Drawn to Death
Developer(s)The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency
San Diego Studio
Publisher(s)Sony Interactive Entertainment
Director(s)David Jaffe
EngineUnity
Platform(s)PlayStation 4
ReleaseApril 4, 2017
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Drawn to Death was an online multiplayer third-person shooter[1] video game developed by David Jaffe's studio The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency and San Diego Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4 on April 4, 2017.[2] It allows four-player multiplayer in an arena shooter type setting and is reported to be set "inside the pages of a teenager's notebook", as such, it features a hand-drawn-looking visual style.[3]

Sony announced that the game's servers would be closing on March 25, 2019, rendering the game unplayable.[4]

Gameplay

Drawn to Death was an arena shooter set in a teenager's high school notebook.[5] The world and action embodied the juvenile tone of the child's illustrations. Players would pick a sketched character and drop them into environments drawn upon the book's pages. Each character had its own behaviors, passive tendencies, buffs and special attacks.[6]

Like previous games by David Jaffe, especially the Twisted Metal series, the arenas were made to feature multiple secrets to be used as weapons against enemies. Weapons and gameplay mechanics represent a juvenile tone. One weapon was "a lizard that doubles as a flamethrower," a power-up in the game summons the child's hand to interact in the game world. The action is said to be "fast and frantic, allowing players to sprint, double-jump, and reach high vantage points with ease".

Regarding the potential of a weapon progression system, Jaffe says "skill should be the only determining factor. If you've been playing this for a year, and I just come in and I'm awesome at these types of games, the only reason you should win is you know the map better and are more comfortable muscle memory wise. It should never be because you have better weapons."[3]

Development

Drawn to Death was pitched and has been in development since early 2013.[7] It was announced at the PlayStation Experience keynote opening ceremony on December 6, 2014. Drawn to Death is David Jaffe's first project at his new studio The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency.[1] where he acts as director.[8] A trailer was shown with its announcement, and a playable alpha was available.[9] A second promotional video was released on December 11 on Jaffe's YouTube account, where a game character reads through Giant Bomb negative user comments about its announcement and insults them.[10][11] The game's development budget was $12 million.[12]

Reception

Drawn to Death received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[13]

IGN awarded Drawn to Death a score of 4 out of 10, saying "Drawn to Death is a mean spirited, misguided mess that falls short mechanically and wants you to feel bad about yourself."[14] Push Square awarded it 8 out of 10, saying "Drawn to Death's juvenile presentation belies a nuanced shooter that's frankly a breath of fresh air."[15] Game Informer awarded it 5 out of 10, saying "After a few matches, most players will be ready to move on to a bigger, better game."[16] GameSpot awarded it a score of 4 out of 10, praising the art style and characters but criticising the physics, ineffectual weapons and attempts at comedy.[17]

The game was a runner-up for the "Worst Game (That We Played)" award at Giant Bomb's Game of the Year 2017 Awards.[18]

In 2022, Jaffe admitted that Drawn to Death failed critically and commercially.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b Matulef, Jeffrey (6 December 2014). "David Jaffe reveals arena shooter Drawn to Death". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-12-11.
  2. ^ Silva, Marty (6 December 2014). "Drawn to Death / 6 Dec 2014 PSX 2014: David Jaffe's Drawn to Death Revealed". IGN. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b Reiner, Andrew. "David Jaffe Walks Us Through Drawn To Death". Game Informer.
  4. ^ "Support for games you can play online". PlayStation. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Sketchy shooter Drawn to Death coming to PS4 in April". Polygon. 6 February 2017. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  6. ^ Schulenberg, Thomas (December 6, 2014). "Drawn to Death is David Jaffe's sketchbook arena shooter". Engadget (Joystiq). Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  7. ^ Jaffe, David (6 December 2014). "Drawn to Death, a Hand-Drawn Arena Shooter, Coming to PS4". PlayStation Blog. Archived from the original on 5 August 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  8. ^ LeBoeuf, Jeffrey. "Twisted Metal Creator Announces Next Game". The Escapist. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-12-11.
  9. ^ Haas, Pete (7 December 2014). "Twisted Metal Creator Reveals Drawn To Death". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  10. ^ Hillier, Brenna (11 December 2014). "Drawn to Death trailer advises you to #GoFuckYourself". VG247. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Drawn to Death character responds to Giantbomb comments". www.giantbomb.com. 10 December 2014. Archived from the original on 25 January 2018.
  12. ^ "GABBIN+GAMES MARCH 1st-2021! UNCHARTED Movie Worry? Deathloop Amazes! My Sonic Design! MORE!!!". YouTube. March 2, 2021. Event occurs at 12:53. Archived from the original on August 27, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Drawn to Death for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on February 17, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  14. ^ Rougeau, Mike (April 7, 2017). "Drawn to Death Review". IGN.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  15. ^ Barker, Sammy (April 6, 2017). "Drawn to Death Review". PushSquare.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
  16. ^ Marchiafava, Jeff (April 7, 2017). "Drawn To Death Review". Game Informer. Archived from the original on April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  17. ^ Clarke, Justin (April 13, 2017). "Drawn To Death Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  18. ^ Giant Bomb staff (December 29, 2017). "Game of the Year 2017 Day Five: Best, Worst, Cast, and Capture". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  19. ^ Jaffe, David. "Twisted Metal 2012...It's Time To Defend Our Child... :)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.

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