In the words of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, “Let’s do the time warp again!” This twin-stick shooter, recently released on consoles, can be traced back to 2017 for its PC debut. Weirdly though, it looks and plays like something far older than this, with the presentation reminiscent of an XBLA/PSN game from the early days of console digital distribution. It even sounds like one, using weapon sound-effects we’ve heard countless times before. Or at least, since the advent of DOOM back in 1993.
While all this may sound damning so far, no pun intended, DAMN is pleasingly inspired. It’s a modern take on Gauntlet, more or less, using a top-down view and pitting our wild-eyed cartoonish hero against legions of broad-shouldered adversaries that group around locked doors while anticipating your arrival. It could also be likened to the Amiga’s Alien Breed, sharing a focus on collecting colour coded keys and backtracking to find the corresponding door.
The main campaign is spread across five grimy industrial sci-fi locations, each ending with a boss battle against a large armoured robot resembling a Roomba. Each stage has a handful of missions, commencing with a hostage rescue quest – in which civilians can be later killed by tanks – a mission to place a bomb, and then a timed mission to collect as many data keys as possible before escaping. The first batch of stages are set in small locations and aren’t too difficult, while the game’s second half sees stage sizes swell. As only one life is given per mission, perishing during the final moments of a later larger stage can be frustrating.
Unfortunately, the frustration doesn’t end there. Later levels also ramp up the number of explosives which can greatly harm our cybernetically enhanced hero. Not only can stray bullets set off unexpected chain reactions, but also off-screen events; you may enter a new room only to see a bunch of explosions occur off screen, never knowing what caused it. Nearing the end of a five-minute stage only for a wayward bullet to accidentally hit a bomb, killing you instantly, is almost guaranteed to make you swear. DAMN indeed.
Adding to the woes is that the weapon assortment is rather unbalanced. The chainsaw should be fun to use, maiming everything in your way, but you’re far more likely to take damage while using it as this isn’t an experience designed with close-range combat in mind. A good example is that smaller enemies can easily become lodged under your feet, draining health before even realising it. The wide spread of the shotgun can accidentally trigger bombs, the homing weapon often veers into the wrong direction, and the mine thrower is only useful against crowds and not individual enemies – with no way to revert to the default weapon. It also doesn’t help that weapon icons are unclear, with a few resembling one another.
The kindest thing I can say is that DAMN feels like it was made with good intentions – it certainly isn’t something that takes itself seriously. The arena mode adds a bit of needed variety too, especially when the same boss character is used throughout. There’s no excuse for that, save perhaps for the small budget it was seemingly made with.
DAMN is one of those experiences where all the small annoyances coagulate into something bigger and more problematic, removing any potential fun and enjoyment that was present in the first place. It isn’t old skool cool like Xenocrisis, Hotline Miami, and Nex Machina; it’s something that feels out of time from a simpler and far more punishing age. If somebody told you this was recently found on a developer’s hard drive and was originally intended to be released in 2007, you’d probably believe them.
7 Raven Studios’ DAMN is out now on all formats. Published by Totalconsole.