Hell Pie Reader’s Review: A Naughty Noughties Platformer

A reader gives his verdict on the new indie title Hell Pie, a game inspired by Conker’s Bad Fur Day and other platform games from the early 2000s.

Hell Pie is a new indie 3D platformer with gross adult humor along the lines of Conker’s Bad Fur Day and Psychonauts, developed by Sluggerfly. As the review title suggests, it’s very reminiscent of early 2000s platform games that we don’t see enough of these days. So seeing a new one in 2022, especially at the bargain price of £19.99, is a rare treat. (See what I did there?)

In Hell Pie, you play as Nate: The Demon of Bad Taste, which is the 8th Deadly Sin in the world of Hell Pie. Nate is joined by Nugget, a small naked angel attached to Nate with a chain that he can use as a grappling hook as he crosses platforms to swing and reach more distant areas. You also have a traditional double jump and dash ability for more traversal options, with more available via an unlockable skill tree. You have to visit different worlds with different settings to collect ingredients for Satan’s birthday cake.

You start the adventure in Sin Inc., the offices where our anti-hero Nate works for the Dark Lord. After fiddling with the copier and printing several rude photos, Satan tells you to go to the chef who will give you a list of ingredients for his birthday cake. Chef opens the first Hellivator that allows you to travel to the first world of the game.

You arrive at a kind of beach resort, the first hub world that you can freely explore and where you can find various collectibles and side activities for different characters. These include little sheep with horns that you can bring to an altar to sacrifice by pulling off the horn in exchange for new horns for Nate, which give him new abilities that give access to new areas.

You can find new outfits for both Nate and Nugget, or buy them from shops scattered throughout the levels that offer different outfits in exchange for purple gems that are the game’s main currency. The horny sheep are harder to find, so think of them as moons in Super Mario Odyssey, with similar tricky platforming required to find them. Similarly, you can get new moves and upgrades for Nugget by finding and feeding him cans of dog food hidden around it.

The basic platforming is a lot of fun and very well made, as are the battles with the game’s various enemies. Usually you have to smash them with your little angel buddy, but there are also different weapons at certain points, which you can use to shoot them and also solve some platform puzzles.

The different hub worlds and levels within them all offer a lot of variety in settings, from the aforementioned beach resort to a sewer full of angry poop, a neon-drenched cyberpunk-style cityscape and a land in the clouds with rainbow slides.

At the time of writing, I’ve played Hell Pie for nine hours, and according to my save file, I’m only 47% complete, having been to four worlds, including the starting area, which has its own collection of collectibles, including some of the ingredients.

There are several more locked elevators, which you unlock once you’ve found enough ingredients. Chef will call you back to his kitchen so they’ll be handed out gradually, but you can go between whatever you’ve unlocked whenever you want. Some areas are not accessible until you have the right skill, so this gives you reasons to go back through levels once you get them.

Hell Pie is a substantial offering for a £20 indie game, with a good amount of polish and some really nice graphics and a ton of fun gameplay mechanics. It keeps things varied with some unexpected things I won’t reveal, but they provide a break from core platforming. I would really recommend Hell Pie; if this all sounds good to you, it’s a great game for the relatively low asking price.

Formats: Xbox Series X/S (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PC
Price: £19.99
Publisher: Head Up
Developer: Sluggerfly
Release date: July 21, 2022
Age Rating: 18

By reader Big Angry Dad82 (gamertag)

The reader position does not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.