PS5

Published on April 20th, 2026 | by Daniel

Devil Jam PS5 Review

Picture this, you’re a rockstar who’s just begun to peak and become famous. Yet at the young age of 27, Death (note the capital D) has claimed you for the underworld. You wake up in the office of the Devil and he recruits you in his battle against his musical rival. You are sent out to survive hordes of demons and grow your talent as a metal guitarist, eventually rejoining with your other band members in a quest to defeat Death and make some of the sickest rock ballads along the way. If I’d have told you this was possible, you’d likely think I was on something or tell me I have a wild imagination. But that’s exactly the premise of today’s game: Devil Jam.

You start off as Falco, lead guitarist of a metal band who was taken far too soon, right as he was about to make it big. Dropped at the Devil’s feet, he’s given a chance to earn his soul back to complete his original deal with the literal devil, by using his skills as a musician to fight and survive hordes of demons. Eventually reuniting with his bandmates to take down Death and his rival music label, Death Co., by battling your way through what is referred to as runs; a 20‑minute run culminates in a battle against the Reaper himself, along the way slaying hordes of demonic minions, leveling up, learning new skills, abilities, and buffs.

Gameplay

Those who’ve played Hades and Vampire Survivors will feel right at home with this game. The inspiration is obvious right from the start, with each character popping in like they do in Hades to offer various skills, buffs, and passive abilities as you battle through the waves of hellspawn and level up. The game is an auto‑battler, in the simplest of terms, this means attacks are going out automatically, your only real objective is to duck and weave through the hordes of enemies and let your attacks do their thing automatically. The only real difference to some of the other games in this genre is that you can aim your attacks manually, but for the most part, your attacks will aim for the closest enemies.

You can store up to 12 attacks or buffs in the form of a 3×4 grid, which plays out like a tune from left to right. This presents a strategic element to the game as buffs cover a portion of the grid and placement for each and every skill is key. Each of these skills can be upgraded by leveling up and stacking the same skill/buff onto an existing one, or by finding them in breakable chests throughout the landscape. The longer you survive, the harder the demons become, and soon the screen is filled with enemies. Like a bullet‑hell game, except you’re the one dishing out all the pain to the millions lining up for you in the hopes of eventually overwhelming you.

With each death, you can visit the merchant and power yourself up using money and items found within each run. These include permanent buffs to stats, but also unlock other Sins (powers and buffs) that you can find in each run. The Devil himself stands in for the quest giver, which is basically just a series of challenges to complete to give rewards and said Sins that can be unlocked. And then there’s the merchant where you can spend the hard‑earned money and items you found in your last run to upgrade those stats I mentioned for a permanent buff in all future runs. This makes each run slowly easier to survive for longer until you can stack a full deck of twelve skills to take on the Reaper himself.

Graphics

Let me start by saying the art style is right up my alley. The Devil is suave, sharp‑dressed and cool. Each subsequent character you meet has their own style and unique design. There’s even a three‑headed Cerberus, except he’s a cat called Gluttony, which I found both hilarious and adorable. The setting and premise are ones that I could get behind, the gothic motifs everywhere, the music‑studio vibe really sells the point that this is Devil Jam HQ and you’re really on a mission to beat his rival Death Co. to be the best metal producer in all of Hell.

But after a few runs, I noticed that the battlefield is pretty barren. You start each run inside a summoning circle surrounded by stage lights, but you’re quickly pushed to leave this space in order to dance around the hundreds of minions out for your blood. But the landscape barely has any notable design in it. You don’t move from procedurally generated room to room, it’s all one giant, endless expanse that occasionally features a monument in the shape of a fist doing a rock salute, or a set of collapsed stage lights, etc. I get that this is likely on purpose so that the colour and vibrance come from your skills and abilities, and for the most part you’re too busy to notice these little details, but it’s the start of each new run that makes this contrast the most glaring of all, since it’s when you have the least number of insane abilities to colour the arena.

Speaking of abilities though, there are many and they are colourful. From the fiery red fires of hell from Gluttony to the vibrant pinks from the succubus. The skills are the real flair in this game and it shows, the spectacle of these abilities is really cool and each new ability added makes an immediate impression.

Audio

The same can’t really be said for the audio unfortunately, while there is voice acting in this game and it is passable, I’ll even go one step further to say it’s good. It’s an incredibly small portion of the game and doesn’t really offer much to the experience. With a severe lack of story, most of which you don’t really get until you reunite with your bandmates, the voice lines probably could have been cut entirely and it would have barely made a difference. I’m glad they’re here, don’t get me wrong, but they do little to enhance or detract from the experience.

Music too is a real shame. I expected ballad after ballad of creative, immersive rock and metal music. But all I got were a few “okay” sounding tracks that simply repeated after a while. I understand that this is a small indie dev team, but repetition is the worst thing you could do in a game as musically focused as this one. Other titles manage to seamlessly blend in loops that make it sound like the music keeps playing forever. Now I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but it’s certainly better than the obvious cuts and repeats in the music we got.

Sound effects are fine, nothing too crazy. Which in itself would be serviceable, but when the action on screen screams heavy‑metal action, I expected a bit more, especially when other areas were lacking in power. I really hoped to have my socks blown off by the sheer spectacle. The visuals are really good, even with the somewhat bland landscape in each run, everything else made up for it. Having the right music and sound effects to top it all off would have been the proverbial cherry on top.

Conclusion

Devil Jam had a lot of potential to blow me away, but it failed at nearly every attempt. It fails to come even remotely close to the games it draws its inspiration from and sadly, all it took was a few hours before the experience became mundane and boring. With just a few runs I was already powered up and surviving long stretches of time, repeating the same overused skills and ability builds. Eventually, I just tuned out, stopped listening to the music, stopped paying attention to the hordes trying to turn me into the devil’s jam, stopped caring about the lack of story.

It’s a game that has all the looks it needs to be in the same league, but none of the flavour, none of the meat. Between the lack of variety, odd pacing, and the insane power creep, your mileage in this game is going to vary. On one hand, the core loop works, the combat is fine and allows for some interesting experimentation. But the lack of real progression and story, which is ultimately what I enjoy most out of a game, really didn’t sink its claws into me. So don’t expect it to do the same to you. The only benefit I really see is that it’s insanely cheap. So a few hours of chaotic fun for a few dollars ain’t so bad… right?

Game Details

Game Genre – Action, Adventure
Developers – Rogueside Games
Publishers – Rogueside Games
Rating – General
Year of Release – 2026
Platforms – PS5
Mode(s) of Play – Single player

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About the Author

Daniel Hi I'm Dan! 33 and Non-Binary. When I'm not writing reviews. I like to get deeply immersed in the lore of an mmo or rpg, cruise the forest or coastal roads of Victoria, watch anime, read manga, build model kits and do a bit of sketching on the side.

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