The weirdest FPS of the decade just got a free, standalone PvP mode that's a blast if you can keep your lunch down

A biblically-accurate angle wields a brace of daggers as the player readies their energy shield to defend themselves.

(Image credit: Sorath)

2022 wasn't exactly a banner year for first-person shooters, but it did bring us Hyper Demon. Like its predecessor Devil Daggers, Hyper Demon boasted a trippy art-style and emphasised fast-paced, high-challenge shooting, but its emphasis was less about survival and more about being an aggressive killing machine a-la Doom Eternal.

The result utterly entranced Sam Greer, who gave it a whopping score of 95 in her Hyper Demon Review. "The dizzying heights you reach with each powerup and each foe overcome are virtually, and visually, euphoric," she wrote. "The entire dark landscape of the world literally wraps around your vision, and as your field of view folds on itself you can funnel every creature into the sights of your wrath. One small misstep can still end you, but for a few, fleeting seconds you are unstoppable."

Hyper Demon PvP pitches two players against each other—each resembling biblically accurate angels—on a silvery disc of energy surrounded by a fathomless void. Each player is equipped with a brace of purple daggers they can launch at one another and a projectile-deflecting energy shield that activates by pressing right-mouse. You can hold down the fire button to unleash a deadly charged shot that uses all your daggers at once, while doing the same with just one dagger remaining will release a piercing shot that shatters your opponent's shield.

HYPER DEMON PVP release trailer - YouTube

Watch On

While the basics are simple, there's a surprising amount of depth to Hyper Demon, as I quickly learned by having my…whatever biblically accurate angels have instead of an arse handed to me by the handful of (very pleasant) players online at the time. Mastering when to fire and when to block is tricky, and there's the added complication that time slows down when players approach one another, which bamboozled me more than once.

The good news is there are plenty of tools to help you learn how to play, including a step-by-step tutorial and the ability to play against a CPU opponent. Learning how to stomach Hyper Demon PvP's distinctive visual style is another matter though, and if you're sensitive to motion-sickness, I'd advise you to proceed with caution. Nonetheless, if you're looking for a small-scale competitive shooter to play and have somehow exhausted the many maps of Straftat, Hyper Demon PvP is well worth a shot.

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.