Highlights
- Hell Let Loose features detailed maps that accurately depict various World War 2 battlefields like Normandy and Northern Africa, making it an immersive gaming experience.
- Maps like Hurtgen Forest provide strategic advantages for different soldier roles, such as scout units that can utilize the landscape for cover, while capturing key points can be a challenge.
- Each map in Hell Let Loose offers unique gameplay experiences, from the intense chaos of Stalingrad to the sun-soaked and coverless desert landscape of El Alamein.
World War 2 games are a commonly seen genre in the gaming world. The history, the action, the different battlefields; there’s a lot that brings in new players every year to this wide variety of games. One game that embodies the WW2 genre quite well is Hell Let Loose.
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In this larger-scale online multiplayer game, you take the role of different soldiers and win matches using squad and team-based tactics. As far as milsims go, it’s pretty detailed. One area where that detail stands out is the maps. Whether you want to play on the beaches of Normandy or the deserts of Northern Africa, there’s something here for you. But, which maps are better to play on than the rest?
15 Hurtgen Forest
See The Forest For The Trees
The Hurtgen map is one of the few that brings the fighting to the hills and forests of Germany. With the hills and bunkers, there are plenty of different angles a good machinegunner or even a rifleman can get on the enemy. The various rocks and stumps that dot the landscape means getting a clear sight of individual units can be hard.
This map is a haven for scout units who have plenty to hide behind. Movement in armor can be quite difficult with the narrow winding mountain roads that have to slowly wind up steep inclines. The Lumberyard and Logging Camp at opposite ends of the map are practically fortresses, which means capturing them for the last step to victory can be a real challenge, especially when your enemy has had all match to reinforce them.
14 Utah Beach
The Best Defense
The Utah Beach map looks at a well-known point in history, and seems to cover the chaos involved quite well. The right side and center of the map are rolling farmland, with little cover minus the barns and hedgerows that split the map up into sections.
The left third of the map is the beachhead proper. The high cliffs, trenches, and bunkers make it easy to defend as the German army, but American forces must climb up the beach against machinegun and artillery fire. This map’s key point is that on the rightmost side where most of the action happens; from there, it can definitely be easy to get steamrolled. The Chapel and small towns north and south of it in the center of the map to help break up the monotony of the farmland and help scout.
13 Foy
Vertical Combat
The main sector of the Foy map is the titular town in the northern third of the map. It doesn’t have the size or focus on close-quarters fighting that Carentan does. Instead, it has a good balance of close-quarters and medium to long-range combat in the fields surrounding. The church in the center of Foy often serves as a focal point for much of the fighting inside the town thanks to its multiple levels and surrounding walls.
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Interestingly, the combat often gets more tense around the highways coming off of Foy where long stretches of farmland are stitched with trenches. This is one of the maps with key points spread throughout, and any sector can be a tense fight depending on how well your enemy defends it. It’s a well-balanced map where you can see all of the various parts of the game work in unison.
12 Sainte-Mere-Eglise
Sniper’s Paradise
You get a sense of the French way of life and how the war affected them with this map. The main point is the tall church and the city surrounding it in the center of the map. The church itself can be seen from quite a way off, and scouting players can climb to the top to pick off enemy units far beyond the frontlines.
One of the most surprising parts of the map is how quickly things can change. The roads, creeks, and hedges that criss-cross the map mean there are a lot of blind corners for infantry. This means a quiet jog through the fields can quickly become an all-out fight when you come across a full squad of the enemy team or enemy armor. No two matches feel the same in this map, and a smart-thinking commander can really get the drop on the enemy with smart troop movement.
11 Purple Heart Lane
Highway To Hell
With something named Purple Heart Lane, you know you’re in for a fight. This map follows a roadway that divides the map in half vertically. As your army follows the road, they will have to either cross the tributaries that run perpendicular to the road slowly on foot, or on one of the few narrow bridges.
An armored unit or machinegun placed along the roadway can halt enemy advancement for some time. The night version of this map is increasingly difficult, with tracers arcing overhead from hedgerows left and right. The many waterways that cross the map mean moving from one objective to another can take far longer than you would at first think. It’s a map where every inch feels like a mile.
10 Omaha Beach
Operation Overlord
Omaha Beach has some differences compared to Utah that make the map stand out. Here again is the beachhead standing on the U.S.’s side. From there, it slowly moves to farmland. The valley in the center of the beach-side of the map makes an often-used entry point for the American forces.
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The main differences between this and Utah are the various townships that are spread throughout, and trenches that are often set around the crossroads. The more varied cover makes for the possibility that every few minutes there is a new struggle as you have to fight against entrenched enemies. It is a fun addition that makes it stand out and makes it a bit more even for the defender’s side after leaving the beach.
9 Kharkov
A Winter Wonderland
A snowy map where dark-clothed soldiers stand out like sore thumbs. This is one of the maps where armor plays a big part when used correctly, especially in the fields where you can see from far out. Suppression is common as rounds fly overhead.
It can be a bland map where you only hear enemies firing at you instead of being in the fight. At the moments where you are fighting, like the valley to the south, you can easily get bogged down, and the match can go nowhere. It’s an interesting map to show the Russian army in the snow, but it feels like it falls short in some aspects.
8 Remagen
Burning Bridges
One of the last bridges crossing the Rhine. The most imposing features are indeed the large river, and the sole bridge that spans it. Beyond that, one army gets to defend the flower fields while the other must defend the hills. Both of which have their own challenges and boons. Long stalemates often marr the progress of games on this map as armored units and infantry often clash in great numbers on and below the bridge.
The small village of Erpel also sees a lot of combat, but any team with the proper strategy to keep their opponent off the bridge will find victory comes a little easier. It would be interesting to see more ways to avoid a stalemate with the bridge still being a major component as it is currently.
7 Driel
The British Take A Stand
Another major bridge map in the game. Where Driel stands out from Remagen is where choice is concerned. The river that bisects the map is indeed large, but it is far less deep than at Remagen, which allows for braver infantry to try to wade the river instead of taking the often hectic bridge.
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It’s far less often that you’ll find yourself at a standstill while both sides throw themselves against one another, which makes the map all that more fun to play. It is one of the few maps where the British are one of the playable armies, and it’s a completely different feel than El Alamein. It’s not the best map in the world, but it’s a pretty fun one to find yourself on.
6 Stalingrad
The Rat War
Stalingrad is a map that embodies the chaotic nature of the game incredibly well. The infamous city battle is a mess of different roads, alleys, and bombed-out buildings. There are some good sniping spots throughout the map for those who are keen on getting good with their rifles. It is also one of the few maps where the Russians play the allied role, which is good for getting used to weapons like the PPSH.
Which is a weapon will come in handy in the often close-qurters of this map. Certain areas like the Brewery and Train Station do allow for a little bit of breathing room, but that’s almost worse to cross than the maze of buildings. It’s a map that takes a long time to play, and unfortunately there are other maps that do cities a little better.
5 El Alamein
Sun & Sand
One of the few desert maps in the game, and one of the few where the British Army takes the role of the allied army. The map stands out for this feature as the scarce landscape is bright, sunny, and almost devoid of cover. There is a fun amount of verticality in this map, and valleys often become kill zones as riflemen post up at the peaks of the rocky hills.
The various airfields and ruins are often points of conflict where smart thinking can be the key to overwhelming the enemy’s forces. Those who like to play tank units have important roles to play, as well-placed armor can nearly lock down an entire valley. It can be a tough map to do well on, but the uniqueness of El Alamein means it can be a delight to come up in the rotation, especially once you have played a few matches on it.
4 Carentan
Scenic Streets
Few maps understand the hectic nature of city fighting like Carentan. Every corner of the curving avenues can be a choke-point, and the waterways to the north and east are often places where riflemen will pick you off from nearby windows. Even the railyard to the south is often full of machinegunners and tanks.
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The rubble strewn about and burnt out cars are perfect spots to set up and take out anyone who comes through. It isn’t uncommon to have whole avenues blocked off by a single MG. But, that’s sort of the fun of this map. If your army can punch through the center of the map, you’ll often be able to gain speed, but a solid defense at your flanks and rear will save you a lot of trouble. There are few maps that balance the serenity of European towns with the horrors of war like Carentan.
3 Hill 400
King Of The Hill
Hill 400 is unique in its use of slope as a key factor in the tactics of your army. Depending on whether you’re attacking or defending, the hill in question can be as much of a boon as it is a curse. Defenders have an easy time with the high ground of the hill and all of its entrenchments, but once they lose that edge, it can be a short time before they’re thrown from the hill entirely.
Places like the Flak Pits and Southern Approach are fun areas that use confusion and hectic spaces to their advantage. Like any forest map, armor can do some heavy lifting at the price of winding roads and the threat of enemy anti-armor behind any tree. It’s not unheard of that the easternmost section of the map sees nearly as much fighting as the hill itself thanks to the river crossing. It is one of those maps that embodies a lot of the good in the game.
2 St Marie Du Monte
Close-Quarters Conflict
St. Marie Du Monte is a map that, when you first look at it, will have you more confused than ever. Surprisingly, this map embodies urban fighting even more than Stalingrad. The various clusters of buildings are often the sites of bloodbaths, as various engagements occur time and again. This map feels impressive because every inch of space can feel like an epic battle, where others may have one or two major areas of conflict.
No one really has an advantage in this map either, thanks to the various channels in which both sides can move through, which just speaks to how well the map was made. Like any close-quarters map, automatic and explosives will clear squads rather easily if used right, but that isn’t to say a player with a rifle can’t do some serious damage when positioned correctly.
1 Kursk
Armor Makes The Difference
Armor plays a big role in Kursk, just as it did in the war. Kursk feels incredibly like what happens when war comes to a rural agricultural area. A handful of maps have the wide-open fields idea, but none of them follow through with it as this map does.
There’s a gentle slope and some tall grass that prevent snipers in the windmills from dominating the entire match. The trenches by the windmills and the small village southeast are commonly reinforced areas that can cause some tribulation, but not enough to keep the match from continuing. It’s an interesting map because of how well it does for such a simple concept.
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