HROT is a gritty and dark retro FPS set in 1986 in Czechoslovakia after a recent undisclosed disaster. HROT looks rough on the surface due to the dark setting and its textures’ relentless use of brown, gray, and red. However, beneath this rough surface is a beautiful atmospheric boomer shooter that excels in the terrifying setting it builds.
If you are a fan of old-school FPSs like Quake and are familiar with its environments, weapons, and movement, you will feel right at home. Yet, in case you aren’t, our beginner’s HROT guide will help start you off on this dark and commonly confusing path in the right direction.
Starving for Resources is Common for HROT Beginners
It’s widely acknowledged that survival in the Soviet Union during the 1980s was challenging. Whether HROT reflects this by making health and ammo pickups rare to put beginner HROT players’ skills to the test is subject to interpretation.
Still, managing your resources in the game “Hellbreachers: Rise of Titans” (HROT) can be a daunting task. Even common armor and health pickups provide just a tiny amount of support, while the rarer and more valuable pickups can grant up to 50 HP.
Therefore, it’s essential to strategize and carefully manage your resources, making the most of every pickup you find in order to stay alive and emerge victorious in this epic battle against evil.
This makes secret hunting, backtracking, and taking a slower approach to combat all the more recommended if you want to avoid starving yourself from health and ammo.
Save your Wine in HROT
Wine is one of the best health pickups you can find in HROT. Whereas other health items you find, like Semi-Skimmed Milk or Canned Poultry, will give you small amounts of health on pickup, Wine is the only resource you can take with you in case of an emergency.
Wine has its own dedicated hotkey at the back of your inventory, and each swig of Wine will give you 10 points of health, which can exceed the 100 maximum.
So, whenever you discover a case of Wine, save it! This is one of the best HROT beginners guide tips we can offer you.
Good Secrets are Hard to Come By
HROT has a lot of hidden secrets and sections in every episode that beginner players are welcome to find. Some secrets follow your typical retro-FPS crack in the wall that needs one explosive weapon to bust it open.
In contrast, others require you to use the environment to boost yourself into a vent or other unreachable places. Even veteran secret hunters can and will struggle to find everything in HROT’s brown, dank, and dark sewers.
This makes secrets hard to find and challenging to get in every playthrough. One nasty explosion can destroy the crate you need to parkour into the vent for that sweet backpack full of ammo. HROT does an excellent job at showcasing how the environments work and what can be interacted with. However, with each level, the secrets become harder to find.
Keys and Doors in HROT
Like classic DOOM and Quake, HROT uses the typical color key to open a colored door, which allows the level to have more backtracking and chances for previously explored areas to have new enemies dropped in without you expending them.
However, not every key is required for progression. A handful of levels have doors that do not need to be opened to finish the level, so if you know you found the exit without opening that silver lock, that means it’s an extra section.
Like we previously mentioned about HROT’s secrets, plenty of levels will have keys, secrets, achievements, and much more that are hard to find on your first playthrough. HROT has a beautiful atmosphere, and the fact there’s still lots to find in each level improves the game’s replayability.
Beginners Tips for HROT’s Weapons
HROT packs the traditional retro-FPS boomer shooter game arsenal for the player to use, shotgun, super shotgun, grenade launcher, and much more. While all these weapons feel familiar for experienced retro-FPS players, a few minor details might help you out in future levels. In the next few sections of our HROT beginners guide, we’ll introduce you to some of the game’s best weapons.
1. Pistol
The Pistol is the only weapon in the game that reloads. Earlier versions of HROT featured more weapons that reload, and while those have been removed, like the SMG reloading animation, the Pistol still has one.
While it doesn’t get in the way too much, since it’s the only weapon that requires a lengthy reload, it can break the weapon rhythm a bit. However, the Pistol is still useful later on when dealing with weaker enemies since ammunition can and will be scarce.
If HROT beginners dedicate their time to secret hunting, they can find a second pistol, which unlocks the dual-wielding feature, which increases the amount of damage output while giving you the option to carefully whittle enemies down to save ammo.
2. Grenades are Useful and Should be a Priority for HROT Beginners
Grenades have multiple ways to be used in a fight. In HROT, grenades are bound by default to the alt-fire key, giving you the option to throw one while using a weapon. The grenade controls are somewhat confusing at first, but it becomes helpful later.
On top of the alt-fire use, the Grenade also has a dedicated weapon slot in case you only want to throw Grenades. However, when you acquire the Hussite Hand Cannon, using standard Grenades becomes less than ideal.
The Hussite Hand Cannon uses Grenades as ammunition, whereas throwing a Grenade will deal roughly 80 damage. One shot from the Hussite Hand Cannon deals upwards of 180 damage on a direct hit for using the same ammo.
Throwing Grenades will always have the advantage of bouncing around corners, whereas the Hussite Hand Cannon’s Grenades explode on impact.
Choose which weapon to use for the right situation, but the Hand Cannon is typically the go-to answer.
3. Land Mines can Be Used Tactically
Land Mines are somewhat common weapons you can find. While they don’t have much use on first-time playthroughs, if you can predict or know where enemies will come from, Land Mines can save you a lot of hassle.
Land Mines can Be Armed but Not Disarmed in HROT
After placing a Land Mine, it takes roughly two seconds before it arms. This is indicated by the red light on top of the mine. Mines aren’t used in any other weapon, unlike Grenades. This makes them an alternative resource that can save you a lot of ammunition if you can prepare for an ambush.
Sadly, there is no way to disarm mines, even ones placed by you. They can be shot to be detonated, so keep an eye on where you placed them.
4. Lightning Gun
Lastly, there’s the experimental Lightning Gun. As its name implies, it launches bolts of lightning that chain through multiple enemies simultaneously, making it great for dealing with hordes. However, its ammo is rare to come by, but there are alternative means to get more charges.
Recharging Ammo at Generators
There are oftentimes generators located in some levels, when interacted with, which will shock you and deal a bit of damage. If you have the Lightning Gun and touch one of these generators, you will get a lot of volts stored in your Lightning Gun at the cost of some health.
Water + Lightning is a Powerful Combo for HROT Beginners to Use
Also, be careful using this weapon in water. Using the Lightning Gun in water instantly kills the player, but if enemies are in the water, hardly anything will survive one jolt. Learning when to use and not use the lightning gun is another top tip in our HROT beginners guide that will help you stay on top in this challenging game.
Expect the Unexpected in HROT
The longer you play HROT, the stranger the game becomes, like a depressing and bizarre Soviet-era fever dream. On top of the dozens of references that recall(sometimes obscure) Soviet history, there are dozens of moments that will catch you off guard.
While we won’t spoil much, there are dozens of moments that are made to not only startle you but confuse you, as in, “Why am I fighting this”?
If you’ve seen any of HROT’s promotional material, you’re probably familiar with the gas mask horse–the game’s unofficial mascot. What adds to the creepiness of HROT’s enemy and map designs is the lack of explanations for the unnatural environments and foes. Be prepared for the strange and the unexpected.
Wrap Up for our HROT Beginners Guide
That’s our short beginners guide for HROT. This strange, extremely brown, and dark Soviet retro-FPS offers beautiful levels, a great atmosphere, and memorable moments that will leave you wanting more. HROT accomplishes so much while using so little and deserves overwhelmingly positive ratings on Steam. We cannot recommend HROT enough and recommend anyone who hasn’t played it yet to pick it up from the Steam store.
If you want more retro-FPS games and another fantastic game to sink your teeth into, check out our review of Cultic.
For now, happy slaying!
