Rock is the Devil’s music, and that being the case, then Devil Jam is his… jam? Dark Souls defined the Souls-like genre, where Vampire Survivors did it for the Survivor-like, which Rogueside’s game (Best Served Cold) is of the latter. However, putting aside the frantic button mashing on chest drops, this is more like Champion Shift with the cars.
You find yourself in Hell armed only with an axe (a guitar – heh heh) and have to run around and survive an endless wave of demons, blobs, and giant roadies. For each kill, a gem will drop, which will boost your XP, and upon levelling up, you can invest in a plethora of perks that each have their own tiers.
Starting with Devil Jam’s tutorial, I misunderstood and thought it was a rhythm-based fighter like B.P.M. or Crypt of the NecroDancer, and I remained still, other than aiming the mouse in the direction of baddies. As you might imagine, a quick death ensued, and I cannot stress how important it is to keep moving.
On with the main game, and while it’s not the same as the other titles just mentioned, the attacks are automated based on the four beats. As you unlock new abilities – from health generators to fireballs, you can place them in a 12-gear slot where the four columns represent the beats, and the three rows allow you to combine power-ups that buff other abilities based on the defined patterns. It makes sense when you play.
Like the comparable Champion Shift, after each level, a random ability is rolled, and sometimes it might be something new, or a higher-tier version, taking the ultimate level being demonic. In addition to these perks, there are additional passives that apply throughout the run and don’t require any available slots.
So, as you might expect, Devil Jam gets better the further you get, as you essentially become overpowered, though it takes some time to get there. The first steps involve patience and meticulously levelling up individual perks per run, as upon death, you can speak to the record label manager (this chap looks familiar) and he’ll give you coins for each feat. This, in turn, can unlock permanent boosts, plus there are additional characters to play.
Perhaps it was my repeated runs that allowed me to unlock every perk from the merchant. This did improve the experience, but it’s the actual runs and strategies of combining slots that will enable you to progress. Devil Jam is undoubtedly addictive and the progression feels relatively fair, but for the first handful of runs, the bosses are stupidly overpowered and you’re guaranteed to take hits regularly.
To counter this, I invested in a perk that caused health drops, and upon consuming, they’d do additional damage. Damage is the key component, as aside from the bosses, some enemies are a chore to take down with weak damage capabilities. Second to this was the health perk, which I used with the second character. Within about 30 minutes straight, I was shredding enemies and bosses, not with ease, but at a comfortable pace, until getting to Death, who took an age to reduce their health bar.
At these points, Devil Jam felt a little unfair as doing a 30-minute run to then hit a massive wall was a little demotivating, and considering I’d maxed out the merchant skills and had a lot of demonic power, I was still getting my arse handed to me. Still, one more run might solve it?
Unfortunately, the biome remains the same throughout, and instead of shifting to a new location, you keep progressing by defeating one boss after the next. The upside of beating more bosses, who randomly spawn rather than a set pattern, is that you can unlock a handful of items at the merchant once more, making those marginal gains all the worthwhile.
Yes, it can get a little monotonous, but those gains are motivating. Just don’t beat yourself up too much when you reach Death. They’re pretty well known in these parts as being a badass. With great visuals and a decent, ever-changing rock track throughout, Devil Jam fills in the void for the metal genre where Brütal Legend raised the volume to 11.
