Dementium 2: Breaking the Ward

Renegade Kid gives us the inside scoop on Dementium 2, a horror action game in portable form.

Survival horror doesn't get a lot of face time with the DS so any chance I get to inspire a few scares through my portable, I welcome it with open arms. Dementium: The Ward was released on All Hallows Eve of 2007, yet fell under a lot of DS owners' radars. The game revolved around an amnesia-struck man who ended up in an insane asylum frozen in time. Almost two years since the anniversary of its release I was able to get the inside scoop on the Renegade Kid-developed sequel, slated to hit shelves early next year.

Dementium 2: Breaking the Ward

Be sure to keep your eyes on this beast as he scales the ceiling. He has a deadly vomit attack that will kill you faster than his sluggish offspring that chase you around.

Some Things Never Change

So what if you haven't played the original Dementium? Owner and Creative Director of Renegade Kid Jools Washam, assured us that "even though the story does directly continue from the first game, Dementium II can be played as a stand-alone title." This was immediately apparent to me during a recent demo of the game. Although I hadn't had much experience with the first title, I had no issues comprehending what was going on around me due to the simple-as-pie plot: A man wakes up imprisoned, doesn't have the slightest clue as to how he got there, and now it's up to you to figure out what happened.

The Dementium team took every bit of feedback (both good and bad) from gamers and the press alike to create their sequel. Doing so helped weed out the weak points to make room for more advanced features, while keeping the core mechanics intact. When asked what new additions to the gameplay players can expect, Jools exclaimed "Quite a lot actually! We really aimed for variety in Dementium II, in pretty much every sense of the word. We paid special attention to the weapons, adding extra gameplay depth and satisfying feedback. The melee weapons have combo attacks and charged attacks, and the enemies react with different animations based on how hard they are hit. The ability to jump and crouch is a welcome gameplay addition, which I think adds a greater sense or realism to the navigation. The map system is much more helpful than before, automatically providing you with information on where you are, where you've been, and where you need to go. The save game system is much more supportive, providing the player with plenty of manual save locations, and enemies no longer respawn."

In addition to the information Jools supplied us with, I was able to get a some time in with Dementium II myself and I have to say it was satisfying. For one, the control system is very intuitive, allowing players to use the D-pad to navigate and the touch screen to look around. The touch screen has a map of the level that displays your current location and doors you have and haven't opened. The options to crouch and jump are mapped slightly to the right of your movement area. What's even more impressive is the imagery. For such a graphically-limited system, Dementium II doesn't fail to deliver gruesome creatures and environments on Nintendo's handheld. The horrors may come in a small package but consider yourself warned when Dementium II hits early next year.

Dementium 2: Breaking the Ward

As a reward for backtracking, you can revisit this boarded up area once you acquire a sledgehammer for hidden goodies.

Dementium 2: Breaking the Ward

While you patrol the jail cells, carrying around a shiv is a must for fitting in with the crowd.

Comments [1]

post a comment

  • First
    • Jump To Page:
    • [ 1 ]
  • Last
Mr_ChickenWings

When I first played one it took me a couple minutes to adjust to the environment.
What also impressed was that i was reminded by Doom3 But you later see their differences between the two.

  • First
    • Jump To Page:
    • [ 1 ]
  • Last

Post a Comment