Console games have been designed to make use of the home field advantages of having a large screen and complete control over lighting to enhance the experience for years, but when you're playing on a tiny screen on the bus, can the experience compare? The answer, as proven by FPS-with-a-dash-of-survival horror Dementium: The Ward, is a resounding yes, though its inherent flaws prevent it from truly becoming that which it aspires to be. Dementium tells the twisted tale of a man who wakes up in the bed of a monster-infested hospital after taking a wheelchair trip from hell.
You will navigate him through the worn halls of the massive building and try to piece together who he is and why he's there as you battle zombies, parasitic worms that wail like babies, and the occasional cleaver-wielding demon. The game is divided into a series of chapters that for the most part correlate to the various floors of the hospital. Chapters vary greatly in length--some are as short as a minute or two and others last as long as half an hour--and are often punctuated by short, tightly directed cutscenes that introduce new enemies or shed new light on the protagonist's identity and past.
At several points in your journey you will encounter a powerful boss, such as the aforementioned cleaver-wielding demon, that will tax your skill and supply of ammo in a climactic battle. Apparently, creepy little girls are still a staple of modern horror. The gameplay itself is very much a mixture of Doom and Silent Hill that combines some of the best elements of each for a fairly straightforward horror experience.
Early on, you will find a flashlight to light your way through the pitch-black corridors, and as you navigate through the twisted hospital two melee weapons and five guns will become available. Dementium is essentially a traditional FPS in terms of action and control, but thanks to the sparse placement of ammo, combat becomes more of a fight-or-flight scenario than a matter of deciding which of your weapons are going to splatter your enemy.
Unfortunately, while you apparently have the physical dexterity to use larger weapons with both hands, you lack the rudimentary skill to use the flashlight simultaneously with a weapon, leading to situations in which you must quickly toggle back and forth between your guns and your flashlight to see what you're shooting at.
In addition to running and gunning, a number of puzzles are thrown in that range from a simple substitution cipher to a complex treasure hunt for three pieces of a photograph to learn a door code.
You have access to a notepad to scrawl clues or hints in, but the various maps you find inexplicably don't allow this. As fun and original as this Nintendo DS experience is, it stumbles in a few areas.
The game design follows Doom 3's "one functional arm" syndrome, so you'll constantly be switching between your flashlight to see and weapon to attack - you can't shine and shoot at the same time. Perhaps you only have a right arm, but that seems pretty unlikely. Second, its design is restricted by an annoying "respawn" design decision that, admittedly, might have had something to do with the memory limitations of the Nintendo DS.
With the exception of boss characters, defeated enemies will always come back if you leave a room or hallway and return. The problem: the same can't be said for ammunition or health packs.
Though there's certainly plenty of bullets and health bottles to go around, they're a one-shot deal…and if you spent all your time and attention blowing away a room full of slithery slugs, you'll quickly find out that it was a waste of ammunition if you need to return to that hallway. Third: the game's mapping system is pretty lousy. Forget, for the moment, the fact that you have to constantly jump back and forth on the touch screen to take a look at your location on a given floor.
The map is just a guideline that shows your position on the specific floor, and displays doors that you opened. But that's it. Yes, it's cool that the floor plan might not match the real world pathways due to the damage and destruction that happened in the ward, but it really stinks that there's no way to note on the map that a path on the map is actually not the way it seems.
The programmers included note taking functionality, but why can't we doodle on the map so we can jot down the fact that there's a bunch of knocked over shelves or an overturned cot in the way? But in the whole swing of things the mentioned issues are pretty minor, and Dementium: The Ward is actually a whole lot of fun. While it might not mean as much saying this for a Nintendo DS game, it's definitely one of the top first-person shooters on the system.
Don't expect a lot of or any "jump out of your seat" moments, but the mystery and the incredibly tight action is plenty enough of a drive for players to blast through this ten-plus hour game. Verdict It's pretty amazing that, for a system that's been out for three years now, there have been very few first-person shooters made for it. The Nintendo DS is a prime no pun intended system for the genre, what with its touch screen that can easily mimic the precise movement of mouse controls.
Dementium: The Ward fills that void nicely - it's appropriately gory it is a shooter, after all but also adds an element of mystery to the whole thing. Was this article informative? YES NO. In This Article. Positive: 26 out of Mixed: 21 out of Negative: 1 out of All this publication's reviews Read full review. Gamer 2. Dementium: The Ward is a terrific experience. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
It doesn't push the horror genre forward, as most of its features pop up in the Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchises, but Dementium still offers up a few genuine frights, and stands out as one of the DS' most under hyped but entertaining video games. The A. Turn off the lights. Put on your headphones. Hear that? Wait—turn down the cheesy music. Now do you hear the screech of metal against the walls? Yep, that's scary.
Metro GameCentral. The best portable Silent Hill game never made with great first person combat and impressive presentation. The game certainly has some flaws like the loose aiming and overly complex map , and I find it hard to forgive the "die and start over again" philosophy, but Dementium is definitely something different, and it's something I think people will generally enjoy. Eurogamer Spain. It will make you scream, but not because of fear. It will cause you pain, but not in a figured way.
And it will give you nightmares, but for motives that are not even related with its storyline. User Reviews. Write a Review. Positive: 8 out of
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