Press X to Not Die Review

I stole a guy's bike, died 4 times, crushed a juggalo's skull with a baseball bat and watched my girlfriend shower in Press X to Not Die!

That's the tweet from after my first playthrough, and it sums things up pretty well. Press X to Not Die is a game made with full motion video (FMV), where every choice you make has at least two outcomes. For instance, you could try to steal a guy’s bike or help the cyclist instead - these decisions are usually the difference between life and death.

The plot is barmy - but that's the game as a whole, really. You wake up in time to be told “Press X to not die!” - because everyone is trying to kill everyone else - then that’s it. Along the way to find answers you'll smash your hand into a door whilst trying to lock it, steal an innocent man's bike and punch an old woman. At least that's what I did the first time - your mileage will vary.

He didn't hammer the right keys quickly enough

The game has issues; because it was filmed on a GoPro that was strapped to the main character’s head the footage isn't always angled correctly, and voices have been dubbed over in some places but not others. If you’re paying too much attention it will probably bug you.

However, Press X to Not Die is so very charming and bloody hilarious. Ever wanted to force someone to eat a whole bar of chocolate in 20 seconds? I didn’t even know I wanted that until I played this game. I burst out in laughter more than once, because I will repeat this - it is bloody hilarious. When it told me to press the button for aforementioned door locking, I decided against doing anything just to see what would happen, and was not disappointed when he missed the lock and punched the door instead.

This is fine...

FMV games are few and far between, and given that a single playthrough will only take you about half an hour (though with multiple difficulties), you can tell why. It takes a long time to write and film what is present in the game, let alone something longer. On the other hand, you can just sit down and give it a playthrough in the time it would take you to find something to watch instead.

I’ll admit that I bought the upgrade for the special edition, because I really wanted to find out what the prototype looked like. It was made with stuffed animals and toys, to give you some idea. Included in the main game is a filter to remind you of the good old days of interactive movie titles - called 1994 Mode, it makes everything blocky and difficult to make out. That’s what we had to suffer with, folks! And we loved it! Kinda…

Mmm, pixels...

Given Press X to Not Die’s short playtime, there’s not much to talk about. It’s acted well, and hammed up when applicable, it’s fun to play, and given the price I am more than happy to recommend this. However, I know it might not be for everyone, so I feel that I should score it to reflect that. Only buy this if you want a laugh, and to spy on your girlfriend in the shower.