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February 27, 2016 11:30 AM

Devil Daggers is an irresistible Sisyphean nightmare. [The A.V. Club]

It’s an endless first-person shooter where you run around a floating arena and try to kill everything that moves before they kill you, which usually happens in under 60 seconds until you get the hang of things—and even then, you’re lucky to last much longer than that. The only weapons at your disposal are your wits, your agility, and the infinite daggers you can shoot from your hand in either a concentrated shotgun blast or a machine-gun-like hose of death.

- A Few People Have Actually 'Beaten' Devil Daggers [Destructoid]

In Devil Daggers, the one and only objective is to survive as long as possible. As far as we know, there is no end to the game. Only the time between deaths. That isn't to say the infectious shooter is entirely without milestones, though. It has a single achievement: challenging players to endure its ceaseless assault for a mere 500 seconds.

- Devil Daggers Keeps Kicking My Ass, And It's Great [Kotaku]

Devil Daggers is not what I would call a kind game. Everything about it is leering, hostile, agonized. The game’s sole room is dark and disorienting. Every sound that emanates from within its horrid chamber could be described using some variation on the words, “screech,” “wail,” “cry,” and “the devil’s own heartbeat.” Oh, and of course, everything wants to kill you. Everything wants to kill you real, real bad.

- “It's never clear what the player has done to be locked in this eternal struggle.” [Killscreen]

The ever-increasing wave of satanic creatures cascade on top of the player on a single platform, cloaked in darkness. Gurgling groans like the churning stomach of the underworld swirl around your ears as you dance through eldritch horrors and clattering bones, flaming daggers leaping from your fingers. This is where you’re going to die. Repeatedly. It’s arguably the most consistent depiction of hell in videogames ever created. Never progressing, simply locked in torment against garish demons of all shapes and sizes, with tiny defenses to hold back the tide until you are eventually overcome, only to start the Sisyphean task all over again. Salvation will never come, and even beating the best player in the world would only provide a temporary respite, knowing that another sinner is on their way to dethrone you. It’s like a Bosch painting with a leaderboard.

- Devil Daggers Tips and Tricks [IGN]

1. Lead your enemies.
2. Look behind you.
3. Don't be too triggerhappy.
4. Aim.
5. Listen!

- DraQu's World Record Devil Daggers Run - 585.3344 sec [YouTube]

posted by Fizz (28 comments total)

Last night I finally hit 55 sec. Trying so hard to break that 1 minute barrier. I cannot fathom playing this game for 10+ minutes!?!
posted by Fizz at 11:33 AM on February 27, 2016

Nope, I'll just play some solitaire in the corner , thank you.
posted by Pendragon at 11:36 AM on February 27, 2016

It's marvelous how economical it is with its controls. Hold down the fire button to spew a rapid fire stream of daggers, or click for a shotgun blast of blades. But the really clever thing is that the red crystals you need to collect are sucked in towards you, but only while you're not firing.

You effectively have three modes all on one button. This could so easily have been a game when you monotonously hold the fire button down the whole time you're playing, but instead you're constantly judging which fire mode is best, or whether you're safe enough to relent and hoover up precious crystals.

I've never managed to earn the homing daggers - I gather they're some kind of RMB-activated smart bomb? But I look forward to adding them to my decision tree.

(PS: 123.4785)
posted by Lorc at 11:48 AM on February 27, 2016 [6 favorites]

Between this and SUPER

HOT

SUPER

HOT

SUPER

HOT it's been a good month for the FPS.
posted by The Devil Tesla at 11:49 AM on February 27, 2016 [10 favorites]

When I first read about this game and saw some game-play footage, I scoffed. I thought, "Why would this appeal to anyone?" But playing it last night, I found myself suddenly hooked. It's the type of game that you find yourself wanting to keep on playing. Your own worst enemy (other than the flying demon skulls) is yourself.
posted by Fizz at 12:09 PM on February 27, 2016

I liked this short video review. It does a really good job of capturing how the game feels.
posted by umrain at 12:34 PM on February 27, 2016 [8 favorites]

The sound design of this game is also phenomenal. If you have a decent set of headphones, I urge you to play this game with them on. Very creepy.
posted by Fizz at 12:42 PM on February 27, 2016

This feels like it comes from an alternate reality where 3D accelerators were never invented and iD software still ruled the world. Which is pretty damn cool.
posted by selfnoise at 12:57 PM on February 27, 2016 [10 favorites]

uh, I gotta remember this game for after my next breakup!

(the last one made me become really good at super hexagon.)
posted by bigendian at 1:03 PM on February 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

It's good but not for the anxious, because this is anxiety made into a video game.
posted by SageLeVoid at 1:35 PM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Back when I was big into TF2, when I would really get into it I'd find my hands getting colder and colder, and one time I thought to check my blood sugar afterwards and it was way up.

I better not try Devil Daggers.
posted by Foosnark at 1:43 PM on February 27, 2016

Whoa, this is cool:

So at 13:39 in this video they go into the global leader board and watch a replay. You can watch any replay from the leaders, and you can slow it down or speed it up.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 1:43 PM on February 27, 2016

where 3D accelerators were never invented and iD software still ruled the world.

Well, there is a new Doom game coming out this March.
posted by Fizz at 2:06 PM on February 27, 2016

Just started watching the QraQu's run video. Uh... NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE.

I've been a fan of FPSes since the early days of DOOM, Duke Nukem, and Castle Wolfenstein. The sounds alone for Devil Daggers are enough to NOPE me right out.

Guess I'm getting old.
posted by hanov3r at 2:42 PM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm going down to the basement to play Robotron:2084.
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:51 PM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've heard this game has some number of bosses, but the best player in the world has only reached and beaten the first boss once.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 2:56 PM on February 27, 2016

(the last one made me become really good at super hexagon.)

On the Idle Thumbs podcast, Nick Breedon said Devil Daggers feels like a FPS version of Super Hexagon.
posted by straight at 3:16 PM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Wow, that looks and sounds amazingly well designed. Is there any information about who made it? The official site is suitably cryptic, and I couldn't find much beyond "Sorath" at first glance. I sort of can't believe it's come from an unknown.
posted by lucidium at 4:07 PM on February 27, 2016

Wow, the sound design for this is great.
posted by teponaztli at 8:18 PM on February 27, 2016

Ooh, it's on Steam! Aw, it's Windows-only.
posted by Pronoiac at 9:43 PM on February 27, 2016

Ooh, it's on Steam! Aw, it's Windows-only.

For now. It's an entirely one-developer game. Said dev has mentioned starting on a mac port soon and wanting to do a linux port eventually also (they've had trouble with linux dev in the past though). Hopefully the wait for those won't be too long.

This game is so fucking cool. I can't wait to see what happens in a few months when the best players are even more insanely good at it.
posted by sparkletone at 11:30 PM on February 27, 2016

Is there any information about who made it?

Yes! It's by a guy named Matt Bush. You'll see him pretty high up on the leaderboards under his twitter/steam handle, I think. He worked on the engine for a game called Dustforce before this. I think Sorath is just some LLC name he made up because you have to have something to tie that stuff to.
posted by sparkletone at 11:43 PM on February 27, 2016

You know what makes me want to buy Superhot, The Devil Tesla?

Their ads! The ad images move only when you scroll. I thought it was so clever I've moves the game up to the top of my to-buy list.
posted by Captain Fetid at 1:15 AM on February 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Honestly? The Doom sequel just doesn't look like it's going to be an good: They'll market the hell out of it & it'll probably sell a ton, but it just feels like it's trying too hard to me. Perhaps that's just my age showing though.

This, on the other hand? This thing looks like it would give me nightmares.
posted by pharm at 1:56 PM on February 28, 2016

SUPERHOT is really good. I like that I have time to aim, and that it's mostly about (A) situational awareness and (B) thinking and (C) not getting too caught up in the action because that will make you forget about A and B, but (D) bullets don't entirely stop and will still kill you while you're "paused."

I've gotten as far as ELEVATOR PITCH and it's giving me fits.
posted by Foosnark at 2:36 PM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've played through SUPERBAD once. Elevator Pitch was *brutal,* and I gave up and looked up a tip online.

It's an astounding game, most innovative shooter I've played in years.
posted by Pronoiac at 7:56 PM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

The gameplay for SUPERHOT was absolutely great, but their storyline really pissed me off. It felt really contrived, I think it was trying to be edgy by breaking the fourth wall, when it wasn't really saying anything. The having to type fake emails by button bashing seemed really dumb, and why include long, unskippable videos which make the user walk about really slowly.
posted by Ned G at 5:39 AM on February 29, 2016

(I binge played it this weekend, and that rant's been building up, sorry!)
posted by Ned G at 5:40 AM on February 29, 2016