Analysis of Wanted: Dead – Bloody Festival

Analysis of Wanted: Dead for Xbox Series X.

Mixing genres in a video game is a risky bet that doesn’t always work. And if not, tell them Devil’s Thirdthis Wii U game developed by Tomobuki Itagaki. Fortunately, the developer Sun took this very original formula and tweaked it almost to perfection in Wanted: dead.

This unique title, which we have been talking about for a few months, goes on sale today. Ready to give us a very gory Valentine’s Day with his combination of shooter con hack and slash. Ready to break some hearts with the sword? Well, be very attentive to the analysis that we bring to you.

welcome to the death squad

Wanted: dead places us in a cyberpunk version of the city of hong kong. In this dystopian future, technological and material advances have caused humans to bio-engineer their bodies. There are even beings calledsyntheticwho are more machine than person due to the number of cybernetic implants installed in their bodies. Additionally, the refinement of these enhancements has made people and robots virtually indistinguishable.

Under this premise, we will put ourselves in the role of Hannah Stoneagent member of the zombie unit. This elite squad is part of the police riot squad. We are the ones who intervene when the situation becomes very ugly and our methods are not always the most legal. Following several suspicious missions entrusted to us at the police station, we will find ourselves immersed in a conspiracy linked to the largest biotechnology company in the city.

Bullets will rain and heads will roll

We are facing a title that, as we mentioned at the beginning, puts in the shaker the shootings of a shooter in the third person and the wild action of a hack and slash. The results of this combination are very interesting and give the game a great personality.

The levels are composed of semi-linear pasillos in which it will be necessary to go from point A) to point B). In the meantime we will find drones that will serve as checkpoints. Here we will recover life and ammunition, as well as improve our guns with new parts.

At the end of each level we will face powerful bosses who will have their own differentiated schemes and strategies. But to achieve them, we must first eliminate any threat that comes our way.

We can choose two ways. The first one, liarnos shooting. Wanted: dead offers a shooting system with automatic cover. This means that when Agent Stone approaches a wall, fence, or any structure that serves as protection, she will stand there without having to press any buttons. I understand that this system of self-coverage to make the game smoother. But there are times when our character takes time to cover up or doesn’t cover up at all, and failure in this game means death.

The second option is to draw our trusty Katana and cuts our enemies like our charcuterie when he cuts us slices of cooked ham. In very fine pieces. Hand to hand combat combine sword attacks with the blows of our pistol hands to create combos. The firearm will also be used to counter blows which cannot be blocked. Because yes, in this game there are also parades.

Varying from one style to another is the key to not suffering more than necessary. Although we have already warned you that you are going to have a hard time.

I would like to highlight here an aspect that weighed down my gaming experience. assigning the “interact” and “take weapon” functions to the R3 button of the X-series controller. Setting such important actions that are constantly used during gameplay on this rare and difficult to press command seems like a bad decision to me. Besides, the game severely limits the ability to change the controller’s control scheme from the options menu, as well as accessibility.

gore show

If we tell you that Sun is a Japanese studio formed by formed by former veterans of Gaiden ninjaamong other things, you can already get an idea of ​​the level of gore it has Wanted: dead. The title will encourage us at all times to be aggressive with a health system in which we can recover part of the damage suffered with quick counterattacks or executions. To execute them, we will first have to knock out our enemies. These brutal maneuvers are a veritable festival of brand blood Ninja Team

During the missions we will find different types of enemies which will give more priority to a different fighting style. Some will charge at us headlong, with brutal melee attacks. Here we will have to highlight our ability to execute blocks with a Hourly perfect, dodge and counterattack with our sword. Others will try to pepper us from afar and we’ll have to use our gun to kill them from afar or entertain them with cover fire until we reach them and slit their throats.

Killing soldiers will fill a adrenaline meter. When finished, we can make a special attack with the gun that will stun multiple enemies at once. This is where one can proceed to a flurry of chained executions that delight with their brutal variety.

Take a break Stone, you deserve it

But in this game it’s not all about kills and punches. From one mission to another we will cross the police station to take a moment to relax. Here we can walk around the building reading documents that expand the lore of the game and even show us some very interesting cutscenes about Hannah’s past. In addition, we will be able to discuss with our colleagues from the brigade and even participate in various Mini games.

like a Yakuza In this case we will have different types of minigames like a crochet machine, rhythm games like karaoke or one to eat ramen. there is even one arcade cabinet with a kill them small boats that you can go all out, like it’s another video game.

Carrying out all of these activities will increase our experiencewhich will allow us unlock updates for our character. These will range from increasing the number of hits in the sword combo to slowing firefights to taking out more enemies at once. We can even increase the parry window a bit and thus have more time to block melee attacks.

Don’t hate me for being an otaku

Wanted: Dead is a visual delight. The scenes are superb. The lighting, reflections and physics are very neat. Admiring some sets of this cyberpunk version of Hong Kong is a joy. We will cross places as different as a park, a luxury nightclub or a Japanese botanical garden.

Despite some delays in loading textures in some cutscenes StakesThe title of Sun It does a brutal technical display with some characters showing off some pretty detailed features. Among them, some recognizable actors participated, as is the case of Stephanie Joosten. Dutch model, singer and actress, known for playing Quiet and Metal Gear Solid Vput his image for the gunsmith Vivienne. Additionally, part of the game’s soundtrack is made up of its own themes.

But it is that from time to time, the work of the Japanese study also leaves us speechless when it shows us anime aesthetic cutscenes of great quality. This colorful style contrasts a lot with the bloody and dark side of the game. Something strange at first, but as we progress through the plot, we will be eager to see more and more.

Eventually

Wanted: dead it is a double A which has nothing to envy to the other great weights of the industry. Neither in the visual nor in the playable. Its mechanics perfectly combine the adrenaline of combat with ranged firearms with fierce melee clashes. At first, the mixture will seem a little strange to us, but the fluidity What one feels when taking the controls immediately dilutes this first impression.

Perhaps the work of Sun there 110 business sectors need some fixes to your control schemes and more accessibility options, but we hope that a patch can solve this problem. All so that we can fully enjoy this bloody festival of katanas and guns loaded with Hannah Stone and his comrades from zombie unit.