Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death (PS2)

There is no hiding from the law.

With such high potential and the dream licence for all comic book readers, why have we been sentenced to such a painfully dull and ultimately flat first person blasting experience? Crud indeed!

The conflict of first person shooters on the PC and the home gaming consoles has waged long and hard, both sides staking their claim to victory. Console owners relishing in the freedom of their plug and play blasters without having to upgrade their graphics card with each release; whilst the PC gamers return with their enhanced visuals and the unbeatable mouse and keyboard control method! Fortunately the release of Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death will at least see a brief truce, as the game is vile no matter the platform.

Drokk!

Dredd demonstrates the in-game ragdoll physics.

Starting life in the pages of the highly respected British comic book 2000 AD, Judge Dredd’s blend of relentless enforcement of the law in a crumbling futuristic world read like a bizarre fusion of Dirty Harry and Blade Runner. Embraced by fans the world over, Dredd’s signature scowl launched a thousand T-shirts, graphic novels, a come-on-it-ain’t-that-bad movie (you’re right it’s worse – ed.) and of course some weak gaming adventures.

Now of course the vast landscapes, overblown villains and over the top weaponry would not translate to the power lite games machines of yesteryear, yet surely the new generation of hardware could present Dredd as he appears on the static page? Alas not! Visually this game is poor in all departments from the “hoards” of pedestrians, rarely seen in groups higher than four, that populate the allegedly near bursting Mega City One to the unforgivably limited array of baddies to blast. The “will that do?” effort that has gone into this game is shocking and disappointing in equal measure.

Old Stoney Face

I am the Law!

Offering twelve levels (one of which being the bog standard training level), the environments themselves may change but the objective remains the same through out: kill some baddies, wander around, switch some switches, grab the odd pass card and save a few innocents and that is your lot. Sure this would be fine if the enemies you had to kill presented a threat but the AI, or should that be complete lack of it, leaves you shooting fish in a barrel, which soon becomes a chore instead of the guilty pleasure it should be.

For those with the patience, or those desperate for some value for money, the game offers a few bonus modes in the form of Arcade and Battle. The former will be familiar to those who have played the excellent sub games on the far superior Time Splitters 2, for the simple reason that the developer’s have ripped off Eidos’ game completely. The array of missions are against the clock, kill everything affairs that lack the humour and heart of their obvious inspiration and soon become tedious. The Battle mode is a basic array of deathmatch set-ups played via a split screen with friends, or single player with bots, and is as poor as it sounds.

You cannot kill what does not live

Get down on the ground! Put your hands behind your head!

Dredd’s popularity will no doubt help move some units but it is the fan base that will suffer the most and ironically also get the most from this game. Whilst causal gamers will dismiss this title within a few plays as yet another FPS, the fan base will struggle through, often blinded by the chance to play as their hero in a fruitless hope that something better awaits upon the next level.

Once more Mega City One’s finest has unsuccessfully stepped out of the page and onto our screens, leaving all hope of this game being the one to do the big man justice being dashed. Most unforgivably, the final climatic show down promised by the title sees Dredd take on Death in a cut scene - no seriously! Sentence this game to fifteen years hard labour and buy a copy of 2000 AD instead.

If you want to try the game, you can download the Judge Dredd demo right here.