DEAD HEAD FRED
Published by:
D3 Publisher
Developed by:
Vicious Cycle
Available on
Sony PSP
INTRODUCTION:
In Dead Head Fred, you will grab the reigns of Fred Neuman,
private detective. However things are a bit different today- today, Fred woke
up without a head. See, Fred lost his head somehow, and has now woken up with a
strange contraption that has left him with a brain in a jar and two eyes. Fred
no longer has a head, and he’s now on a hunt to get it back
GAMEPLAY:
Dead Head Fred rocks and I think you should play it. I’m glad
to have said it, because the PSP rarely gets games that hold any water these
days, despite having the software to prove it. It’s sort of a 3rd
person action game that incorporates several puzzle elements. You’re going to
fight a lot of enemies and work around lots of little things. Before I played
this game, I had my reservations because I feared it would be a simple punch and
kick game that gets old fast. I was wrong, so wrong.
Combat is handled in a great way- you’ve got a heavy/light
combo system that allows you to beat the crap out of your undead opponents, and
then you’ll rip their heads off and hand them to them before they hit the
ground. How cool is that? But that’s not all, as you go along in the game,
you’ll obtain different heads. You can swap out each head rather easily and each
one has a different power that will help you along your way. I thought this was
a great concept and it’s really awesome going through the game switching heads
and seeing the different effects.
How about the zombie head that lets you spew poison gas? What
about the giant tiki-like head that makes you bigger and stronger (but slower)?
It’s up to you to figure out what works best. On top of this, the combat system
is well fleshed out, and takes some time getting used to. You use the right
trigger to block and lock on to your enemies, and it also allows you to use your
context-specific special moves. Things can get confusing having that ‘all
purpose’ button, because you at times end up spinning the camera around by
accident and getting all discombobulated.
I also need to mention that I suck at puzzles and they
frustrate the crap out of me. I’ve read that Dead Head’s puzzles really aren’t
that tough, but I suck so I had a rough time. Eventually I got through them and
I think they add a good strategy element to the game which gives it more depth.
This is a fairly long game, with 12 big levels to sprawl
through, and it’s very well put together. It’s a clever game- very dark humor
and I was taken aback a few times at how caught up I was. You’ll laugh quite a
bit too, it’s heavy on that, and look out for the occasional f-bomb to catch you
off guard. This one’s not for the kiddies!
Gameplay: 8/10
GRAPHICS:
DHF looks wonderful for a PSP game and could really be a
contender for one of the better looking PSP games I’ve seen in awhile. It seems
to me that it could easily be ported over to a newer console- in fact, I hope it
happens. The animations are key here- just look at the way Fred walks, he’s
awkward and lost. He looks perfect, just wheel the camera around his heads and
notice the little details. The environments aren’t the best part of the game,
but my general comment here is that if it moves, it looks pretty sharp. It’s a
stylish and well done effort.
Graphics: 8/10
AUDIO:
First, I must commend the creators for using John C. McGinley
as the voice of Fred. The guy’s a charismatic champion who yields a ton of great
one-liners as our hapless hero. The rest of the voice acting is spot on and
impressive. The sound effects are great too, lots of ‘chunk’ noises and plenty
of flesh being torn which sounds delightfully nasty. The music was decent too,
and shifts with the moods of the game.
Audio: 8/10
FINAL VERDICT:
I loved Dead Head Fred- it’s a dark humoured game that deals
with zombies, blood and the search for a missing head. It’s a great concept
that’s fleshed (LOL~~!!ONE) out well and could be a contender for one of the
better games to come along in some time. I hope that it gets a bigger-gen
sequel, and I also hope that this review inspires a few of you to pick it up.
Come on, what have you got to lose… except your head?
FINAL SCORE: 8/10
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