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Aug 24 2005
Death Jr. Review
PSP Game Review | Action
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| Summary: The reason I bought my PSP has finally payed off!!!
99
Death, Jr. was THE reason I got a PSP. Sure, some of the other games looked cool but this game looked sweet. How can you go wrong with death AND C4 Hamsters? Well, the game delivers in most areas but it does contain a few flaws but nothing that can't be over looked once you get the hang of it. Let's get this review started!
Death Jr's story is fairly simple. Death, Jr. And pals are at the museum for a fieldtrip. Pandora finds a box that she just can't resist opening. However, she tries and tries but can't get it open. DJ (aka Death, Jr.) uses his trust worth scythe to open it. Now he's gone and unleashed Menoch and he has taken the souls of DJ's friends! Now DJ needs to get those souls back and put Menoch back into that box before his dad finds out. I may have gotten the villains name wrong but oh well. The plot is along the lines of The Nightmare Before Christmas, being that it has a twisted sense of humor. The characters are neat (Dead Guppy is just classic) and I think the creator just had funny (Stigmartha is great also and I love the scene of her hiding her eyes when her soul is taken). The plot isn't deep and never really goes anywhere but it's just fun and entertaining.
The graphics in the game are rather good. Enemies are a tad bland looking at a distance but up close, they look rather good. Fair amount of variation on them also. The levels are full of stuff and a lot of it can be destroyed and they want you to destroy it because you get more points, but more on that later. I really liked the designs of the characters, except DJ, he is kind of bland looking but I guess Death's son wouldn't be all that great looking. I never ran into any jaggies or anything like that, it all runs smoothly, looks smooth and is nicely detailed.
The sound in the game is a bit of a mixed bag. The weapons all sound good, and I just love the sounds of the hamsters as they run to just be blown up within seconds. Enemies let out different types of screams so it's varied there. The music is just wow... It's really good and it actually adds a bit of fun to the game. I really love the music for Seep's levels. The voice acting is a bit ho-hum. Not great but it does work but a few voices were just really bad. All in all though it isn't that bad and it's nice to have voice acting, even if it isn't used all of the time.
Now, most complaints are based on the control in this game. Let me just state one thing quickly. The camera is horrible when you're doing bad run and gun. It's perfectly fine during scythe action. See, for some reason the targeting system goes haywire during the run and gun moments but it isn't that bi of a problem, except in hall ways and that’s only in the 3 school levels which isn't too bad. Of course the camera still isn’t perfect but it's more manageable when you know that. The L button centers the cam; it doesn't work well while having a gun out and you must tap to center because holding L goes into stand still look around mode, which is good for using the electric gun on power stuff. You jump with X, use scythe with square, circle is gun and triangle is dodge. It all works well. The are button is used for strafing which I found myself using a lot during the run and gun stuff but it also targets enemies for you.
Is a lot like that found in the Ratchet and Clank series. There are 17 levels in the game and one thing that I like is out of the first 3 worlds, you can pick any and work your way through the 3 areas in each. Not all have bosses and some of the bosses are in the first level or at the end, it keeps it mildly exciting... While I'm on the subject of bosses, let me tell you about them. They are large and provide a challenge until you figure out what to do. I found the later bosses to be rather hard, even when knowing what to do.
The worlds in the game are rather amusing at times. I love Dead Guppy's levels; Meat World is just a blast to play. The level designs are just fun. There are 2 things you need to do in a level. Kill enemies until you have enough souls to open the giant eye doors and then get the puzzle piece at the end of the level. However, there are 7 power up items hidden in each stage, tons of extra enemies, destructible items, ect. At the end of a level you get a report card and you're graded on each category of enemies killed, hidden items found, combos and destruction. I tried to get it all in 1 run but I found that hunting for the secret items makes combos hard to maintain. The hidden items carry over anyway so you only have to find them once.
The enemies are rather varied. They attack in different ways and require different methods to be killed. Some are a pain, like the blue slug ones. The kamikaze ones are hard to fight because they run at you and instantly blow up. The larger enemies need to be taken out from a distance. I enjoyed scythe action over the run and gun game play but guns are needed in certain spots. Oh and the guns are fun. Some of them stink at first, like the shotgun, but after a while they each have their own purpose. I really liked the upgraded electric gun, great for combos.
Let me explain the power ups. There is the Pandora icons which when you collect four adds an extra special attack thing. Just fill up the Pandora meter and it stocks an attack. You just hit circle and triangle together to use it, deals massive damage and slows down time. I rarely used it but it's neat. There are little heads of DJ which when you collect four give you more life, I never could tell though... There are also weapon widgets which at first are used to buy new moves and then later sued to upgrade your weapons into even cooler machines of destruction. The widgets are a must find I found because it makes the larger swarms of enemies easier and the later bosses are a major pain.
The platformer moments in the game do provide a bit of challenge, due to the camera mainly. It does break up the action a little and keeps the game from getting dull. There isn't a ton of platforming though, but there is enough. Just think Ratchet and Clank, with less platforming and more melee fighting.
The game is fairly short, around 10 hours but it isn't THAT short. There is plenty to do like find all of the power ups. After that, you can always replay the levels, which I actually did a few times. Another complaint is that the game does not give you a check list of the levels and how many power ups you have gotten. So, as a warning, make your own list when you get a report card and keep track.
Should you buy or rent this game? I say buy it if you like this type of game. The game does deliver a lot of action and the levels are fairly long if you search them for everything. Also, who doesn't love the destruction of random items?
REVIEW IT
PRODUCT INFO
BUY IT
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Comments
sthig said: "TheBerg,
Sarcasm doesn't become you. I'm not triyng to start a flame war with you, my friend...but slamming someone and using bad grammar just makes you look stupid. Coming back with a string of "they're" just shows your anger and it was a bad attempt of wit."
i thought it was funny
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"So to answer your question yes i do like showing my superior knowledge, but usually when i think it will teach someone something or help them."
can't complain with you there.
Mountains made of pebbles was more "proverbial" than factual. If it appeases, "a mountain is made of many rocks."
I don't think people making blatant spelling errors is funny, I think it really reflects the person's ignorance and stupidity. Don't get me wrong, I make spilling erorrs all the time, but I do try to correct my spelling errors by at least proofing my text before hitting "submit." It's the retort that is always amazing to me. I've seen "Grammar Nazi," "Dude, I just woke up" and even "STFU" when it was their stupid fault. If anyone should get blasted for anything on this site, it should be about the poor use of grammar.
That said, if I were to give the reviewer a stern response, it would be:
"I read your review and I feel that it was poorly drafted and incorrectly scored. It actually angered me that you would be so careless with your thoughts about Death Jr. Perhaps in the future you could consider your wording and scoring to be a little more accurate. If I were reviewing this game, it would not get above a 70 and that would be pushing it. While I think the game is fun and enjoyable, I can certainly see how a hardcore gamer would find it annoying. Thank you for taking the time to write a review and I hope that you are more thorough with your next one."
How hard is it to express your frustrations with "I feel" or "It is my opinion" and also affirm the guy? It is much better than tearing him down and making him feel like utter crap just because he got a little carried way.
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sthig,
What I find most humorous is the fact that you have posted several times flaming back on other users on this and the reviewer, psp093, has not even bothered to post once. LOL! Chill, sthig. Case closed.
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No prob. I, like Vlad, am just trying to help...but it's to help people to build up rather than tear down. No harm intended on you, Vlad or anyone else.
Last post for me on this here thread!
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Duuudes, when I wrote my review here I wrote it using the quick response "your thoughts" comments box, so when the mods approved my posting they gave it an arbitrary 90/100. It's possible this user didn't choose 99/100 overall on his own, and that it was filled in by the psp411 mods. In which case you're flaming a guy for something that wasn't even his own doing ?!?
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wyld said: "Duuudes, when I wrote my review here I wrote it using the quick response "your thoughts" comments box, so when the mods approved my posting they gave it an arbitrary 90/100. It's possible this user didn't choose 99/100 overall on his own, and that it was filled in by the psp411 mods. In which case you're flaming a guy for something that wasn't even his own doing ?!?"
Quite true, the mod changed my reviews as well in a way i didn't appreciate (dumbing it down). I won't waste my time reviewing on this site anymore
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Leave him alone! sheesh he only enjoyed the games FFS!
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