Dead, good gameplay accompanied by a weak story

I’ve been interested in trying out Wanted: Dead for a while, and I’ll admit that I couldn’t resist when I saw the first trailer. It’s a title Chop and reduce is set in a cyberpunk universe and was developed by Soleil, a studio founded by several former developers of the Ninja Gaiden saga. With these “parents” it’s clear what we’re about to see here: action abound and impossible enemies that will have us hooked on command. But does it really offer that?

the cyberpunk age

Whether due to the influence of the CD Projekt title or not, the truth is that cyberpunk themes in video games are becoming more and more fashionable. This setting is the first thing that catches your eye in Wanted: Dead, which takes shape in a near-future dystopian version of Hong Kong. We play Hannah Stone, a death row criminal who happens to lead the police force’s “zombie unit” made up entirely of death row inmates (yes, the Suicide Squad reference also came to mind).
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The truth is that we don’t need to know much more about the characters right from the start. From there we embark on a staggered maelstrom of katanas and orbs with waves of enemies as we make our way through corridors. This means that the story and the narration are not the most important things. In fact, story-wise, Wanted: Dead is pretty simple, so much so that it gets confusing. In the breaks between one phase and the other we will see cinematic scenes that explain the common thread, although despite its simplicity it is difficult to follow.

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trip to the past

I can’t deny my surprise when I witnessed the first scene. Of course, what Wanted: Dead doesn’t seek is excellence in them. The textures are very poor and absent on many occasions. The same happens with the scenarios, which feel empty and lacking in personality in the moments when we’re not in the middle of combat. All of this makes it feel like a last generation video game.

What deeply disappointed me after the same movie scenes is the dubbing as well as the performance of the actors. The game is localized in text and subtitles but dubbed into Spanish. A dubbing (English) that is not well executed at all. The actors don’t stand out and some are quieter than others.
However, there are times when the game slips into a Japanese animation aesthetic, and that’s where it seems to shine a little brighter. It’s a change that suits him very well and that coincides with the story’s most fluid moments, although it remains very laggy. I wish they had done more research in this direction.

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Action galore

Once the game moves us to the action stages, the movie changes completely. Wanted: Dead perfectly combines the experience of a good slasher movie with that of a good shooter. We will have in our possession a long-range rifle to shoot at a distance and a katana and a pistol for close combat. The pistol is one of the most original functions, since it serves to “stun” the enemy while being able to chain combos.

On the other hand there is Finishers and death animations. One of the aspects that the game deals with the most, and with good reason. There are up to 50 types of deadly finishers in total. If you liked Keanu Reeves’ John Wick movies, you’ll love Wanted: Dead. At times when the enemies blink, we can perform grabs that end in different animations of execution: headshots, ceremonial cuts with a katana… a whole collection of originality in murder that will delight lovers of the action genre.

The action performance is fluid and fresh, with fast animations in combat and natural walking. The artificial intelligence of the enemies and our companions is accurate and complex. The most basic enemy in the game will not attack us unknowingly, but will protect itself and get us into trouble. In fact, the game’s difficulty is high, even on Normal, and we’ll never be able to kill the enemies with a single shot or hit. It took me a while to realize that even though we have a long range rifle, the game doesn’t want us to abuse it. We’ve come to brandish our swords here, and the game will be greatly rewarding for dashing into a group of katana-wielding enemies a la Kill Bill. This will be by far the most fun and rewarding part of the game (next to the chainsaw).

The biggest issue I encountered in combat was in-game messaging. Although there is a tutorial, it won’t teach us much. Wanted: Dead has few markings and signals, so learning the perfect holds or blocks often involves acting on instinct.

a strange sense of humor

As I told you before, the story of Wanted: Dead is strange and sometimes goes astray. The screenplay always moves between the parody of classic action films and the homage. Therefore, in the portrayal of characters, there are jokes and situations that are foreign to us at the moment. The screaming police captain, the rebel cops are a nest of stereotypes which, I insist, we do not know whether to pursue in homage or mockery.
In this sense, the game has several mini-games that we will unlock as we progress through the story. These events will put the protagonists in somewhat bizarre situations that we’ll only understand if we delve into their odd sense of humor. Ramen or karaoke competitions are some of the activities that we can do through a button-pressing system.

two games in one

I’ll admit that I’ve had a lot of trouble analyzing Wanted: Dead in a consistent way. On the one hand, there’s the entire narrative and scripted scene section of the game, which left me deeply disappointed. As a lover of video game stories and screenplays, I can’t help but think that the opportunity to do something very cool here with a little more attention has been missed. Instead, the game puts you in a position where you know the endgame is hacking and blasting your way out, and you can ignore how many dialog boxes are coming your way.

At the other end of the scale is action. Wanted: Dead may not be the best action game I’ve played, but it was one of the funniest. The freedom to face the battle stages is total, but don’t think you’re going to stray from getting involved in pies. “We came here to kill,” it seems to be telling us, and you’d better learn to handle yourself soon. The game lets you loose and starts everything it has from minute one. I loved the latter, but I also missed a variety of enemies in that regard.

I played on an Xbox Series S and I have to say that the performance was exceptional. I never suffered frame rate drops during the recording phases. On the other hand, I suffered from it to pop of textures and stage elements at very specific moments.

My final feeling is that it feels like I’ve played two or three games at the same time. It seems that the film and script crew showed up on the final day with a presentation that said, “Sorry, teacher, we didn’t do our homework.” On the other hand, the combat team chose honor and achieved an excellent result.