Walking down a dark hallway with blood splattered on the wall, I can only think one thing: wow, my DS is actually scaring me.
This is a common feeling throughout Dementium II, SouthPeak Interactive’s scare-filled sequel to Dementium: The Ward. The game sends the player deep into an asylum that is just as insane as the patients it holds. Monsters roam the hallways looking to feed on your face. Reality and fantasy blur as one minute you’re in a patient-care hallway, the next you’re fighting for you life against a giant humanoid demon dog. The environment is expertly depicted, as this was a place born in a dark nightmare, but the question is: is the game fun?
The answer is "for the most part." While the scare aspect is well done and the environment is fantastic, the game’s controls are a bit scary as well. First-person shooter-style games have always had difficulty flourishing on the DS, to the point where the genre is tremendously under-repped, but while improvements over previous FPS DS games abound, Dementium II still has some issues. Too many times during a hurried battle did I find myself making too swift of a stylus stroke, causing my character to look at the ceiling as he was mutilated. Aiming with the stylus to shoot is fine, but once the action gets up close with a knife, prepare to be frustrated.
Despite the occasional frustration, the story does a good job of keeping the player interested. You play as William Redmoor, the first game’s protagonist, once again as you fight your way through two dimensions trying to escape. Unlike the first game, which confused the hell out of pretty much everyone who played it, this game does a much better job of setting up the backstory and advancing the plot. Also, anyone who missed the first installment need not worry, as Dementium II is a stand-alone story. The game is well-paced, even with the Silent Hill-esque dimension jumping, and it’s certainly interesting and engaging enough to keep the player wanting more.
Graphically, I feel like I’ve seen these character models before in Perfect Dark and Goldeneye. While those essential to the story are a little more fleshed out, the generic NPCs look like blocky mannequins. There’s one room with a mental patient flailing and screaming while strapped to a bed, and it looks like all of his limbs do complete 360s as he fights to get free. I’m not sure if he was meant to do that as part of the scare effect, but if he was, I couldn’t tell. All he looked like to me was a man made up of fish flailing out of water.
Despite the graphical hiccups, Dementium II is good ol’ fashioned scary fun with an engaging story and a truly haunting environment. I don’t scare well, but this game did a good job of keeping me interested enough that the scares didn’t keep me away. Also, while still a bit frustrating, developer Renegade Kid is slowly but surely making the FPS a viable genre on Nintendo’s handheld. If you like being spooked, or you’re a FPS fan looking for a new experience, give Dementium II a shot, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.
