Demon Pit

Developed in unison by Doomcube and Psychic Software, Demon Pit is a fast-paced arena shooter harking back to the FPS classics of the 90s. Originally conceived during a game jam, it progressed from "Night of the Pumpkins", it's V1 iteration where the enemies were - you guessed it - pumpkins. As development continued beyond the Game Jam, it evolved into what we see here now: an homage to the era that inspired it.

From the moment you first start the game, you can feel Doom and Quake pulsing through its veins. The low-poly 3D graphics combined with the techno/metal score made it feel very genuine in its delivery.

You play as a Demon Hunter cast into hell for all of eternity, destined to endlessly battle demon after demon.With ten enemy types of varying difficulty and strategy, you'll find an ample challenge as you hunt them down whilst battling to stay alive. Seven weapons will become available to you as the game progresses, with some being more useful than others. Ammo is scarce for picked up weapons, so you need to conserve your good ammo and try to focus on your starter gun where you can, as that's equipped with infinite ammo (so you'll be relying on it a lot!)

It is chaotic and at times frustrating, but working your way out of a bind feels great. In your arsenal you have a Soul Grapple that allows you to latch on to various points around the map to whip yourself out of danger. With each wave, enemies get harder and you'll have to learn to use the Grapple effectively as the Pit will change and have walls and pillars appear to make things just a little more difficult.

With a constantly changing environment upping the ante you need to not only be aware of your enemies, but be aware of your surroundings too. Whilst sometimes this can catch you off guard, you can use it to your advantage by buying some time behind cover if you're surrounded, or cut enemies off by surprising them round a corner. 

For less than a tenner, there's a good time to be had if you're into retro shooters. While it definitely leans heavily into the simplistic combat of its inspiration, it's effective and as long as you aren't expecting too much from it, you'll have fun.

In the end, we decided to give Demon Pit the Collecting Asylum rating of 6.5/10.

Have you played Demon Pit yet? What did you think of it?

Let us know in the comments below!

- V x

Thanks to Digerati for the Demon Pit Xbox One review code!