Drawn to Death Review

Who knows why their Hand god created them, changed them, unleashed them on each other. Who knows why death does not force them to permanently part with their unforgiving world; who knows what their world even is. What they do know however is bloodshed, decimation and the art of killing. They also know that Hand loves the blood, and thus so do they. Forever they will fight on, or at least as long as Hand wishes it upon them…

Drawn to Death is a third-person shooter developed by The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency (at its helm lies David Jaffe, the mind behind God of War and Twisted Metal.) Like those series, Drawn to Death is also a PlayStation exclusive that at its core lies fast-paced, gore-filled gameplay.

The title brings a massive amount of crude, insatiable humor into the foray. As the base idea is a look into a male high school student’s drawn daydreams, the game is filled with obscene references and operates alongside them throughout, achieving its M rating with flying colors. This can easily be seen as a negative trait to some, and truly those with weak stomachs should steer clear of Drawn to Death.

Gameplay

[Image credit: Sony]

Gameplay is straightforward as up to four players compete in small arenas that vary wildly compared to one another. Some maps feature powerful player-triggered environmental traps while others provide their own sense of danger by offering little cover within a very compact battlefield. Complimentary to the maps, weapons are also quite diverse: in addition to the array of rifles, shotguns, snipers and launchers the game also features off-the-rails instruments like slingshots and even a dodgeball hurler. There are also no weapon classifications to speak of; you are free to equip any combination of armaments to your primary and secondary slots with the exception of grenades which bind to R1.

Visuals

The game presents an aforementioned unique selling point: players take control of characters drawn up inside a crude high school student’s notebook. This means that everything from characters and their skins, level designs and even menu screens were incredibly designed to resemble sketches made up of nothing but pencil and marker strokes. Truly the creative design alone is enough to differentiate Drawn to Death from its competitors in the shooter genre, and though the visuals may take some getting used to as far as your eyes are concerned, it most definitely brings uniqueness and longevity to the game. If you seek pure creativity and despise seemingly run-of-the-mill games, Drawn to Death is a no-brainer.

Issues

Drawn to Death is not without its numerous technical flaws. Party issues often force a game reload. At least one trophy has been confirmed to glitch for some. Matches may not always count under certain circumstances. Map voting is glitched. While none are game-breaking and all are surprisingly and relievingly encountered out of game providing a smooth, seamless experience is not a luxury the title provides. Said issues are somewhat easy to overlook when a game still feels fresh, but once you break it in such issues can become more and more of a nuisance and this title is no exception.

Looking at the big picture, Drawn to Death converts its creativity into longevity, but in the end bug after bug curses it with a ceiling lower than it should be.