A promising concept from Metal Gear Acid's Shinta Nojiri and Rebellion Software, you might have had tall expectations for NeverDead, which - at first glance at least - certainly goes out on a limb to set itself apart.
Bad puns aside though, Konami's action game falls well short of the initial promise we cruelly dangled in the opening paragraph.
NeverDead's main pulling point is the fact that, well, you never die; every one of your limbs can be hacked off brutally, to the point where you are just a head rolling around on the floor.
Because you can't actually die the main challenge in the game, unfortunately, is taming its messy fighting mechanics. The dual-wield guns set up a Devil May Cry expectation but never get anywhere near Capcom's game. The firearms lack power and impact - even the shotgun - and every encounter that requires a long range solution is a chore.
The sword is controlled by the right stick, which - in theory - allows precise control for targeted dismemberment. Unfortunately fights usually degenerate into furious stick waggling as you compete with the maelstrom of enemies that swamp you if you're not careful.
The camera is a major nuisance as well, with no option to select specific targets. The fact that you have to switch out between the guns and sword mean the fluidity of Devil May Cry or Bayonetta is sorely lacking here. Not being able to stylishly chain up combos with different weapons plays a large part in the repetitive nature of NeverDead's fighting.
DEAD AGAIN... AND AGAIN
Enemies rarely provide any variation; the scenario you encounter early on in which you must fight off waves of two or three types of critters before taking down the mollusc-like spawners repeats itself more often than a senile lecturer.
Occasionally a boss battle will conjure some entertainment and make use of the game's more innovative features. The final part of the 'Quad-Jaw' deserves a mention, with the player needing to detach one of your arms, gun included, and throw it into his mouth to take it down from the inside.
Unfortunately this is the exception to the rather tedious rule; monotonous bosses that regenerate health to prolong the pain should be a cardinal sin of gaming. There are a lot of them in NeverDead.
Whatever the game's good points, they're submerged by its numerous flaws. There is a levelling system of sorts tied in with the game, but upgrades rarely change the core mechanic of the game and instead merely come off as superficial.
The other potential pitfall is your female partner Arcadia, who is a large degree more killable than you, and if she dies it's game over. Thankfully she manages to stay out of trouble for the most part. But more than half an hour of 'witty banter' between her and Bryce will leave you wishing you could detach her head and shoot some hoops with it.
NeverDead rarely gets to a point where you want to pull your own arm off just to have something to throw at the TV, but neither does it offer much more than ten hours of frustrating, repetitive gameplay.
The initial concept may have been intriguing, but the final game definitely suggests that staying alive is vastly overrated.
Comments
10 comments so far...
theaface on 1 Feb '12 said:
The scores coming through don't surpise me. None of the previews have looked particularly good, and the concept seemed to be the only thing going for it. Like Plok, only more violent and a lot less fun.
AvatarIII on 1 Feb '12 said:
another Sub-par game from Rebellion? surprise surprise.
theaface on 1 Feb '12 said:
This is the opening line of their Wikipedia page:
Rebellion is a British computer games company, based in Oxford, who are famous for creating terrible games such as Rogue Warrior, as well as their games in the Aliens vs. Predator franchise.
JD_Method on 1 Feb '12 said:
Wasn't really expecting great scores for this, to be honest. It's a shame really. I'll still give it a rental and see for myself. There have been occasions where a game gets slated but I still enjoy it. Maybe it's my higher than usual tolerance for rubbish games. Or maybe my taste in games is s**t. Probably a bit of both.
Also it has Megadeth, so I must listen to the soundtrack at least.
illage2 on 1 Feb '12 said:
Are you implying that British game developers are all s**t?
What about Lion head studios? and Games workshop (Developer or W40K series). Both were british developers that have made some great games.
theaface on 1 Feb '12 said:
No, of course I'm not. You just grossly misread the quote. That aside, Lionhead's pedigree with the Fable games is questionable at best.
Pokeymike on 1 Feb '12 said:
Two words:
Media Molecule.
Not only are they British, their games *feel* British.
Zubee on 2 Feb '12 said:
Am I the only person in the world who originally thought that the "original idea" otherwise known as a gimmick was s**te anyway? Surprised it got as high as 4.5.
AvatarIII on 2 Feb '12 said:
I liked both AvP games, although I'd like to punch the guy that thought it was a good idea to make a FPS where it is impossible to crouch!!
I expect wikipedia will probably have that line removed, or ask for a citation.
WHERESMYMONKEY on 2 Feb '12 said:
Well having played a little bit of it. I have to say i actually quite like this game. Its a little rough around the edges but its pretty fun. The biggesst diservice i've seen every review so far throw at the game is to compare it to devil may cry. I don't think it ever attempted to be anything like it. It controls more like Too Human and general progressionwise plays a bit like a cross between max payne and the incredible crash dummies.
Yes the plot is relatively under developed but its still nice to play an anti hero who actually has a reason for being an utter dick, he's cursed, he's lumbered with the same endless mission for 500 years and everyone treats him like s**te. You can't help but feel a little sorry for the guy.
I think the problem is that everyone was expecting one kind of game and got another. it's a third person shooter with an interseting new take on the health bar. Not a Hack and slash. it never attempts to be, it dosn't really pay to not use your guns half the time. the only problem is that although theres a bit of variety in the enemies. Most encounters do devolve into kill the spawing thingy then shoot everything else.
I'd give it a seven and say it just needs a few tweaks for the sequel to be something really special.