Game Title: "Dementium: The Ward"
Platform: Nintendo DS
Studio: Renegade Kid/Gamecock Media Group
Rated: M for Mature for blood, gore and violence
Score: 8 out of 10
THE REVIEW
GAME PLAY: "Dementium" has all the stuff that makes horror fans love horror movies. It's creepy, dark, mysterious with an element of the unknown. Add some intense gore and violence and the recipe is complete. The story of this first-person shooter set-up is simple. The player is carted into a generic room of a hospital during a video clip. Once it ends, the gamer is on his or her own. And that's an uneasy feeling, especially when they open the door to the hallway.
Blood stains the walls, floors and ceilings and the only weapons available are a nightstick and a flashlight. As the game progresses, the gamer runs into zombies and patches of large, flesh-eating larvae. By the time the gamer acquires a pistol, the nerves and adrenaline have shot the heartbeat up a few uncomfortable notches. Furthermore, the controls can get a little confusing at first, causing some major problems with premature dying.
The overall goal of the game is to solve the mystery of what has happened in this hospital. There are arrays of puzzles to solve to get from one room or level to another that involve seemingly mundane and random scrawls on the walls and patient reports.
Game saves come with every open door, but that's misleading because the saves are effective only if the gamer quits the game without dying. If the gamer's character dies, the game restarts at the beginning of the level.
GRAPHICS: For the somewhat small Nintendo DS screen, the graphics seem larger than life. This rings true especially if you follow some of the game packaging suggestions and play the game with earphones and the lights out. The zombies are gory. And when the nightstick or bullets strike, the splatter effect ups the "ick" factor. While the game is generally dark, the flashlight beam is realistic and the shadows are ominous.
AUDIO: While the graphics are visually disturbing, the audio makes the game. Echoed screams of who-knows-what is heard in the distance, and the flesh-eating larvae have this high-pitched wail that sets teeth on edge as the gamer tries to get a bullet bead on them. The ambient creaks and wind are effective as to making the gamer jump at every shadow.
THE WRAP-UP: Those who have played "Resident Evil" will understand the creepy, horror-movie surprises, but to have the surprises take place on the small Nintendo DS screen only shows how effective the various elements combine to make the scares impact the player.
PARENT'S TAKE: "Dementium" is rated M for Mature with good reason. A lot of blood, explicitly violent scenes of zombies falling apart, mayhem and a brief glimpse of a brutal kidnapping is enough to give youngsters and even some adults nightmares.
FINAL WORD: "Dementium" can be an exciting game that gets the blood pumping, as well as keeping the palms wet and the mouth dry. But it isn't for the weak-hearted.
E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com