Things are heating up in Hell this October as Lou, son of Satan, must go on a drunken massacre to keep Hell from being taken over by those annoying humans, so chug some milk, grab some awesome weapons and prepare to storm through four epic levels of complete and total carnage resulting in some of the sickest boss fights you’ll find on PC this year.
BDSM: Big Drunk Satanic Massacre is the latest and greatest twin-stick shooter to hit the PC, so flex those fingers and thumbs and prepare for lots of nimble backpedaling as you face off against all sorts of hellish minions. BDSM plays pretty much like every other top-down shooter out there with some light RPG elements that will have you collecting cash for upgrades so you can kill better and faster than before. There is obviously some dark and twisted humor tossed into the mix, and if you install the free Adult patch things get even naughtier. What I enjoyed most about BDSM is that the humor is genuinely funny in a satirical way rather than just trying to be overtly edgy like the old Postal franchise.
The action is intense and the graphics are over-the-top violent despite their seemingly innocent pixelated designs. The rocking soundtrack maintains a heavy metal theme and pacing to the carnage, and the entire game comes off as the visionary concept of a bunch of kids getting high after an Iron Maiden concert. The enemy variety is excellent and there are all sorts of fun environmental interactions and visual humor built right into the level designs. You’ll have as much fun exploring as you will killing in this game. Gameplay is fairly straightforward, as you progress through the maze-like levels and trigger swarms of enemies then mow them down with any of six awesome weapons, a magical attack, or any of the clever interactive elements in the environment. Explosions are your friend.
There are also a few diversions tossed into the main game. From time to time you will encounter a vendor who will let you play a mini board game, which has you moving about a grid pattern collecting loot and clearing enemies. It’s fairly simple yet strangely addictive and only costs $500 to play. Lou will also get a chance to romance the ladies which turns into this button-tapping mini-game where you need to establish a sequence of increasing rhythms to satisfy your partner. It reminded me of the old days of God of War where Kratos would have sex with harem girls by playing a QTE to earn bonus health, only in BDSM you are pretty much banging a portrait of a demonic chick and if you win the card flips over for a peek at some trading card titties; pixelated unless you have installed the free adult patch.
BDSM scales nicely to a wide assortment of PC’s and runs silky smooth even at 4K resolution, although some of the in-game text doesn’t scale properly and may be too tiny to read at any resolution higher than 1080p. But with all the details cranked, this game is a visual feast of blood and guts that will delight from start to finish. The game can be played with mouse and keyboard but obviously works best with a gamepad.
I’d love to say more, but BDSM: Big Drunk Satanic Massacre isn’t that deep. Its pure arcade carnage with some dark and twisted humor and juvenile-adult content that is sure to delight the kiddies too young to be playing it. The boss fights are visually cool even if they play out like massive bullet-sponges, and the RPG elements are as basic as it gets, offering only minimal customization of your experience at a superficial level. Even so, if you love shooters and want something to smile and laugh about while you play then you’ll certainly enjoy some BDSM.
