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Hell is Hell – Big Drunk Satanic Massacre Preview

GIZORAMA @ PAX West

With a name like Big Drunk Satanic Massacre (BDSM), you know what you’re getting into. This game is a blend of Duke Nukem and Leisure Suit Larry style humor with a very self-aware bend to it. Players take control of Lou, the son of Satan who is working to reclaim Hell after a human invasion has somehow made things worse. A corporation, known as Big Wac is grinding up demons into burgers, and predictably, that’s causing more than a few problems. In the short demo, Lou blasted his way through darkened city streets, a deadly desert, and even a demonic strip club. The resulting gameplay was frantic, bloody, and even a little unsettling at times.

BDSM is full of references to pop culture and games of the past with fat Peter Griffin knockoffs and bulky, dumber versions of the DOOM marine charging the player at every turn. Each piece of the game is poking fun at something, and nowhere is that clearer than with its protagonist. Lou spits out one liners like they’re going out of style, and some of them might even make the mighty Nukem cringe. To some degree, this might limit the appeal, as to lampoon the source material, BDSM had to kick things up a notch, and that can lead to both raunchy and gory situations (occasionally at the same time).

Gameplay is standard isometric shooter fare, with the player gathering progressively more ridiculous guns as the campaign progresses and of course, upgrading their stat tree. These perks are simple, running the traditional gamut of player upgrades (Health, Damage, etc.), but don’t do anything particularly innovative. Where BDSM is unique is in its disturbing, cartoon-horror, surreal baddies. Whether it’s the morbidly obese who spew possessed hamburgers after they die, or satanic strippers who attack the player with neon marital aids, there’s a lot of variety to be found in Hell.

Overall, BDSM is going for a very specific type of humor. It’s raunchy, referential, and likely to offend more than a few people. The gameplay is standard, but the world is unique and the humor is pointed, with some of the protagonists one-liners making me laugh out loud during the demo. Big Drunk Satanic Massacre is set to release later this year on PC and PS4. For more info, check out the game’s Steam page here.

Thanks to Big Way Games for giving us a chance to preview the game!

Ashton Macaulay

Ashton lives in the fairy tale village of Redmond Washington, has written a novel about a drunken monster hunter, and takes no responsibility for the sense of awe his articles might inspire.

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