So that means always alive?
So, what makes NeverDead stand out from every other third person shooter out there? Well, mainly the fact that Bryce was cursed with immortality. This means that you can't die, not really, but your allies can! Not to worry, as you can pretty easily heal them by getting close to them, should they happen to fall in combat. Bryce's immortality comes into play as one of the game's main gimmicks, the fact that you can lose your limbs. You can lose any arm or leg, and even your torso. Picking up body pieces is as easy as rolling over them, or after a short while, you can just regrow any missing limb. Some puzzles even have you taking your own head and throwing it to wherever you need to go, or even rolling, as a head, through ducts. It gets even better, you can even tough fire or electricity in order to strengthen your attacks, or solve some very simple puzzles.
As you can tell from the game's main hook, while the overall plot is relatively serious, the game is front-loaded with humor. It's not gonna be for everyone, that's for sure, but I'd say I liked it overall. Bryce follows the generic gruff tough guy bit to a tee, but the immortality curse and how he uses it does add some flavor to his portrayal. The rest of the characters are alright, but I was mostly a fan of the character designs and the aesthetics, I thought the game looked really cool, and the graphics are pretty detailed all things considered. The characters are very striking, at least as far as their visual designs go. While the story is rather bland, the premise is quite original too, so I dug it.
The game itself is rather decent, it's a very linear romp although if you take your time to explore each level you'll be able to find weapons and even bonus experience points. Since you could lose any arm at any time, each hand can carry a different weapon between: Pistols, Assault Rifles, Uzis, Shotguns and even a grenade launcher. You need to find two of any if you wish to dual-wield whatever type of weapon, sans for the pistols, which are the weapons you start off with. You can also shoot each gun independently, using the L1 and R1 buttons. But maybe, if you are like me, you want to take things up close and personal... so you can take out your sword by pressing Triangle.
At first I hated it, you must hold down R1 and use the right analog stick in order to slash with the sword. It felt super awkward at first... but 30 minutes later I found out that mashing different directions on the right analog stick felt SO good that the sword became my default approach to every enemy. You'll be surprised by how destructible everything around you is, but it's more than just eyecandy, as using debris is a suggested way to take down enemies. Destroying a pillar to make the roof fall on enemies, or even using the debris of the pillar to smack enemies are both equally valid and efficient ways of taking down enemies.
As previously stated, there are experience points in this game, which you can either find in the environment or get when defeating enemies. These points can then be spent to purchase abilities, which you can then equip, being mindful of an ability point cap, to make Bryce fit your playstyle. Abilities are very interesting, as you can make different builds. Maybe favor your guns, by enhancing Gun Damage, turning your arms into grenades and making your spring faster to strafe around enemies. Or maybe you'd rather enhance your sword, making melee stronger and adding range to your swipes. But, maybe, just maybe, you want to be weird about it, so you can get abilities to enhance the damage you do to the environment and how much damage you deal with the environment. This system is fantastic, and rather deep all things considered.
And so far, it sounds pretty cool, so why was the game so divisive? Well... for starters, Bryce is very fragile. Losing limbs is and having to collect them is a genuinely interesting concept, but it seems as if any single attack will deprive Bryce of something. Some enemies will instantly pop every limb from your head and torso with a single tackle. The Final Boss was something of a pain in the rear, as every single shockwave attack instantly popped every limb out of you. Add to this that the game very quickly introduced headsucking enemies, these blobs of doom will go after you whenever you are left only with your head, and if they suck you in... you must engage in a timing mini-game, otherwise it's game over. The mini-game wasn't much fun, and losing progress because you didn't hit X at the right moment feels downright unfair. To be fair, on the other hand, evading this suckers is not too tough.
And then there's the fact that the game is rather repetitive. You spent the entire game fighting the same 4-5 enemy types over and over again, but, first you have to find every enemy generator and slowly whittle down its health. I enjoyed the game, I did, but sometimes it can feel rather uninspired.
I don't think NeverDead was deserving of most of the low scores the game received, as it has some very original ideas, and some very interesting mechanics. That said, I understand that the game's tone and humor is definitely not for anyone, but anyone that enjoys quirky Japanese games(It may have been developed by Rebellion, but the director was Japanese and it shows!) will probably find something enjoyable here. And, if in doubt, the trailer will instantly tell you if the game is for you or not.
6.5
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