Dementium: The Ward - Review

True fear and suspense are hard to capture in a game. Surprises are more often used to shock the player, but sometimes a game comes along that can develop quality suspense. In the tradition of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, Dementium: the Ward provides a survival-horror experience (mixed in with some first person shooting) that will keep you white knuckled, gripping your stylus and hunched over your DS, waiting to see what's behind the next corner.

The game opens mysteriously, a vague and blurred scene of the main character entering the hospital as the only introduction. As the game progresses, more veiled scenes of the protagonist's past are seen, suggesting a dark history steeped in blood. However, the end of the game doesn't quite provide a full conclusion to the hints offered. Some points are resolved, but the game ends as mysteriously as it begins, though it does keep open the opportunity of a sequel.



Atmosphere is critical in this game, and suspense is rampant throughout. Beginning only with a flashlight, the first chapters of the game are incredibly tense, increased by the inability to hold recovery items. However, with the introduction of guns, the game quickly becomes an FPS, reliant more upon blasting away enemies than frightening puzzles. Though ammo and health are still difficult to come by, the game loses some tension. Quite possibly the most frustrating aspect of the game, though, is the save system. Though the game appears to auto-save upon entering each room, if you should die you must restart from the beginning of the chapter. Each chapter is relatively short, but it does add to the frustration that monsters respawn and any items found must be recovered again. A kinder save system could have saved a lot of annoyance.

Controls use the stylus for aiming and the face buttons for moving--one of the shoulder buttons provides action/shooting. The system is extremely accurate for shooting, which is beneficial since all monsters have a weak spot for more effective killing. The controls do make movement and looking around yourself somewhat limited, but this limitation serves the atmosphere of the game well, keeping the player worried about what might pop out behind him.



Some impressive environments and creatures are rendered for the game, but the environments are overused to a distressingly noticeable extent. Though the game does take place in a hospital, each stage of the game looks almost identical to the last, pulling the player out of the game. Conversely, the sounds the game emits can be so ominous and frightening that the player will be tempted to turn the music off completely. However the sound is often pivotal to noticing enemies creeping up from the rear or the side, and can be the difference between survival and gruesome death.

Once completed each chapter is fairly short, though dying and replaying entire levels can pad the overall game length. Coupled with the fact that there is no incentive to replay, the game is on the short side. Players looking for a suspenseful experience with tight controls on the DS have the perfect game here. Plagued with some noticeable annoyances, Dementium is far from perfect, but it is a quick, dramatic experience.

7.0/10

Images from IGN.com