Oxford-based development house Rebellion is perhaps best known for its Aliens versus Predator game franchise. It recently released another first-person shooter set in a milieu well-known to any science-fiction enthusiast, Judge Dredd: Dredd versus Death.
Popular belief has it that the company was so impressed with Judge Dredd that it acquired the stable of 2000AD comics (of which Dredd forms a part) in 2000.
The game is set during the third decade of the 22nd century in Mega-City One, a megapolis of 400 million people.
As any self-respecting Dredd fan will tell you, unemployment and crime have become the staple diet of the citizens. The judges have been given the right to deal with "law-breakers" in any way they see fit, with Dredd being the most infamous. Now he needs to overcome an outbreak of vampires in the city and find out who, or what, is responsible for this.
The graphics are nicely done, with the sound and music tying in well with the dark theme of the game. Unfortunately, for a city of 400 million people, Mega-City One seems sparsely populated at times. There are even several large areas in the game where you cannot see any citizens around!
You play the game as Dredd, but there is a co-operative mode available where a friend can join in as another judge. This is a nice feature, but it does reduce the lifespan of the game. Having said that, even playing the game on your own will see you finish it fairly quickly.
The story is standard 2000AD fare, which is important as fans can be unforgiving when there is any deviation from "the gospel". As with most first-person shooters, you start by playing a short tutorial which covers the game basics. Thereafter, you are quickly thrown into the thick of the action as you travel around Mega-City One arresting almost everyone in sight.
The narrative unfolds as Dredd goes about his normal day-to-day business. An interesting feature in the game is the law meter. Essentially, this prevents you from going around and blasting away every person in sight. In this way, the game forces you to at least try and arrest criminals (or loiterers in general).
Arresting a "perp" is straightforward. You merely walk up to him/her, press your action key and make the arrest. Of course, there are those who think they can put up a fight. Dredd can either disarm them and then make the arrest, or just blast them to smithereens. Any guesses which method I favoured?
No Dredd game would be complete without the trusty Lawgiver. For the uninitiated, this is the firearm of choice for Judge Dredd. It has several bullet types like incendiary and ricochet. Unfortunately, you can go through the game with just using the standard bullet-type without too much trouble.
Dredd multi-player is a lot of fun for fans. The game features all the classic Dredd battle modes like block wars and so on. On the negative side, I did experience targeting problems in multi-player. This might simply be a case of me becoming too old to move my mouse very fast, but somehow I doubt it.
Judge Dredd: Dredd vs Death is a game that will appease die-hard fans. It does not offer that much in the way of innovation and playability to suit the hardcore first-person shooter crowd. This is a pity as Rebellion has wasted what could have turned out to be a golden opportunity to build a new money-spinning franchise.
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