Otherwise, there are a couple of basic bad guys types and a random boss spawns every now and then. These pies seem to be the key to lasting longer than I tend to last, but I’ll have to get back to you on that. I’m guessing it’s one of those weapon upgrades. When the pie is full, something happens that I’m too busy not dying to notice. You fill in pie pieces when you do certain combos. The tutorial (ha ha, as if) says that you can “kill enemies in creative ways to earn upgrades”. This is a lean score-chase, as pared down and aesthetically focused as Devil Daggers.īut whereas Devil Daggers is a first-person shooter score-chase with some gimmickry hidden under the deceptive simplicity of just shooting stuff, Tormenter X Punisher is a top-down twin-stick shooter score-chase with some gimmickry hidden under the deceptive simplicity of just shooting stuff. You just start the game to play the one level with the one chick with the same two weapons every time. You don’t choose weapons, you don’t choose a secondary ability, you don’t choose which character to play, you don’t choose a level. If you take too long, it will begrudgingly show you a little cartoon intro. The title screen throbs with self-awareness and a steady beat like fingers drumming impatiently. At which point it doesn’t even ask you if you want to restart. Three or even four if you’re really good or lucky. It will last maybe two minutes if you’re good. It’s delivering a quick sharp jolt of gore, profanity, and arcade-induced dexterity. Unlike some dude burbling on in an attempt to write about this lean retro tantrum of game design, Tormenter X Punisher knows exactly what it’s doing.

Because this is a review of Tormenter X Punisher, in which you go to planet Fuck You to shoot hundreds of demon things and get a high score. I had some stuff here about the glut of twin-stick shooter rogue-likes with retro graphics, the legacy of Doom, gameplay filler, and even a bit about female protagonists.

Devil daggers controls