Wanted: Dead Review – GUNS AND KATANAS VS DULL NARRATIVE!
Wanted: Dead seems to promise players an experience akin to the Ninja Gaiden series. With some notable developers from that series at the helm, one can only assume that this new IP would be exactly what fans of Ninja Gaiden have been waiting for. But the question remains, does Wanted: Dead live up to the hype and is it worth picking up?
Wanted: Dead’s Unique Experience
Wanted: Dead throws you into a difficult third-person shooter/hack and slash adventure that is quite intriguing at first. This interesting blend of the two genres creates a unique gameplay experience. The way that you can combine melee and ranged attacks seamlessly feels great, and really opens up opportunities as to how you deal with a difficult situation. You don’t necessarily always have to combine the two, sometimes you can choose whether to run straight toward an opponent, katana in hand, or stay back and fire off some rounds from behind cover. However, calculating your approach is vital for survival against the countless foes you will come across in your playthrough. And depending on the situation, the solution is not always the same.
This interesting blend of the two genres creates a unique gameplay experience.
Wanted: Dead does push you to get into your enemies face with your katana by limiting your amount of ammunition, which does mean that you have to be a bit more conservative with your bullets. And this is where the challenge comes in. Whilst most enemies you face are your typical grunts that can be defeated quite easily, when they run rampant around you and are attacking you both from range and close up, it can become more than a little overwhelming. But, unfortunately, the combat still can feel a bit too simplistic at times, which can make certain enemies and bosses feel way easier than they should be. Whilst I will try to avoid making too many comparisons to Ninja Gaiden, you can definitely see the inspiration from the series in these aforementioned moments in combat. However, Wanted: Dead does feel significantly less difficult than Ryu Hayabusa’s various adventures.
Why Does Wanted: Dead Look Like This?
One minor problem with Wanted: Dead is its really dated visual design. Oftentimes it looks like an early PS4/Xbox One title. This was quite disappointing, especially given how far the industry has come in terms of visual design. I was not expecting a Triple A production here, but the visual presentation may hinder quite a few people, because it is very noticeable how dated the graphics are, especially in the cutscenes. However, graphics aren’t everything, so if you can look past the older visual style, then you may still have a good game on your hands here!
To be honest, the story was just flat out boring and uninteresting.
A Narrative To Be Forgotten…
The main issue I had with Wanted: Dead was with its narrative. To be honest, the story was just flat out boring and uninteresting. The dialogue was quite generic most of the time with no real substance to it. I did not really care for the motivations of each character, especially because most of the story felt like ‘bad guys do bad things because they are bad, and we must stop them because we are good.’ It also didn’t help that Wanted: Dead has showcased some of the most dull voice acting that I have experienced in a long, long time. Most of the cast just seemed completely disinterested whilst recording their lines. The story just felt too dry, which was a bit of a disappointment, especially given the fact that the writers did genuinely have some good ideas here. My favourite example of this was the fact that Wanted: Dead features a character called Cortez who communicates through the use of sign language. This was so cool to see in the game and is definitely something that more devs need to implement into their projects.
Decision
Overall, Wanted: Dead is definitely a fun action-packed adventure. The smooth combat mixed with a decent enemy variety will keep the challenge up for quite a while. Whilst this is definitely not the hardest game out there and may not earn you bragging rights of any sort, the game still does offer a significant amount of difficulty that feels great to overcome. However, on the flip side of this, the clunky narrative can make it hard to get into Wanted: Dead. But if you manage to do so, there are plenty of entertaining experiences within.
By Samuel Incze – Reviewed on PC
Good
Wanted: Dead is a fun, but challenging adventure. It brings together brutal swordsmanship and deadly third person shooting in one uniquely packaged experience. The combat is easy to understand and it does feel great, and its difficulty is definitely the drawcard here. Unfortunately, the combat can feel a little too simple at times and the level design can seem slightly same-y. The story feels tacked on, and most of the voice acting is B movie levels of terrible. Overall, Wanted: Dead is quite entertaining and will give you a good few hours of challenging gameplay.
This game was reviewed using a download code provided by Soliel and 110 Industries. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website.
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