GENRE
	Survival Horror
	DEVELOPER
	Renegade Kid
	PUBLISHER
	Gamecock Meda Group
	LOCAL WIRELESS MULTI-PLAY
	No
	Wi-Fi/GLOBAL ONLINE MULTI-PLAY
	No
	MICROPHONE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

About ten years ago, there was a raging debate across print magazines and the few, narrow intertubes that connected us on whether reviewers played through the subject of their reviews long enough and if they did so with the required intensity and enthusiasm. Back then people actually complained about the sheer number of releases and how that overwhelmed review teams. Was it feasible to write a review after playing a game for only two to three hours? And if people demanded their reviews no later than the game’s release day, how much time could really be dedicated to any one title? Some websites boldly announced in every published review that the game in question was played through completely.

If you fell on either side of the debate then, or find yourself drawn to a particular camp right now, there is a disclaimer that the developers of my review subject can wear with some pride: Dementium sits uncompleted and will probably stay that way. Reservations follow.

visuals

Dementium is a first-person survival horror game with as strong an action element as a Silent Hill title. As in Metroid Prime Hunters, the stylus controls the "free look" or right analog stick functions. The lower screen also shows the various menus that can be navigated seamlessly with simple stylus clicks, leaving the upper screen completely free of clutter. And that’s all for the better because the developers used some interesting techniques to give you less of the screen than the hardware manufacturer intended. The entire periphery is constantly darkened, even after you acquire the necessary flashlight early in the first of the game’s 16 Chapters. Apart from that, the color palette employed is "institutional but dysfunctional" -- lots of gray, brown and black, lots of corridors, closets.

It could be argued that having a game set in a mental asylum, the designers restricted themselves to a certain environment that prevented too much color or creativity. While there are touches like blood splatter on a certain floor or a box in the middle of a certain corridor, one hallway is not distinguished enough from another to avoid a sense of déjà vu, frustration, paranoia and claustrophobia. Given the type of game Dementium is, those feelings often contribute positively to the atmosphere. The few cut-scenes are well-animated, the framerate silky smooth, but the enemies less so.

audio

Bring a pair of headphones to get the most out of what’s probably the single best part of the game. There are audio cues to guide the observant listener, and the sound design from music to the sound effects does its best to take advantage of such a listener. The repetitive but always unnerving whispers and the storm raging against the asylum’s walls form an ambient cacophony that makes listening for the guiding hints deliciously painful. You wish you could turn the sound off to enjoy some peace of mind, but to do so would undermine your ability to accomplish your in-game mission.

All is not well, though. The growls and groans of the enemies are disappointing. Likewise, the weapon sound effects have a lifeless, toy-like tinny quality. Minor complaints they may be, but it reflects a lack of thoroughness and polish when the design team is capable of so much more. Ideally, the handgun should flash in the darkness and echo thunderously in the long corridors. It would only help to enhance the sense of solitude in a survival horror game.

gameplay

The absence of story in Dementium finds a way to contribute to the experience. As EAD has always tried to keep Link a shell of a character for the gamer to imprint on to in The Legend of Zelda games, Dementium thrusts the player into the protagonist’s straitjacket. Without any back story, the player awakens in The Ward.

Spot-on control with a refreshing experience (survival horror games have yet to flood DS) makes it hard to root against this game, especially considering it comes from a small developer named Renegade Kid and a young publisher called the Gamecock Media Group. Dementium can be completed in about seven hours, and criminally offers no replay value. In truth, the second half of the game engages in so much recycling, you will have played through it twice if you complete it once. At the very least, a harder difficulty setting should have been incorporated even on the final day of development. Or alternate ending based on completion time would similarly be easy to include.

The core of this game is remarkably solid, however. Hopefully, this wonderful game engine is picked up for a number of other projects. Consider this review the beginning of the campaign for Dementium 2. There is so much more that could have been done with different locales, like a city or a sewer, or a forest. Instead, players are left to roam the same corridors and rooftops over and over, and while they might be able to justify speculation on the designers’ part given the genre attempted, it’s harder to conclude they are having fun.

multiplayer

NA

overall

The first hour of this game was easily the best hour. By the fourth and fifth hour, you will have seen everything the game has to offer, but poor and recycled design will continue the experience and wear it thin. Renegade Kid have put themselves on the map, and their next title will likely deliver a more complete adventure.

It’s difficult to recommend this title wholeheartedly because of the patience it will demand. But now that gamers tolerate Call of Duty 4’s single player mode that runs the same length, are you willing to pay $30 to support a young, talented developer who offers a great four hours of the kind of experience rarely available on portable systems?

It’s difficult to recommend this title wholeheartedly, but Dementium does just enough to warrant it.

7.5/10