Deathwish Enforcers is a 2023 Run-and-Gun shooter similar to Sunset Riders. It is inspired by action crime thrillers such as the Dirty Harry and Death Wish series.
It's 1969, and a major crime syndicate led by Big Boss X has taken over the streets of San Francisco. It's now up to four detectives to take down the syndicate and save the city.
This game provides examples of:
- Anime Hair: Diana's hair is colored purple while the other three characters have normal hair colors.
- Big Bad: Big Boss X leads The Syndicate that reigned over the city and the protagonists must overthrow him.
- Bound and Gagged: All of the female hostages found throughout the levels are tied up this way until they are rescued, via by tagging them.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Larry wears brown, Chuck wears purple, Diana wears pink, and Cleo wears green. A new character, Maxwell, was added in the Special Edition, who wears black.
- Combat Stilettos: Diana wears boots with high heels, but that does not keep her from being able to run over the heads of dashing criminals.
- Cowboy Cop: Befitting its inspiration, all of the playable detectives are very liberal when it comes to gunning down every criminal on the spot and the police helicopter that provides assistance, going by the silhouette, is implied to be an attack helicopter. As seen above the page image, their police insignia is that of a skull with a star on the forehead.
- Expy: Given its inspiration, Filthy Larry Hardwood is modeled after Dirty Harry Callahan, Chuck Bronxman is inspired by Paul Kersey and named after his actor Charles Bronson, Cleopatra Love is based on Blaxploitation heroines like Cleopatra Jones, and Diana Bangg is based on Emma Peel and named after her actress Diana Rigg. A character named Maxwell Bondage was later added in the Special Edition, who is based on the Roger Moore version of James Bond.
- As for the stage bosses, Axel D'Bulbous is Alex DeLarge, The Explodinator is The Terminator, Mad Mikey Notel is Jack Torrance, and Payday is Mayday.
- Guns Akimbo: Diana fights by wielding two pistols at once.
- Nipple and Dimed: Played with. The climax of the first level involves breaking into a porn film studio, where the actresses are naked with their nipples in full display yet their crotches aren't.
- Pink Is Feminine: Diana dons a short pink dress and hairband in contrast to Cleo who wears pants.
- Skull for a Head: One of the bosses is a gigantic demon with a red skull-like face.
- Smoking Is Not Cool: Played for Laughs with Diana, when she enters doors with rapid-fire power-ups. While her fellow Action Girl Cleo lives up to the Smoking Is Cool ideal as per the game's 1960s setting, Diana smokes until she's green in the face, clearly showing that she has no experience with this.
- Squashed Flat: The fate of any player character unlucky to get run over by a vehicle, this (amusingly enough) includes getting hit by a shoulder barging Giant Mook.
- The Syndicate: But they aren't just your typical crime syndicate. They not only dominated the city, they even deal in satanic rituals!
- Trumplica: Big Boss X looks suspiciously like Donald Trump. Though he sounds like Christopher Walken for some odd reason.
