Hell yeah!
"Does this portal lead to my beer?"
— Marty
SEUM: Speedrunners From Hell is a first-person platformer released on Steam in July 2016. The game is all about speedrunning through short levels, using a variety of powerups and projectile fireballs to open gates and run through the game's hellish landscapes.
The game follows the story of Marty, a redneck and beer-chugging Heavy Metal fan enjoying his beer while watching the game. Suddenly, someone slides a vinyl disc under his door. Dumbfounded, Marty puts it on his gramophone and it starts playing demonic backwards speech and Satan himself comes out! He steals Marty's beer and cuts off his arm, but Marty throws the vinyl at Satan which chops his arm off. After he leaves, Marty ties Satan's arm to his stump and follows him into a sewer to Hell on a quest to take back his stolen beer.
A DLC for the game has been released in 2017. The Drunk Side of the Moon contains 33 new stages and 3 new powerups in a space environment.
SEUM: Speedrunners From Hell provides examples of:
- Achievement Mockery: A couple:
- "RIP" achievement requires you to die 666 times.
- "100 ways to die" requires you to get killed by every type of trap in the game.
- The Alcoholic: Marty really likes his beer.
- All Just a Dream: The ending achieved by collecting all of the beer cans and bacon and by getting all of the Uber Skulls reveals that the game was a beer-induced hallucination and Marty had thrown a massive party. He is puking in a toilet as the police arrive at his house.
- Anti-Frustration Features:
- Hitting a switch with a fireball prompts Marty to make a metalhead sign to easily tell the player that they have hit their target.
- Getting the hidden collectible in a stage will give you a prompt to restart or return to the level select.
- Appendage Assimilation: The game begins with Marty getting invaded by Satan, who cuts off his arm and steals his beer. In retaliation, Marty cuts off Satan's arm as well, attaches it where the old one was, and then goes after the jerk. Marty has no trouble firing Fireballs and gesturing with his new hand.
- Bonus Stage: Each floor has a bonus stage marked with an asterisk unlocked by collecting eight beer cans on the stage. The secret collectible is replaced by bacon.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: All powerups have a distinctly-coloured sphere that has to be picked up. If applicable, the shots fired by them (right mouse button) will also have their colour to differentiate between them and the standard orange fireball (left mouse button):
- "Teleport" is blue.
- "Antigravity" is green.
- "Split" is white.
- "Spawn Platform" is red.
- "Roar" (DLC) is magenta.
- "Rocket" (DLC) is orange.
- "Shadow World" (DLC) is black and white.
- Dark World: A gimmick in the DLC.
- Deep South: Marty is a classic redneck: beergut, truck driver cap, a love of sports and a propensity for swearing.
- Downloadable Content: The Drunk Side of the Moon DLC, which adds 33 news levels and 3 new powerups.
- Easter Egg: Several levels contain QR codes which direct to, for example, places on the developer's website or to Iron Maiden music videos.
- Easy-Mode Mockery: The default difficulty is "Hard". If you attempt to open what looks like a drop-down menu that would let you change it, all that's gonna happen is Satan will laugh at you.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin:
- Fire and Brimstone Hell: Most of the floors have this theme, however a couple show a toxic, sewer green version of Hell.
- Fireballs: The player can shoot balls of fire. There are also traps that shoot fireballs.
- First-Person Ghost: Mary has no legs, but his demonic arm is clearly visible.
- First-Person Perspective: We only see how Marty looks like in cutscenes.
- Foreign Language Title/Gratuitous French: "Seum" is slang for "frustration" in French. A strange choice, as the game is not quite
Nintendo Hard. - Heavy Metal: The game's entire soundtrack.
- Idle Animation: Marty may start whistling if the player doesn't do anything, and Satan may ask Marty how he's doing.
- Improvised Weapon: Marty throws the vinyl at Satan, managing to chop his arm off.
- Metal Head: Marty is implied to be one.
- Multiple Endings:
- Merely completing the game shows Marty in beer-heaven.
- Collecting all of the beer cans and bacon and getting all of the Uber Skulls reveals that the game was a beer-induced hallucination and that Marty had thrown a massive party. He is shown puking in a toilet as the police arrive at his house.
- The New Rock & Roll: Parodied in the intro. Backwards metal music literally summons Satan.
- Number of the Beast: 666 appears hilariously often in the game, from the maximum completion, to a secret level between 66 and 67, in the name of some achievements etc.
- 100% Completion: Completing all secret levels will result in a completion of 666%.
- Pass Through the Rings: Some levels features rings that the player must pass through in order to activate something.
- Pendulum of Death: Swinging axes show up from time to time, acting as hazards.
- Platform Game: A first-person 3d platformer focused on speed.
- Power-Up: There are 4 in the standard game and 3 in the DLC:
- "Teleport" lets you... teleport.
- "Antigravity" lets you fly.
- "Split" lets you place a point where, if you click the right mouse button again, you will be teleported back.
- "Spawn Platform" is self-explanatory.
- "Roar" (DLC) also lets you fly, but, unlike "Antigravity"'s floaty controls, is a simple point and fly.
- "Rocket" (DLC) lets you Rocket Jump.
- "Shadow World" (DLC) lets you switch between a Dark World and a Light World.
- Rage Against the Author: If you keep dying a lot on a single level, Marty may end up yelling "Damn you, Pine Studioooo!".
- Recycled IN SPACE!: The DLC takes place in a space environment.
- Rocket Jump: Possible with the "Rocket" Power-Up in the DLC.
- Satan: The main Antagonist and Big Bad, he taunts Marty throughout the levels if he dies.
"MMM... BARBEQUE."
- Saw Blades of Death: Circular saws that move along the surface are frequently encountered. Touching them will kill the player.
- Sdrawkcab Speech: The Satanic vinyl record in the intro plays backwards speech. It also prompts Satan himself to appear.
- Sliding Scale of Collectible Tracking: Each level shows whether you found the beer/bacon. Peaks (the highest point one can go on certain levels, indicated by a flag) and QR secrets are only marked by total number, not even by floor.
- Spikes of Doom: Spikes act as a common hazard.
- Springs, Springs Everywhere: Green jump pads act as springboards, launching the player in the air.
- Teleportation: The "Teleport" Power-Up. It can only be fired three times before you need to hit the ground again.
- This Isn't Heaven: Late in the game, Marty comes accross a Fluffy Cloud Heaven filled with beer. He is estatic, but realizes that it is an illusion and that he is still in Hell.
- Warding Gestures: The standard rock and metal gesture has a gameplay function: hitting a switch with a fireball prompts Marty to quickly make this gesture.
