Berserk Mode is a visceral time-attack fantasy rogue-lite. Become the Berserker and wade into a dungeon battlefield swarming with monsters. Unleash the absurd power of your Beast in a storm of blood and gibs. Prepare to enter Berserk Mode.
The game features a unique mechanic where the player's health constantly drains, forcing them to keep moving and engaging enemies to regain health. This creates an intense, high-stakes gameplay loop where players must carefully manage their resources and movement to survive the onslaught of monsters.
The core gameplay revolves around using a diverse array of melee and ranged weapons, such as axes, crossbows, and swords, to battle hordes of monsters. Players can fill a "berserk meter" by killing enemies, which allows them to transform into powerful beast forms with devastating attacks, such as a bear or a werewolf. These transformations offer a significant boost in damage output and can turn the tide of battle, but players must use them strategically as they are limited in duration.
Between each run, players can use earned gold to purchase new weapons, artifacts, and other upgrades to strengthen their loadout. This progression system allows players to gradually build up their power and unlock new abilities, such as additional beast forms or class-specific skills, encouraging replayability as they aim to push further into the procedurally-generated dungeon levels. Players can also choose to take on various curses that provide significant gold rewards but impose debuffs, adding an element of risk-reward to their runs.
Reviewers praise the responsive, fluid controls, which allow for quick, satisfying movement and combat. The diverse arsenal of weapons, from the heavy-hitting melee axes to the rapid-fire ranged crossbows, provide players with a range of options to experiment with and find their preferred playstyle. The combat itself is described as highly visceral, with impactful sound effects and animations that enhance the feeling of unleashing powerful attacks on the enemy hordes.
The procedurally-generated levels and random enemy placement ensure that each run through the dungeon feels unique, preventing the gameplay from becoming stale. Additionally, the unlockable classes, beast forms, and equipment options provide a significant degree of build diversity, encouraging players to experiment and find new strategies with each playthrough.