Shoot them dead or slash them to pieces | Full Review - Wanted: Dead

Wanted: Dead, we’ve all seen this type of game before: A hack-n-slash and shooter hybrid — Devil May Cry is a touchstone example of this, — as well as most shooter games that have some form of melee combat baked in, but still, it's refreshing to see newcomers in the hack and slash shooter hybrid genre.

🟩Pros

+seamlessly switch between swordplay and gunplay

+decent hack and slash combat action

🟥Cons

-Forgettable story

-Uninspired third-person shooter mechanics

-Disappointing graphics for an AAA-level title

-Too short with almost no replay value

A hybrid game

Wanted: Dead is a new action-packed game that blends the fast-paced gameplay of a hack and slash game with the excitement of a third-person shooter.

You play as Lieutenant Hannah Stone, a hardboiled Hong Kong cop, leader of the police squad named Zombie Unit. Your mission is to uncover a corporate conspiracy in a cyberpunk world full of cybernetic mercenaries, gangs, and private militaries.

Cyberpunk and a Hong Kong crime story?

The game features various environments inspired by Hong Kong infused with Cyberpunk elements. The level design is varied, with a mix of open spaces like lobbies and tight corridors and hallways that keep the action fresh and alternating.

Wanted: Dead has all the hallmarks of eastern / asian influences with its anime-inspired, over the top, whimsical, and wacky feel to it. Still, it's gruesome and gritty when it comes to the combat and violence, with blood splatters and dismembers all over the battleground and characters’ faces during gameplay.

More gameplay, less story

The story is unfortunately nothing special, just a generic cyberpunk setup that really doesn’t captivate you or keep you invested — Mainly a poor excuse to continue killing baddies. Thankfully, it immediately, and always gives way to the gameplay which is the main focus. Cutscenes are few and far between and the story is forgettable and ignorable. This game is best played to have fun killing enemies, not to experience a gripping story.

It’s so bad that it’s good?

The main character’s voice is rather bland and monotonous at face value, especially with its out of place European-esque accent. In fact, it’s probably the worst performance out of everyone. Ironically, it’s just so bad that it’s a refreshing performance for me, instead of the usual cute or seductive voice actors used for female hero archetypes.

The other supporting characters are equally as bland if not generic and forgettable. However, some of the bosses at the end of the missions have some cool over-the-top cyberpunk / anime personalities to it that reminded me of the bosses of the Metal Gear Solid game series.

Gameplay Analysis

The gameplay is more interesting than the story. At its core, it is a third person cover shooter but with a very agile character who can do athletic maneuvers, one that can easily close the distance with enemies and allow you to blend in some hack and slash combat action. You have three other teammates beside you fighting, but they’re mostly background flavor without any interaction or command system and do not really impact the gameplay in a meaningful way.

Melee > Guns

As a third person cover shooter, Wanted: Dead is lame and uninspired — guns have almost no punch to them and sound like toys. It’s not satisfying to shoot and hit enemies, especially with most of them having a bullet sponge nature. However, combined with the hack and slash element, the gameplay gets to work.

Despite having janky and clunky animations, both with the character and her interactions with enemies, you can do pretty amazing combos with the melee combat, as well as allowing players to seamlessly switch between swordplay and gunplay to take down enemies in a variety of ways, as Lt. Stone moves fast anyway to easily close the distance between the enemies. You can dodge, block, and parry enemies to help you in combat.

To also encourage the use of melee combat, guns have scarce ammo compared to other usual shooters. Which is nice because the game is at its best when you are mostly using swordplay to kill enemies.

You have two main weapons in the game which can be customized, the main rifle and your go-to pistol. The game also offers a standard selection of projectile weapons, including assault rifles, SMGs, LMGs, and grenade launchers that you can pick-up from dead enemies.

Using the katana for melee combat allows for dismemberments which are always a welcome feature. The pistol is used effectively; just as frequently as your primary weapon, but it effectively functions as a melee attack and can’t be aimed manually.

Killing with style

When you stun an enemy, you can do a takedown, which is basically a stylish way to kill your enemy while in a locked animation with them. The takedowns in Wanted: Dead are brutal and gory, and there are over 50 unique finishing moves for players to perform.

These finishing moves are cool, and they provide players with a sense of satisfaction when they perform them, but some are a little bit too long winded and can otherwise break the flow of momentum of combat.

Aside from the usual gun-wielding and melee-wielding enemies to mirror the player’s combat style, there are also other types. For example, a shield-wielding type, that can give the player a ton of problems and difficulties, to the point that it’s annoying and it completely breaks the combat rhythm of the game.

Metal Gear Solid-esque boss fights

Every mission, there is also a boss fight to cap it off, which as said earlier, reminded me of the boss fights from the Metal Gear Series: Cool over-the-top cyberpunk / anime personalities and a matching over-the-top set piece for the fight.

Progression wise, there is a typical skill tree unlock system to offer some form of progression to the player with three main categories; Offense, Defense, and Utility. There you can unlock abilities, like an extended dodge maneuver, or a bullet-time system. It’s not the most complex system but it does its job of keeping the player engaged, looking forward to the next unlock to try.

Game Length

The game is too short for its price, at only around five missions total with up to an hour of gameplay each, totalling to five hours of gameplay to beat the story.  There is a harder difficulty that you can try to challenge, but it mostly just makes it harder by removing health from recovering, or removing finishers, which is basically removing half of the fun factor.

The graphics on the other hand are a bit aged and look like something that came out of the PS3 and Xbox 360 era, but slightly remastered for today’s standards with a decent lighting system. The cutscenes are slightly better looking versions of the in-game graphics, something that reminded me of Tekken 4's cutscenes. All of which isn't a bad thing, but disappointed me with my expectations of an AAA game.

Conclusion:

Wanted: Dead is a video game that is somewhere between fun and boring. The game's hack-n-slash melee combat and third-person shooter gameplay provide players with a diverse range of combat options. I found it fun at times, but in the end falls short overall with its janky melee combat, uninspired third person shooter gameplay, and a forgettable premise.

Beatable in around five hours with almost no replay value aside from the increased difficulty setting, Wanted: Dead is a short-lived average experience that isn’t just worth the AAA price of admission. It is a game that is more acceptable when acquired in a heavily discounted matter.