Is Death Must Die Worth It?

Let’s be frank, we are living in a golden age of indie gaming. There is a plethora of incredible, unique games to play. My Steam backlog is packed, and every sale I have to ask myself, “should I really be getting this game?”. It wasn’t any different when I saw Death Must Die in the Steam Store, marked down at a decent sale price. The description piqued my interest, and the gameplay images looked fantastic, but does it deserve a spot in your library? I took the plunge and bought it, so I can tell you my thoughts on Death Must Die so you can decide if it is worth it.

What is Death Must Die?

Death Must Die is an isometric, roguelite, bullet hell with RPG elements, developed by Realm Archive. You play as one of six (as of now) heroes on a mission to defeat Death. Story wise, it isn’t too much different from other games we’ve seen in the past. Gameplay wise though, there’s something special here. Gameplay is like a mix between Vampire Survivors, Hades, and Diablo. After selecting your hero, you start your run similar to Vampire Survivors, beating wave after wave of enemies until you level up. Once you level up, you do not select a random item from a pool. Instead, a random god will reach out to you and give you a choice of blessing to accept.

These blessings can grant a large number of effects, and part of the fun for me is seeing just how they interact together. Some blessings allow you to summon frost wolves. Others allow your attacks to curse enemies or unleash chain lightning. Another blessing creates a bubble around your character that slows down projectiles when the cooldown is up. It’s just so incredibly exciting whenever you get the level up option, and start strategizing your gameplan. Additionally, the gods will comment on whoever you received a blessing from, which slowly reveals some of the lore of the game. Each god has their own reasons to aid you in defeating death, and it has been fun to uncover their motives.

Blessing strength increases as you level them up, but also increases based on rarity. If you can snag a master or legend ranked skill, the result is absolutely bonkers. In one run I had a legend skill that summoned a massive hurricane that engulfed enemies. That coupled with chain lightning made for an incredibly fun attempt.

Each of the heroes plays a bit differently, so you’ll have to adapt new tactics per character.

What Does Progression Look Like?

The base gameplay loop is start run, fight waves, gather blessings and loot, beat bosses, die, repeat.

Something that sets it apart from other games in the survivor genre, is that Death Must Die has a loot system similar to Diablo. Enemies drop loot that you can equip on your character, further increasing your base stats. As you get more equipment, you survive for longer, and can get even higher ranked equipment. The bonuses equipment confer can also increase things like your item pull range or the chance to receive higher ranked blessings. As you stack your blessing rank chances, you’ll start to encounter some powerful blessings in your runs.

In a recent patch, the developers also introduced talent branches for all the characters as well. Beating bosses in a run awards you a talent point, which you can spend on permanent upgrades. The skill trees are massive, and allow for some truly unique customization. I don’t know the maximum number of skill points, but I hope it lets you max the trees. The skill points are tied to the individual characters, so you have to play with that specific character to upgrade their tree. This encourages you to play with everyone, and explore a variety of playstyles.

Is it Worth It?

As with all other game purchases, it really depends. First and foremost, the game is still in early access. You should ALWAYS exercise caution and restraint when deciding on early access titles. You are buying an unfinished product, and the developers are not under any obligations to finish. If you do not like the risks associated with early access purchases, then save your money and do not buy this game. However, if you are amenable to those risks, Death Must Die may be worth a look.

If you’re a fan of Hades or Vampire Survivors, this game may satisfy an itch. While it may not have the story depth of Hades, the conversations between gods and the heroes is still entertaining. I look forward each run to unlocking new dialogue, and have not really been disappointed. The voice acting can be hit or miss, but is overall good. The character graphics are what you would expect of a pixel game, with an aesthetic similar to Children of Morta. The 2D artwork of the gods however, is top notch. They all have excellent character designs that highlight their domains well.

For the more technical side of things, the developers are constantly updating and posting patch notes on Steam. The fact that they are active means the game is not dead and development is ongoing. They also released an impressive roadmap in July and a massive patch in April. There are currently two acts available to play, with Act III currently in development.

One of the biggest draws for me was the price tag. Currently the game is listed at $6.99 USD. My favorite metrics for gaming, is dollars-spent to hours-played. And at this price point, I felt that it was worth it to give Death Must Die a shot. I personally feel that I have already gotten my monies worth with this game, and I haven’t even made it to Act II. There is still A LOT more game to enjoy.

Final Thoughts

To summarize, if you enjoy the survivor genre of bullet hell game, I think you should give Death Must Die a shot. It has a fun gameplay loop that is getting better with each update, and I do think the developers have the potential for something special. Leveling up has always been fun and exciting, and discovering new blessing combinations is rewarding. One drawback is the early game is still a bit slow, but that generally gets better after the fourth or fifth level up. After that though, your run starts coming together and the real fun starts.

Have you purchased Death Must Die? How do you feel about the game? Have you uncovered any truly OP builds? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Good luck on your future runs!