[PlayStation 4] Deathwish Enforcers Review

Are you ready for Deathwish Enforcers from Limited Run Games and Monster Bath Studios? Then check out our Deathwish Enforcers review!

Are you ready for Deathwish Enforcers from Limited Run Games and Monster Bath Studios? Monster Bath Studios – previously known as Causal Bit Games – alongside with Hound Picked Games, released Battle Princess Madelyn on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch – is back on PlayStation 4 with a new game in a very different genre. If you’re old enough, then looking at the trailer and the screens in this Deathwish Enforcers review is probably giving you Sunset Riders flashbacks, and you would be correct! I had a lot of fun with Sunset Riders back in the day at the arcade, so I was definitely curious to see what Deathwish Enforces would bring to the table on PS4.

This one takes place in 1969 – you’ll be seeing those last two digits a lot in this game – and it has been heavily inspired by Sunset Riders, from offering four different characters to play as, to the gameplay mechanics and overall vibe, but with a 1970s theme. Speaking of the characters, you have Larry, who is based on Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry, Chuck, based on Charles Bronson’s Paul Kersey from Death Wish, the deadly Cleo, who is inspired by the queen of blaxploitation Pam Grier, and Diana, inspired by Diana Rigg who played Emma Peel in The Avengers. The game is Rated M for Mature, so you can probably guess what elements you’ll be experiencing during your time with this one.

Each character in Deathwish Enforcers will have different values for three stats that will change their overall feel. These stats are Power, Speed, and Special, and each character will excel at one, have an average rating for other, and have a low rating for the third one. For Larry, the order is Power, Special and Speed; Chuck’s is Power, Speed, and Special; Diana’s is Speed, Special, and Power; and Cleo’s is Speed, Power, and Special.

As for the action itself, you’ll control your character with the left analog stick or the D-Pad, jumping with the Circle button and attacking with the X button. Pressing down on the left analog stick or the D-Pad will allow your character to slide. This is crucial if you want to take cover and avoid enemy fire. The Square button will be for using your special attack, for which you have a set number of uses. If an enemy gets too close, pressing the Square button will allow your character to use a melee attack.

The game can be played in one of four difficulty settings, from Easy, to Normal, to Hard, to Ouch! The higher the difficulty level the higher the overall challenge, but the good news is that you can go into the options menu and increase your total number of lives, as well as your total number of continues. Since a single hit is all it takes to defeat your character, you’ll need to pay attention to the movement and attack patterns of each enemy, so that you can find the right way to take on each one of them.

This is twice as important for bosses! Bosses of all shapes and sizes will pop up as you work your way through the seven levels that Deathwish Enforcers has to offer. Since you don’t know what each boss will do, there’s going to be some trial and error involved as you learn their movement and attack patterns. This will allow you to stay alive just long enough to find the right window of opportunity for letting the boss know who’s the real boss.

The game has a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy waiting for you. The list includes 6 Bronze trophies, 7 Silver trophies, and 8 Gold trophies for you to work on. A big chunk of the trophies will unlock for completing each of the 7 levels in the game and defeating each of the bosses, as well as for beating the game. The rest of the requirements are completing a level without dying, doing this while playing in local co-op with two, three, and four players, as well as collecting 10 power-ups for autofire, bullet power, and specials.

There are some design choices that feel off in this one. Some levels will require that you press up and the jump button to grab onto wires to cross through that segment to avoid a hazard. The issue is that those cables are at the top of the screen with the UI is located for each character, showing their portrait, total money, remaining lives, hostages rescued, specials, and upgrades. That means that you’re going to die a lot since you won’t be able to see the wires until it’s too late. Jumping towards higher ground is also iffy since it will sometimes work and it’ll sometimes just not do what is required. Walking on higher ground also means that you won’t be able to slide into safety as easily, and that ducking to aim forward to attack is pretty much a no-go since your character will instead aim towards the floor below.

Deathwish Enforcers is a game that is heavily inspired by the classic arcade game Sunset Riders, from how each of the four characters controls and what their weapons are, to level design that will certainly remind you of stages from said classic. Once you finish the game, you’ll unlock a bonus music box, the ability to add up to 99 credits to subsequent runs, as well as a new Dirty! difficulty setting. This is a Rated M for Mature type of experience due to the violence, nudity, and other elements in the game’s content, which means it’s not going to be for everyone. Deathwish Enforcers is out on PlayStation 4 at a $22.99 price. If you hurry up, you can pre-order a physical copy from Limited Run Games.

Disclaimer
This Deathwish Enforcers review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by Limited Run Games.