Metal: Hellsinger — How to Stay on Beat

Metal: Hellsinger is a rhythm FPS, it’s important to keep the beat. The more musical you are with your shots and kills, the higher your score, the more damage you deal, and most importantly, the more music you can enjoy.

If you’re having trouble keeping up the pace, the rest of the game will quickly fall apart. We’ve collected four of our top tips on how to improve your ability to kill to the beat so you can take on the battles against demons in the Eight Hells.

Become one with the beat

Metal: Hellsinger does a good job of introducing its shoot-to-the-beat mechanics, with both the tutorial and opening levels relying on slower songs with more discernible percussion and less overall accompaniment. Things ramp up quickly, however, and if you haven’t mastered rhythm shooting by the second level, don’t expect to find it easy for the rest of the game.

One of the most important things to remember is listen to the kick drum when starting a level; Most songs begin by prominently emphasizing their bang, bang, bang, bang. Focusing on this as you play will help you get through most of each level, as many of the songs don’t deviate from a simple 4/4 time signature.

It’s also important to remember that the Crosshairs pulsate to the beat of the kick drumlike them too red centers of the puppets found in every hell. Most stages start with puppets within sight of you, so watch their midsections to learn the beat before you let the balls fly.

Something else that can be useful, if a bit awkward, is to say the beats out loud (1,2,3,4) as you play, which can help you focus or come back to the core beat in the chaos on hit if you lose it.

Practice with Paz

The Paz Skull Gun is the main way to keep your rage gauge up, but more importantly, it allows you to practice perfect shots without needing an enemy to shoot. Because the underlying beat of a level’s music doesn’t change as the sounds get more complex, you can use Paz to get used to the tempo.

Get Paz out and try to string together perfect hits when you first load into a level. The music will repeat endlessly, so take as much time as you need to get used to the speed of the music. Head to the first encounter area and test your skills once you feel comfortable. Remember that practice and execution are separate things in the real world. So don’t get discouraged as you jump into the action and crash. Keep it up.

Replay early levels

The first few levels of Metal: Hellsinger are the easiest in the game, and the difficulty quickly increases beyond that. While you won’t practice the speed by progressing through the first few levels, you can get the core mechanics ingrained in your brain. Since progression is all about building your mastery of music and testing your reflexes, you may hit a wall that will require extra effort to break through, and mastering the first few levels will lay the foundation for that.

Listen to the music outside of a level

You gain access to a level’s soundtrack as soon as you complete it. So if you managed to make it through a level but didn’t do as well as you would like, go into the Extras Section of the Codex and listen to the music free from added distractions.

Grab a pen or tap with your feet, hands, or fingers each time you hear the percussion (kick drum) hit. Record this experience into the level to see how you fared and compare your off-game experience to your in-game performance. Try to find out where the break is with this comparison. You’ll likely find that you think the percussion is off-beat or something similar, so take some extra time to practice listening closely to the music.

Check your audio and visual calibration

Precise control is essential to keep the beat Metal: Hellsinger, no matter what difficulty you play. The developers knew this and provided an audio and visual calibration system to let you know your control scheme is dialed in and accurate. If you feel like you’re getting the beat right, but the game isn’t giving you the perfect score, Go into the settings and run the calibrations again. Depending on how much lag you need, the game can adjust as it registers your shots.

Gameplay and music are inextricably linked Metal: Hellsinger, so your enjoyment of one is inextricably linked to the other, as is your ability to play. Check out our other guides on the game including best seal and how to keep your anger up. Our Review of the game is also here for your enjoyment.