DAMN (PS4) | REVIEW | Is DAMN Worth Playing in 2025? Our Honest Review.

DAMN!!! The first thing that came to mind when I read the title of this game was that scene in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action movie where Raphael got his arse kicked by Casey Jones. It's nowhere near what this game is about, but truth be told I still don't get why the game is titled DAMN???

DAMN, by closest comparison, is a top-down twin stick shooter with gameplay that is not unlike that of the base structure of Hotline Miami. You are some cybernetically enhanced punk with an interchangeable weapons arm that is on a repeated mission through several different locales. You rescue civilians, kill robots, plant a nuke, and get the hell out of Dodge before it explodes before finally facing off against the robot's champion. What stands between you and those objectives is gated access, limited health, and the previously mentioned robotic mobs. 

With DAMN you get two main modes of play. There's the objective based mode, and an arena survival mode. When it comes to objectives you are put into maze-like environments with various gate types that can be accessed by shot, by standard key, or by a color coded keycard. Behind these rooms are civilians, robots, oil barrels, items, and boxes of weapons as well as health refills. Depending upon the objective at hand you will need to either clear the robot mobs and rescue the civilians or plant/run from the nuke while killing all the robots. All while collecting items, and making it back to the end portal in a timely fashion.

Each objective completed tallies the number of enemies killed, the items collected, and the time spent in stage as well as to whether or not it is greater than or less than the set record timing. Getting a perfect playthrough will net you a three star ranking while a poorly executed playthrough will net you two stars or one.

In the alternative Arena mode you get to choose from 4 different mini maps filled with spawning robots, and weapon boxes. The point of it is to survive as long as possible while carefully navigating the maze, and putting to use the collected weapons. At the end of a playthrough the game will tally your time record, and boxes collected to assess your overall ranking.

The Presentation ...

DAMN looks like an older Sega Genesis or PSOne era game release, and is basically pure gameplay. There is no story element, and only brief objective descriptions for each mission. The game is colorful, and cartoonish with a dated appearance that does seem to have the retro era in mind. Even the soundtrack harkens back to such an era. 

The Verdict ...

DAMN isn't too challenging, and it isn't profoundly innovative. What it does though is interesting. The objective based main mode keeps you on the edge of your seat as you try to beat the set records for the highest ranking. The Arena mode, on the flipside, is a needlessly tacked on bonus that does not inspire replay for the long run. All in all it's a down to the point experience that's at least good enough for the PSN trophies, if nothing else.