Big Drunk Satanic Massacre Review

The super ultra violent Big Drunk Satanic Massacre has landed on Nintendo Switch. From the get go, it’s important to point out that this really isn’t a game for the young ‘uns. It has more violence and crude language than a Die Hard movie crossed with a South Park episode. This can be toned down in the options, but I chose to keep it at the settings it was meant to be played at. 

Gameplay

The gameplay is pretty straightforward; if it moves, use your weapon of choice to make sure it won’t move again. Enemies will periodically spawn into the map. There is a glow first that appears before the enemies spawn there and it is possible to line up Lou so that he can end some of them before they can even take one step.  Of course, the motivation of this is to save the demoness and rid Hell of the evil bandits that have over run it.

The environment can also be used to your advantage, such as explosive barrels. Regardless how many time they’re used, it still feels extremely satisfying taking out multiple enemies in one fell swoop.  

Everything flows really well, and there are instances where you will end up being cornered. Thankfully, Lou is able to do a little boost to get you on your way a lot faster and controlling him is a complete breeze.  

The game is split across 4 chapters, with each one having a boss in it which is actually pretty bonkers. The levels themselves to bring a nice challenge to them, but it never feels unfair, or unruly. What I did like is that Lou regenerates his health by drinking ‘milk’ which is another naughty nod to just how devilish (heh), this game is. It would have been nice though if there were chapters available, but that’s a small nit pick.  

As you would expect, there’s a nice little arsenal on show, and the shotgun always goes down a treat, and there are up to 6 weapons to choose from.  There is plenty of gore here, and those that are a fan of a bit of ultraviolence will not be disappointed.

Currently, the game is single player only. It would be nice in the future though if a co-op mode could be added.  

Graphics and Sound

Graphically, the game is very pleasant. The lighting effects on show look brilliant, and when there’s explosions on the screen, they really do look the part. Even in handheld mode, the game is a pretty one. There were one or two instances of slowdown, but these were few and far between and this slowdown could also be attributed to the microSD card that the game is running off of. When in docked mode, it does look lovely on a big TV. The top down view akin to Postal and Diablo works really well here. If it had been a third person or first person shooter, than I do genuinely feel that some of the graphical appeal of the game would be lost, so it’s definitely the right choice that this is a top down shooter.  

Oh, lordy. The music in BDSM is bloody fantastic. I’d say its nestled in nicely between hard rock and metal and I loved every minute of it. Clearly, if you’re not a fan of this kind of music then you’ll think differently, but as a lover of all things metal, I was constantly grinning listening to the score. To be fair, with the type of gameplay with the spawn of Satan running around, it’s not going to be a pop ballad that’s going to be playing in the back ground. Likewise, there are plenty of sound bytes from Lou which is a nice touch. They are a bit reminiscent of Duke Nukem with his one liners, which certainly adds to the charm of the game as a whole.  

It is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC and PS4.