Publisher Grindstone and developer Volcanicc today announced that their roguelike dungeon crawler, Hellmut: The Badass from Hell, enters closed beta phase in preparation for the full commercial launch on PC and consoles in early 2018. Players can access closed beta by pre-ordering Hellmut on GOG.com for 14.99€/$14.99 with 10% discount. In addition, developers have released a video, featuring new gameplay footage as well as explaining the intricate processes behind the retro-like sound recording used in Hellmut.

“At GOG we take great care in choosing games, especially when it comes to indie titles. We want to provide our users with a curated selection of exceptional games, and we already see Hellmut as a fine addition to our catalog,” said Łukasz Kukawski, PR Manager at GOG. “We’re happy with the opportunity to offer closed beta, and hope that the GOG community will contribute in making Hellmut even better.”

“We are excited to be partnering with GOG to kick off Helmut’s closed beta and bring in the first wave of players into the game”, said Lukas Sedlak from Volcanicc. “Today we are releasing a new video that demonstrates how our sound engineers have produced custom 8-bit-like sounds using modern recording techniques. The whole recording process was really interesting and we are very happy with the end result. The sounds feel very unique while at the same time hold that familiar retro vibe.

In Hellmut, players unleash an infernal bullet-storm onto hordes of Demonspawn and savage bosses in a randomly generated environment, collecting their souls, coins and weapons, aiming to perform the sweet ‘demonocide’. In between fast-paced play sessions packed with action, players unlock permanent and temporary Transformations. Command rats as the Rat King, become the mighty spell-caster, Orc Fairy, and summon many more ludicrous monstrosities, each countering different enemies with own brutal play style.