NeverDead Playstation 3 Review

NeverDead Playstation 3 Review
NeverDead PS3 Review

Written by: Melanie Hick
NeverDead PS3
Date published: 02/09/2012
4 / 5 stars

Being a Konami game, I expected NeverDead to have something weird or slightly off the wall about it, and I was not disappointed.

Bryce Boltzmann, the main character you control has been cursed with immortality but the man cannot get through the smallest of tasks without shedding a limb or apendage like some kind of self-multiplying invasive starfish species.

You'll either find this constant limb shedding really good fun, or really frustrating and pointless.

Fret not! For even when you are sans head, you cannot die. Yes, you, Bryce Boltzmann are NEVERDEAD.

There is a catch however. Your partner in crime - a typically Konami-styled "beautiful" woman named Arcadia can die. If she dies, you fail in your mission to clear out and hunt demons.

NeverDead is so off the wall you will either love it or hate it.

The cutscenes are beautifully-rendered and the story is nicely set with videos that you want to watch rather than play.

The styling of the game is nicely done, and the opening titles are set in amongst a tutorial that teaches you everything you need to know.

The graphical scenery is very rich - it did remind me of when games first came out on Sony PlayStation 3 or Microsoft Xbox360 - so many bright colours and activity on screen just to prove that this is a high definition game.

But it's pretty, and certainly once getting into the game properly you are greeted with a lush forest that immediately engrosses you and makes you want to explore. Except you can't really because it's a very linear game.

For all the beauty, there's plenty of guns and swords to essentially shoot, hack and slash your way through the game.

Through defeating enemies you get upgrade points to improve your weapons and the ability to kill demons in ever more gratuitously graphic ways - whilst continually losing limbs and having to reconnect them all the time.

Overall it is a fun game for a limited period of time - there's limited replayability.

It is, rightly so, an 18-certified game - but most 18+ year-olds will expect something more. In fact, most 15+ year-olds would expect more too.

Other adult-themed games such as Uncharted 3 and Mass Effect 3 (released next month), both 15-certified and praised for their more mature approach to gaming, are more in-depth.

That makes me wonder whether Konami have targeted the correct marke with this one, or if they could have tweaked the gore to go out to a broader, younger audience.

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