You Will Die

Pretty average 2 stick shooter all around. Fun for a while but there are better ones out there.

You Will Die is a well done, but by no means groundbreaking, addition to the twin stick shooter genre. Your task is to destroy an enemy ship in a one-on-one deathmatch, while your opponent mercilessly taunts you in a digitized sultry female voice. You gain points by destroying the enemy ship, who then instantly respawns, complemented by a few upgrades. Thankfully, you’re not completely alone, as you can repair yourself or create a temporary shield, but you pay for such luxuries.

Gameplay-wise, You Will Die doesn’t have much creativity going for it. A year ago, the fact that it is a well-made Twin Stick Shooter at 80 MSPoints would be enough to see it get great exposure and a lengthy amount of playtime, but XBLIG is finally starting to hit its stride, and that means that games relatively straight forward to create (Twin stick shooters, Platformers, and low-art-asset “Retro” games) are seeing multiple releases per week. This increase in the amount of games on the market means the demand for quality and creativity is going to be higher, and while You Will Die has quality, it is relatively paper-thin. I shouldn’t bash it too hard – after all, it offers a rather unique mechanic for repairs and defense: By draining your score (and your score multiplier), you can gain either temporary invincibility or a regeneration to the health bar.

Artistically, the game doesn’t offer much in the way of interesting sound effects, music, or visuals. While nothing is downright horrible, it is entirely forgettable, and when you only have 8 minutes to make a demo impression, “forgettable” is not a good adjective.

With no multiplayer, the game is forced to stand as it is – a rather hollow twin stick shooter with a unique premise. Perhaps as a tech demo, or a “stepping stone” to greater success, it achieves some level of value, but there’s just too much greatness on XBLIG to accept mediocrity.