factions being the [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks United States]], [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Nazi Germany]], the [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Soviet Union]], and, most recently, the [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships United Kingdom]].
7	----
8
9	!''Hell Let Loose'' contains examples of:
10	* AmmunitionBackpack: American, British, and German Support classes equipped with the flamethrower are made obvious by the massive fuel tank backpacks they have on their player model.
11	* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Level up both your career and your classes, and you'll be able to unlock new uniforms, field caps, and helmets.
12	* AntiInfantry: Light machine guns can effectively wipe out entire platoons of enemy infantry provided they're placed in a good position. In addition, there's several buildable obstacles which can block the path of infantry, such as the Belgian Gate or barbed wire. The Engineer, Spotter, and Sniper class also have access to anti-personnel mines.
13	* AntiArmor: The Anti-Tank class serves as this for the standard infantry squad, possessing an anti-tank rocket or anti-tank rifle as one of their primary weapons. In addition to this, they can also construct towed anti-tank guns in certain locations, allowing infantry to destroy tanks from much longer ranges.
14	* AntiVehicle:
15	** Both the Anti-Tank and Engineer classes have access to anti-tank mines, which can destroy enemy trucks, tanks, or armored cars should they run over one.
16	** The British in particular get not one, not two, but a total of ''four'' of these weapons, which includes the Gammon bomb, a grenade designed to take down unarmored and lightly armored vehicles.
17	* AttackItsWeakPoint: The best and most efficient way to knock out a tank or armored car with a bazooka, anti-tank rifle, or Panzerschreck is to hit it in the engine compartment.
18	* AwesomeButImpractical:
19	** Anti-tank guns. While they have much better stopping power and range than man portable anti-tank rocket launchers or anti-tank rifles, they require about 50 resources and someone with a hammer to place down. What's more, they cannot be towed around once set up, and have a limited traverse. In short, they're only really useful for defending capture points against tanks and groups of infantry.
20	** Bunkers, which are impervious to tank shells, small arms fire, strafing runs, and can even protect against artillery strikes and bombing runs, though the latter to a lesser degree. Compared to other defenses, though, building and upgrading one requires far more supplies, takes far longer to build than every other defense, its large size requiring a significant amount of flat terrain to build on, and finally, some bunkers, particularly the German one, not allowing machine guns to be deployed inside of it once fully upgraded.
21	* AwesomePersonnelCarrier: Update 11 adds half-tracks for all factions, with the Americans and Soviets getting the [=M3=] Half-track while the Germans get the Sdkfz 251. They act as half armored troop transport, half mobile spawn point equivalent to a garrison.
22	* CharacterClassSystem: The game separates players into four distinct types: Commanders, Infantry, Armor, and Recon. And the latter 3 are further divided into several other classes that fulfill a number of different roles.
23	** Infantry classes are divided into Officers, Riflemen, Assault, Automatic Riflemen, Medics, Supports, Anti-Tanks, and Engineers. They're the backbone of the classes in-the game, and are always in the thick of combat.
24	** Armor classes are divided into Tank Commanders and Crewmen. Their role is to crew tanks and armored vehicles.
25	** Recon classes are divided into Sniper and Spotter. Their jobs are to spot enemies as well as give targets for the Commander. In the sniper's case, this also includes taking out vital enemy positions from afar.
26	* CharacterCustomization: Players can customize the appearances of their various classes, ranging from different helmets and uniforms to other loadouts.
27	* CombatMedic: One of several playable classes, his role is to revive and heal downed players, while also being rather heavily armed with a rifle and a handgun.
28	* CrewOfOne: Downplayed and averted. While it ''is'' possible to man a tank, armored car, or anti-tank gun by one's lonesome, it is also ''very'' tedious and time consuming to switch between crew positions, not to mention heavily discouraged. To make full use of a tank or anti-tank gun, at least 2 players are needed, with one manning the turret or gun and the other driving or loading.
29	* DeathFromAbove:
30	** Artillery strikes, which have the potential to kill entire squads of soldiers and even a few tanks or vehicles if zeroed in properly.
31	** Bombing runs, which have the Commander call in a few bombers to drop high explosives on certain parts on the map.
32	** Strafing Runs, which have the Commander call in a fighter bomber to strafe certain positions on the map.
33	** Update 10 adds the Katyusha Strike, which is exclusive to the Red Army. It serves as their version of the Bombing Run, with the primary difference being that the Katyusha Strike's target radius is much larger, less precise, and more random.
34	* DefeatEqualsExplosion: Tanks, recon vehicles, and light vehicles will be destroyed in a massive explosion when damaged sufficiently by explosives, anti-tank weapons, or certain small arms.
35	* DesertWarfare: The El Alamein map, which takes place during the battle of the same name in October-November 1942 in the deserts of Egypt between German and British Forces. In stark contrast to every other map in the game, the entire map is covered in yellow sand, has much less vegetation of any sort, and all vehicles on both sides are painted in dark yellow to match the terrain around them.
36	* EasyLogistics: Averted. Among other things emphasized during a match is possessing enough supplies to perform certain tasks. Namely, these include: building fortifications, gun emplacements, and garrisons. In most cases, supplies must be delivered on foot or dropped in by air, but recent updates have implemented drivable supply trucks which can deliver large amounts of supplies nearer to the frontline.
37	* EasterEgg: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe5J5VgDvW8 The Landkreuzer P.1000 Ratte]] can be found in the Hurtgen Forest map.
38	* TheEngineer: One of several playable classes who fulfills a number of roles, including repairing tanks and vehicles in the field with his blowtorch, setting up anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, and helping construct fortifications.
39	* EpicTankOnTankAction: Thanks to the large size of each map and both sides having access to tanks, tank-on-tank clashes are a common occurence. The biggest example is, undoubtedly, Kursk, where up to 6 player-controlled tanks can be spawned on the map, and the large, open terrain encourages tank-on-tank engagements.
40	* FireBreathingWeapon: Update 13 introduces the [=M2=] Flamethrower and Flammenwerfer 41 for the US and German Support classes. The British update adds the Flamethrower, Portable, No. 2 for the British Support class.
41	* FlareGun: Introduced in Update 12 are Flare Guns as an unlockable weapon for the Spotter Class, which can be used to either mark certain parts of the map for artillery and air strikes, or to light up nighttime battlefields.
42	* FragileSpeedster:
43	** Light tanks. They're incredibly fast for an armored vehicle, to the point they can outrun infantry on foot and all other tank types. However, their armor is sorely lacking, easily capable of being knocked out by a man portable anti-tank rocket or towed anti-tank tank. And, in a tank-on-tank engagement, their armor stands little, if any, chance of stopping an armor-piercing shell.
44	** Recon vehicles as well. Like light tanks, they're very agile and decently armed. Their drawback is the same as light tanks, with minimal or no armor protection for its crew, anti-tank rockets can easily punch through their armor, and against tanks, they're easy targets.
45	* GlassCannon:
46	** The [=M4=] Sherman Medium Tank. Not as fast as the Stuart, but it's 75 mm tank gun has the power to penetrate the side armor of even the Tiger I Heavy tank. Also, compared to its Jumbo variants, this Sherman has average armor by comparison, making it far more vulnerable to all German anti-tank weapons and guns.
47	** The Panzer IV introduced in Update 11 is this as well. While slower than the Panzer II, its long-barreled 75mm tank gun can damage heavy tanks at mid-range, but its relatively thin armor makes it vulnerable to all sorts of tank guns and anti-tank weapons on all sides, with even angling being unable to save it in the long run.
48	* HoldTheLine: The Offensive Mode is this in a nutshell, with one team attacking and attempting to capture all objectives, while the other defends the objectives to prevent them from capturing within the time limit given.
49	* ItsRainingMen: Reinforcements can respawn in via the Airhead redeploy method behind enemy lines, allowing a team to potentially outflank their enemies and capture an important objective.
50	* LightningBruiser: The Panther Tank. Compared to its American, British and Soviet counterparts, it can take far more damage, while also boasting a high velocity 75mm tank gun that has far more potency than the 75mm, 76mm, and 85mm found on its Allied counterparts. In addition, for a heavy tank, its surprisingly fast and pretty maneuverable.
51	* MacrossMissileMassacre: Rather than get a bombing run like the US, Great Britain, and Germany, the Soviet equivalent is the Katyusha Strike, which launches dozens of rockets at German positions and reduces anything within its radius to ruin.
52	* ManOnFire: The end result of a soldier, friendly or enemy, being on the receiving end of a Molotov Cocktail or Flamethrower.
53	* MightyGlacier:
54	** The [=M4A3E2=] Sherman Jumbo (76) has the heaviest armor amongst the American tanks in-game, and is armed with the same 76mm gun found on the [=M4A1=] Sherman, allowing it to penetrate the front armor of both the Panther and Tiger tanks. Compared to the Stuart and its Medium tank counterpart, however, its somewhat slower.
55	** The Tiger I tank. It has the most powerful tank gun and thickest armor in the game, at the cost of having somewhat less mobility than either the Panzer II or the Panther.
56	** The IS-1 heavy tank. Like the Tiger, it has thick frontal armor and a powerful main gun, but compared to the T-34 also used by the Soviets, its more sluggish and slower overall.
57	* MobileShrubbery: The Americans, British, Soviets, and Germans each have helmets and uniforms painted and/or decorated to serve as camouflage in different environments, with these variations including but not limited to: forests and grasslands, deserts, and snowy terrain.
58	* MolotovCocktail: Update 13 gives the Soviet Support and Assault class access to Molotov cocktails, which are capable of flushing out enemies and burning them to death.
59	* PinnedDown: The game uses a suppression system that causes the player's vision to become greyed out and blurred when enemy gunfire is near their location.
60	* PoorCommunicationKills: Thanks to the game's emphasis on squad and platoon-level tactics, communication can be a deciding factor on which side wins. Failure to coordinate with your own squad can result in not only you and your allies being killed, but even the loss of a vital outpost, garrison, or even an objective.
61	* RespawnPoint: Four types are utilized: HQ Spawns, Garrison Spawns, Airhead Spawns, and Outpost Spawns.
62	** HQ Spawns are the beginning spawn points for both factions, featuring transport trucks to get to the frontlines faster, as well as fuel and supply nodes for both infantry and tanks. This is where tanks and armored cars respawn exclusively.
63	** Garrison Spawns can be established by the Spotter, Officer, or Commander and are usually placed nearer to the frontlines or within the enemy frontline, and as a result can be overrun and destroyed by the enemy. These points allow any infantry soldier to respawn here regardless of unit, in exchange for a longer respawn wait time. When established within the enemy frontline, they can be rendered useless when an enemy unit is within 100 meters of it.
64	** Airhead Spawns are temporary respawn points which can be set up anywhere by the Commander class. As the name implies, it allows troops to drop into the battlefield quickly.
65	** Outpost Spawns can be established by either the Spotter or Officer classes either in friendly territory or within the enemy frontline, with Spotters getting the unique ability to establish Outposts deep behind enemy lines. These allow any of the aforementioned member's squadmates (and only their squadmates) to spawn in rather quickly. Like Garrison Spawns, however, they can be destroyed and overrun by enemy troops.
66	** Update 11 adds half-tracks, which act as part armored troop transport, and part mobile garrison when the engine is shut off. In contrast to regular garrisons, the respawn time for half-tracks is 20 seconds longer.
67	* SatchelCharge: The Satchel Charge is issued to the Assault, Anti-Tank, and Engineer classes as an unlockable weapon. Its wicks can be set to 30, 60, and 120 second timers, which can be changed depending on the player's preference. Once planted on a surface, it has a blast radius of 15 meters, which can kill entire squads of enemies, supply nodes, spawns, enemy tanks and trucks, and even player-built defenses, which can very useful in trying to capture a heavily-defended point.
68	* ShootTheMedicFirst: Due to the medic class' abilities of lowering the effectiveness of enemy suppression and reviving teammates, killing them deals a potentially huge blow to enemy attacks and defenses. Shooting an enemy medic while they're attempting to revive enemies will even net an achievement called "Breaking the Geneva Convention".
69	* ShortRangeShotgun: Averted with the [=M1897=] Trench Gun, which has a reasonable effective stopping power of up to around 80 meters. Heck, a lucky headshot from even a single pellet at 100 meters can still prove fatal to any enemy on the receiving end.
70	* ShoutOut:
71	** The Update 7 trailer has quite a number of references to films and TV shows set during the War in Europe, namely ''Film/Fury2014'', ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', and ''Series/BandOfBrothers''.
72	** The Carentan map features the Cafe de Normandie building found in ''Recap/BandOfBrothersS1E3Carentan'', complete with the trademark blue sign.
73	* ShownTheirWork: [[https://screenrant.com/hell-let-loose-maps-real-locations-to-scale/ As shown in this article]], each and every in-game map has been modeled completely accurately after the real life locations they're based on, with the Normandy maps taking particular note.
74	* SmokeOut: Certain classes and loadouts have access to smoke grenades, which can allow squads or platoons to advance without the risk of getting hit by enemy fire. Field artillery guns also have access to smoke shells, which can do this on a much larger scale and for a much longer duration.
75	* SniperRifle: The weapon for the Sniper class, obviously. For the Americans, they get the [=M1903A4=] Springfield, the Germans get the scoped Karabiner 98k and the scoped [=FG42=], and the Soviets get the scoped Mosin-Nagant [=M1891/30=] and the scoped SVT-40. The British initially used a scoped variant of the Enfield P.14, before it got replaced by the Lee-Enfield Rifle No. 4 Mk. I Sniper variant.
76	* StoneWall: Whenever a heavy tank isn't a MightyGlacier, chances are it falls under this category instead.
77	** The [=M4A3E2=] 75 Heavy tank is this. While it has some of the thickest armor amongst the American tanks, its 75mm tank gun is woefully inadequate at penetrating the front armor of a Tiger or Panther.
78	** Both variants of the Churchill tank count as this as well. While its armor is comparable to that of the Tiger I, its gun is the much smaller 6-pounder, which, while far from terrible, looks and feels more like a peashooter when compared to the 88mm of its German adversaries.
79	* StormingTheBeaches: The Omaha Beach and Utah Beach maps have the Americans spawning from landing craft, and having to fight their way onto shore and inland, while the Germans defend from fixed positions on high ground and in bunkers or trenches.
80	* StrategicAssetCaptureMechanic: The Warfare game mode involves the Allied and Axis teams capturing the central "neutral" point marked on the map, and then either holding the now-aligned point until the end of the match or capturing the enemy's remaining points on the map. Each of these points on the maps are historical locations, usually towns, villages, German coastal defense sectors, and city blocks.
81	* StukaScream: Calling in a Stuka dive bomber as the Germans will have the Stuka produce this noise as it makes it run, followed shortly thereafter by its bomb dropping and exploding.
82	* StupidJetpackHitler: Averted in the game proper due to its focus on authenticity. Played straight, however, as an EasterEgg, with a single Landkreuzer P.1000 Ratte, a massive Super Heavy tank that was never built in RealLife, appearing in the outskirts of the Hurtgen Forest map.
83	* SuperDrowningSkills: Should you end up in a deep body of water, your character drowns within 6 seconds. Justified, given that the player characters in question are all soldiers carrying several dozen pounds of equipment and gear including weaponry, which all sink like bricks in water.
84	* TankGoodness: Tanks are available for both the Allied and Axis factions, and in the right hands they can absolutely devastate entire squads of infantry with their machine guns and main armament.
85	* TargetSpotter: One of several classes in-game, and one of two recon classes alongside the sniper. His job, as the name suggests, is to spot targets for his allies.
86	* TrappedBehindEnemyLines: The Recon classes, by default, are meant to operate deep within enemy territory, doing things such as sabotaging enemy garrisons, planting anti-personnel mines, and killing enemy officers and other important personnel. The Spotter is also the only class that can set up an Outpost Spawn deep within enemy territory, behind their frontline.
87	* UrbanWarfare: Several of the in-game maps feature towns, villages, and hamlets as major objectives, and both sides must contest and fight in these locations in order to gain control of them. The biggest example, however, is Stalingrad, which dwarves even Carentan in size and scale.
88	* WarIsHell: It's even in the game's title. Among other things, the game has deaths being quick and sudden events, limbs flying off when soldiers are killed by explosions, getting PinnedDown and suppressed in the presence of gunfire near your position, and artillery and bombing runs being genuinely scary even when they're near-misses.

Context VideoGame / HellLetLoose