Damsel

Review

Humans and Vampires coexist in the world, thanks to a drink known as the Red Mist. It’s a formula created by the Vampire Corporation which subdues all vampires and stops them from seeking human blood, allowing both races to live together. However, the Vampire Corporation wants to rule the world and has decided to change the formula by adding, you guessed it, real human blood! This is totally unacceptable and the agents of the DSA (Department of Sanguinarian Affairs) are on the case!  With the help of her handler, Swan, and the genius hacker, Die-ode, Damsel is armed with an ultraviolet gun and sent deep into the Vampire Corporation Headquarters and manufacturing plants to investigate and stop the production of this new Red Mist formula. Otherwise, the humans are doomed!  

Damsel is a fast-paced cartoon-style platformer, developed and self-published by Screwtape Studios and released on Steam in October 2018. This game is also available on the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.



The game consists of a Campaign mode (which has three chapters with 25 stages each), an Arcade mode and the Damsel Dash mode. While you can re-attempt all the levels in the Campaign mode until you beat them, in the Arcade mode you only have 3 lives (or three attempts) to clear each level. If you don’t succeed, its game over. Damsel Dash mode is like the Arcade mode, but each level you play is taken randomly from the 75 levels of the game, which is fun.

There are three levels of difficulty in Damsel: Chillout (you can’t die), Balanced (as it is intended to play), and Hotseat (must keep the skull combo alive; great if you are into super hardcore gaming!).

Most of the levels can be cleared in 30 seconds to 4 minutes, but let me tell, you it is bloody insane gameplay!  Each of the levels will have a specific task at hand, which might be to free all hostages, hack laptops or padlocks, destroy cameras, diffuse bombs or simply kill all vampires or coffins.

Damsel will only have 3 hearts at the start of a level, and each hit she takes, a heart will disappear.  She can gain an extra heart by kicking or shooting all red cans within the stage (the Red Mist drink). But be careful not to kick the red or yellow barrels as it will inflict great damage to your favourite agent. There are other obstacles to avoid, such as spikes, lasers and electricity, as well as these round blue thingies that propel Damsel violently to other spots within the levels, and most of the time it’s for the worst! Lose all your hearts and it’s game over!  This is not the only way to lose a stage; if you shoot a hostage, or were unable to diffuse a bomb on time, it will be a bloody game over yet again! (I would like to apologise to all hostages that I shot by mistake; I am getting old and my reflexes are not what they used to be).

You’ll also notice purple skulls scattered around each stage; this is how the combo system works. Each time you take a skull (run, dash or jump onto it) a number will appear on the top right corner of your screen in the middle of a purple circle.  The circle will then start to disappear anti-clockwise, and if you don’t manage to get another skull before the circle disappears, the combo will stop. And of course, if you keep collecting skulls on time, it will restart the countdown (around 15 to 20 seconds for the circle to disappear). 

In the mix are a few different sorts of vampires to deal with. Some have guns or bazookas, and others throw bones at you.  The big vampires (chargers) run at you, and the most difficult are the executives which fly around in a circle and throw explosive projectiles to make your life bloody hard.

After completing a level, you’ll be ranked on two leader boards; one for how fast you finish the stage, and another on points.

I really like the cartoon graphics and the illustrations between levels in the Campaign mode. The game runs well and you can play with your keyboard or gamepad. Personally, I played this game on 2560 X 1440 resolution and it looks fabulous. You can turn the audio on or off the audio, and the game has been translated into 11 languages including French, Italian, Russian, Korean, Japanese, traditional Chinese, German and a few others.


Positives

+ Great cartoon artwork and illustrations
+ 75 levels to complete in the campaign mode
+ Arcade mode
+ Very fast and super fun
+ Achievements and trading cards

Negatives

- Frustrating at times

Review Summary

If you’re thirsty for a fast, fun and addictive platformer game with great cartoon artwork and vampires, don’t look further - Damsel is your game!

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Zeepond Rating: 8/10

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