Review
Deliver At All Costs review: madness on wheels
by Kim Muntinga
Berserk or Die: destroy your enemies and your keyboard
9.6.2025
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
Berserk or Die is the perfect game for those slow days when you want to let your aggression run free. But careful: don’t use your favourite keyboard.
I love keyboards. Given that, I should probably keep my hands off Berserk or Die. This game makes me slam my keys so hard I’m starting to fear for my valued input device. And my worries are justified, as confirmed when my wife comes into the office and asks if I’m doing OK. Hell yeah I am! Just not my keyboard. I just have to finally destroy that darn Egyptian chariot.
No story, no problem
In Berserk or Die, I’m the last warrior left on a battlefield, slaughtering my way through hordes of enemy sword fighters, archers and mythical creatures. They all leave behind coins to collect. On top of these enemies, I have to defend myself against many shades of projectiles.
In this 2D hack’n’slay sidescroller with Roguelite elements, I move by attacking to the left or right. Time passes in a day/night cycle. During the day we slaughter, and at night a trader comes by to sell me randomly generated upgrades. Then it starts all over again. That’s basically the whole game loop. If my health drops to zero, I lose all my upgrades and start from scratch. There’s no story. Not that I’m complaining; the game shines in other areas.
Immersive controls
Berserk or Die’s unique selling point is its controls. You have to use almost the entire keyboard. With 1,2,3,4,q,w,e,r,a,s,d,f,y,x,c and/or v, you attack to the left. 7,8,9,0,u,i,o,p,j,k,l,ö,m,, ,. or - go to the right. Confusing? Only at first. It doesn’t really matter which buttons you press, they all do the same thing. However, if I push several at the same time, the range and power of my attack increases.
Mind you, I can’t just spam strong attacks. That’s a quick way to slam into enemy barrages. What’s more, my berserker has to regenerate his stamina after every action – I can’t just continue attacking endlessly. This is where defending comes into play. With 5,t,g or b, you defend against attacks from the left, while 6, z, h or n protect your right. Alternatively, you can also play the game with a controller, but this is much less fun.
This loop works surprisingly well, even if the attacks are basically only split into close, medium and far. If there are few enemies on screen, I can get through with gentle button presses. As the play area gradually fills up, I hit my keys ever more. This only draws me into the action more: like my virtual berserker, I’m also running amok. It all results in heated battles where I time and defend my attacks in a targeted manner – or at least I try to.
If the enemy hordes threaten to overrun me anyway, I shake my mouse wildly back and forth. This triggers a special move I can charge up via normal attacks, allowing me to plough through the battlefield even more efficiently.
Roguelite elements done well, role-playing extras flop
This gameplay loop is great fun and perfect for casual sessions. So far, I haven’t survived much longer than 20 minutes – enemies get stronger by the second. Mind you, more talented gamers than me could certainly butcher for much longer. Nevertheless, individual game sessions will be rather short.
As a rule, I’m not a fan of games with Roguelite influences – I don’t like losing what I’ve worked hard for. In Berserk or Die, however, I don’t mind if I lose my upgrades during a virtual demise. On the one hand, I always have to buy extra health anyway since I often lack the talent to survive and never get many upgrades. On the other hand, all the upgrades are cool. With one, I can automatically throw a spear with every fifth kill – not that it’s necessary.
Some attributes, such as health, can be increased permanently. To do this, I have to redeem experience points I’ve collected during battle in the right menu. This role-playing element feels superfluous, especially when upgrade options here are limited – at least until I progress further in the game. All in all, this allowed me to increase my maximum health points from 3 to 3.5.
When things get intense, Berserk or Die shines
Graphically, Berserk or Die doesn’t win any awards. I like the 2D pixel look, but it’s nothing special either. But it’s not the end of the world – I usually don’t have time to look at my surroundings anyway. Mind you, when things get really intense, my screen lights up with particle effects.
The five different locations provide variety as I plough my way through hordes of enemies. These include a forest with Aztec-inspired enemies and a desert inspired by Egyptian mythology.
The soundtrack and effects don’t knock my socks off either. However, unlike other games, I don’t have to rely on acoustic signals to carry out actions, so I can listen to other music while playing.
Berserk or Die was provided to me by poncle. The game has been available for PC since 8 June.
In a nutshell
Immersive casual carnage
While I won’t remember Berserk or Die for its visuals, its unique controls will stay with me. The fact I can control the power and range of my attacks by pressing several keys at the same time draws me way deeper into the game.
Another upside is the short play time of individual sections, perfect for casual gaming. If I need to relieve some stress, I simply beat up [[strike:hordes of enemies]] my keyboard.
The game doesn’t offer much more than that. This isn’t necessarily bad, mind you. At around four francs/euros, it’s a cheap pick-up. I’ll certainly replay Berserk or Die from time to time, even if I won’t spend countless hours on it like I would with other games.
Pro
- Innovative controls
- Fun gameplay loop
Contra
- Will destroy your keyboard
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
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