| Platform | Nintendo Switch |
| Release Date | 6/1/2022 |
| Cost | $14.99 |
| Publisher | Merge Games |
| ESRB Rating | M |
Taking a cue from games like Smash TV, Deathrun TV features a game show where you battle for your life in a deadly arena. After a tutorial, you get put back stage where you can change your look and then you go out in front of the crowd and pick your poison:
You can pick either arcade or standard in Deathrun TV. Arcade is just you in an area fighting infinite waves of enemies while saving prisoners. Prisoners are blindfolded and are in yellow. You save them and drop them down a chute. They will get you likes(more on this in a second) and power-ups. Occasionally you will fight a boss. While the are large and can be challenging, they simply don’t match the epic spectacle of the Smash TV bosses. Still, we’re dealing with a different art style and relative budget, so its fine.
The meat of Deathrun TV is standard mode, which is a basically a rogue-like series of procedurally generated studio sets, there are 5 sets per studio, the last one containing a boss. In some sets, you just have beat the waves and then hit the buzzer before the area explodes and you die. Others you have to make it through a gauntlet of rooms to the buzzer. If you die, game over and you start at studio 1-1.
Now, when you die, your likes and kills are calculated. Likes come from prisoners saved, the number of kills and, if in standard, bonus boxes in bonus stages between studios. Get a certain of likes, and you’ll unlock permanent mutations(powerups) and cosmetic items. This goes up a hundred each unlock and is the minimum score you have to beat. Get enough kills, you unlock new weapon and weapon upgrades. Your kills are counted down from the total amount you need. What’s neat is, you can unlock in either mode, and your unlocks are for both arcade and standard modes.
At first, I was skeptical of Deathrun TV, but the more I played, the more I enjoyed it. Its a rogue-like, but its a fun rogue-like that will keep you coming back for more.
Overall: Become a contestant on Deathrun TV. Trust me!
Verdict: Recommended
