Let It Die

RIOTOUS ROGUELIKE OFFERS SILLY SLASHING... AT A PRICE.

LET IT DIE is an uber violent, strangely sexualised hack-and-slash that owes much to Dark Souls. You strafe around increasingly odd enemies, pummel them with weighty attacks, then loot their corpses for weapons and currency. This is also the most ‘Suda51’ game you’ll ever see.

Combatants are forced to fight wearing nothing but their Y-fronts and a Bane mask, and you’re revived by a skateboard-riding grim reaper called Uncle Death. The combat really is cumbersome. Let It Die doubles down on a brand of bulky slashing. As you climb floor after floor of the Tower of Barbs, attempting to reach and slay four overlords, both fisticuffs and the odd firefight feel sluggish.

At least the weapons are fun. Whether incinerating ghouls with a fireworks launcher or teaching a flabby mid-boss a laundry lesson, the array of killing tools on display could scarcely take themselves less seriously. Couple this with special ‘goretastic’ finishers that mimic spine-snapping wrestling moves and you’re left with a game that absolutely revels in overtly silly spectacle.

It’s just a pity that it’s so ruddy complicated. The game throws so many tutorials and info screens into the first half hour that you’d think you were studying for a master’s degree. The menus don’t help, either.

Death is a frequent occurrence, and sends you right back to the start. Want to get that deceased character back? You’ll either have to pay handsomely (in in-game currency) for their return, or fight your way back to that floor and defeat a hostile, zombified version of them. If you can’t bear to let a killer run end, you can pop to the PlayStation Store and spend real money to revive your fighter in the exact spot they died without losing any items.

Haters are the reanimated versions of your (and other players’) deceased fighters, and can provide one hell of an unexpected challenge.

Infuriating, abrasive, yet against all odds strangely lovable, there’s really nothing else on PS4 quite like Let It Die. [ DAVE MEIKLEHEIM ]

One moment, you’re foraging frogs to boost your HP; the next, you’re tossing explosive ’shrooms at foes with suitcases for heads.

It’s every bit as deliciously daft as Lollipop Chainsaw, Killer 7 or No More Heroes.