Devil Jam feels like someone smashed together Hades and Vampire Survivors in a late night jam sesh, and, somehow, it works just as well as it sounds.
What Is Devil Jam?
Devil Jam is a roguelite/survivor game. If you have played anything like Vampire Survivors previously, you understand the concept. In Devil Jam, you’ll defeat massive waves of enemies with your instruments while picking up weapons/buffs to make you stronger along the way. You’ll hit a level time limit and try to defeat the level’s boss to move on to the next stage.
The difference here from others in the genre is the story. This is where the Hades aspect comes in. You play as (at first) Falco, a member of a sick metal band. Death, looking to push his record label agenda, takes you and your band to an untimely demise a bit early. The problem is, you sold your souls to the Devil. So what now? You all bit the dust earlier than expected. So, you make yet another deal with the Devil to take out Death to reclaim your souls.
Each run is you trying to get strong enough to fight the good ole Grim Reaper himself and return to your metal band glory. Along the way, you’ll encounter some Sins (characters) to help you with weapons, buffs, and overall comedic bits. This is another comparison to Hades when the crew shows up and gives you your arsenal to continue. It’s a welcome addition, though, as it fills Devil Jam with personality. Survivor games are already addictive, so this added personality is absolutely a welcome shakeup. And slaying you shall be doing.
Enemies ranging from slimes, to mimics, to “Big Dudes” come at you in full force and are pretty relentless. Once you hit certain time limits within the stage, you’ll also fight some bosses. These are pretty cool and can definitely be challenging at later difficulties and stages in the game. Evade, attack, and rock your way to victory. Easy enough, right?
The enemies need a good weapon to take them out and you get plenty. Get lasers that shoot out from all sides of your weapon, massive fireballs that set them ablaze, or maybe a big AOE sledgehammer to circle around you and knock back all creatures in the vicinity.
You can also get buffs (or debuffs in some cases) to your weapons by placing them on a rhythmic grid. Devil Jam uses its attacks on a “beat” based system. So a literal rhythm. You’ll place these weapons or buffs on this grid to determine when they trigger and what gets buffed where.
It looks a little confusing at first but during the first run, you’ll get the hang of it rather quickly. It never really feels too stressful, as you’ll usually find a way to make certain things work. Once you start to master it (really about 2-3 runs for me), you’ll know what to pick and choose and where to put them. That, to me, becomes the satisfying parts of these games.
After each run, you’re sent back to the Devil’s office where you can pickup challenges, buy special currencies you couldn’t pick up in action from a broker, or snag up some EXP/Damage/Weapon boosts from the merchant. As you collect items in the field you can spend them here to increase the stats of your abilities or character itself. You have 3 characters to eventually choose from and they share the same passives. No worries, though as they are unique as well in what currencies they pick up, weapon types, and character buffs.
A Soundtrack That (Mostly) Hits The Right Notes
With a heavy rock tone, Devil Jam has you head banging along to its soundtrack. Guitars thrash and punch hard as you conquer the demons inside hell. Boss fights get some cool licks, and overall, I really did enjoy how the songs sync up with attacks. It actually makes it easier for you to plan your movements and the direction you head when you’re on a metronome. You know a game’s soundtrack gets to you (in a good way) when you’re audibly making the guitar noises out loud.
I do think this is a high point for sure in Devil Jam although, it can get repetitive at times. I’m not saying you need 200 or more tracks here, that is obnoxious. But when you’re spending so much time on a challenge, I would like a few more.
Does Devil Jam Get It All Right?
While Devil Jam’s art and music are absolutely a face melting good time, there are some things I’d like to see improved upon in the game itself. First, the fact that there is a lack of diversity between the levels. In my 10+ hours of playing, the levels I unlocked all sort of looked and felt too similar. For whatever reason, I feel survivor type games need different locations and environments to keep interest as you’ll be spending a lot of time within them over and over doing 20+ minute runs per time.
That being said, Devil Jam is a fun and pleasing game to play. I had all my notes and such taken for this review and I kept finding myself doing “just one more run” before moving on with my day. With some stellar voice acting, things picked from some rather awesome games, and a bunch of challenges to keep you going, Devil Jam was a good time rather than a slog for my time spent.
Should You Play Devil Jam?
If you are into heavy metal, rock bands, Hades, Vampire Survivors, or a mix of any of these things, this game is for you. There is a certain satisfaction to mowing down waves of enemies with a rocking soundtrack to back you up. With a pretty comedic story sprinkled in along with the chaos, Devil Jam is worth it for the survivor-game genre fans or someone looking to get into them for the first time. If you have seen this game and thought, “Oh, that looks cool,” that is because it is. Let’s hope it gets some updates, new bosses, new levels, and such in the future, as I would hop right back in to rock the night away.
Devil Jam gets a solid 7/10 for me. Play it. I think you’ll like it.
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