Devil Daggers Review

June 30th, 2019

A masterclass in arena shooter design.

It’s all so simple. The stage is set. This small arena is where you must prove yourself against a seemingly endless onslaught of ravenous demons. Devil Daggers is a game that invents nothing yet combines inspiration in just the right places and in just the right amounts. That simplicity makes way for complexity, but not in the way you might expect.

The darkness envelopes you. The dark atmosphere, the dark visuals, and the dark sound. A hearkening of shooter games long past yet packaged together as something refined for today’s discerning gamer. This audio/visual experience is something that immerses, and at time frightens; the demons dancing behind you in pseudo surround sound as you attempt to swing your mouse behind to blast the flying skulls away with your shotgun-hand only to fall defeatedly off the edge. The first of many face palms begins.

The game seamlessly blends a frenetic action-paced old-school shooter experience with the feeling you get from speedrunning. Small adrenaline rushes are feed to you as you try to get further and further. “Just one more run…” you’ll be saying to yourself countless times. That one more run of course turns into 2, 5, 10… and more.

You’ll convince yourself that you can do better; you should have done better. And you will. Progress is slow, but you will inch your way up, discovering new mechanics, new creatures, and new strategies. All the while, still in that small little arena. That arena that you now call home.