Dementium: The Ward

An interesting look at what the Nintendo DS was capable of doing and a really impressive game at the time but it does not hold up in the current year. It's mostly the same looking rooms and hallways with the same enemies over and over. The game is incredibly dark which I assume was a trick to make it run on the ds. Combat is fine and basic, nothing to write home about. Atmosphere can be great sometimes but really wears off with all the repetition. Story pretty much does not exist, the cutscenes are really funny and will just make you shrug. Music is servicable to awful. Would only rec this if you are nostalgic about the original one or if you are really curious about a ds horror game like I was, but it is not a good game.

A pretty old game, but still really fun. The game is described as linear, however due to the hospital's repetitive appearance, it's easy to get lost (for me, anyway). [spoiler]However, each Chapter basically has it's goal or objective stated- so as long as you "do the thing" before moving on, you won't miss anything. But if you breeze through a Chapter, sometimes you can miss a weapon or item.[/spoiler] I said the hospital was repetitive in backdrop, which yeah that's hospitals for you, but that's not to say it's not filled with atmosphere: e.g. spooky sounds, the rain beating on the windows, the groans, the blood, the fog- it's all there. It's really just teeming with atmosphere. The combat isn't super refined, but once you get the hang of it, you'll feel almost kinda tough if a few hits didn't make the health linked heart sounds pick up pace. Then [i]your[/i] heart starts to pick up in sympathy and you start getting a little twitchy. What a fun touch for such an old game. Good times, pick it up if on sale.

Монотонная и нудная, да, полностью так. Однообразная музыка, однообразные коридоры, однообразные враги. Мало сейвов, и до них еще нужно дожить. Под конец игры часто появляются самые противные враги - орущие головы и мухи, которые налетают на тебя еще до того как успеешь достать оружие. В темноте их не видно, а носить одновременно фонарик и оружие нельзя. Осилят только ностальгирующие фанаты. Для современных игроков это игра убогая до невозможности и скорее пытка, чем развлечение. Поставлю рекомендацию, но берите с осторожностью и по очень большой скидке.

At first i thought its a game that purposely chose to be a little dramatic and arcade-themed rather than calm and eerie,but i guess i was wrong.Dementium The Ward is a horror shooter that was originally released back in 2007 for the Nintendo DS.So most of the things i will speak about could be justified with "Its old" or "It was already enough",but lets just pretend its not,until i feel like mentioning the aspect in here lol. [h1] Story [/h1] You wake up in a psych ward without any information of your arrival nor the cause of you being there in the first place,but instead,you're greeted with a hasty and odd cutscene of a whole lot of büllsh!t that you'd see in saw movie.After the cutscene ends,the character finds himself in even more shenanigans without any given explanation.As he leaves the room and progresses through the halls of the ward,old pieces and puzzles hint the backstory of his arrival.But is that really what you expected to find? [h1] Gameplay [/h1] The vague design and controls of the game may appear to be a purposely made choice for the player to see himself in a scenario of nostalgia.but if you were hoping for dopamine bait,you'd be at the wrong address.The gameplay mostly reminds one of an arcade machine you'd find in an old media store,where not only the machine,but the game appear to be rancid waste.As earlier mentioned,the game was originally released on DS,and remastered for PC without any change of the core gameplay or controls,but with the sole exception of HD graphics lest to suffer from an eyesore lol.To keep it short,ITS BAD,and when i say its bad,i mean it.You cant really aim,only swerve around with your mouse and the game focuses for you,just like you'd expect it from a weird arcade game.On top of that the old tracking of your cursor wasnt fixed and just feels sluggish.So the cool nostalgia slop quickly turns into a sea of sorrows and misery,unless you like a bit of bad gunplay.Yes it may be charming,but its honestly just repetitive.Boss fights are kind of versatile at least,but even they feel very poor to a certain point.The difficulty on Normal really spikes through the roof throughout the end of the game,while most encounters remain pretty chill.I think i died once on my first playthrough?.The adequate variety of weapons however makes it a bit more unique.Even a secret weapon that requires a small puzzle can be found,its honestly too overpowered and has infinite ammo so idk if that counts as a smart choice of game design. [h1] Design [/h1] The Retro art style is what catches people(like me) the most,but honestly dont let yourself be fooled by it.its pretty neat and all,but considering that 70% of rooms and structures you encounter are all the same,it really makes the entire game feel like its blured together.Reused and copied assets are all over the place and its just contributing more to the "stale" gameplay.Also the music is repeatedly looping and my god it is LOUD. [h1] Summary [/h1] Its worth 15 bucks,and on sale about 5.Id recommend to try it while its on sale,cuz it still can give you a decent amount of entertainment that lasts up to 5 hours.As we speak,i have the game completed on regular difficulty and can proudly announce that i ABHOR the end level and everything around it.So if you're willing to give an old crappy game that was remastered a shot,merely for the old retro feeling its alright i suppose.But even the beauty in nostalgia is a matter of your own opinion in this scenario.

Сюжета нет. Геймплей заключается в ходьбе по однообразным коридорам и отстрелом унылых врагов. С какого-то хрена разработчик решил сделать всю игру чудовищно тёмной из-за чего без фонарика не видно вообще ничего (в том числе и врагов). Проблема в том что фонарик - отдельное оружие и держать его одновременно с оружием (например пистолетом) нельзя. Поэтому приходится всё время регулярно переключаться на него чтобы вообще увидеть куда стрелять. Ну или подходить вплотную к врагам и почти гарантированно получать урон. Звуковая составляющая, до которой обычно мне нет дела, здесь просто ужасная - музыка монотонная, нудная и быстро надоедает. Звуки громкие, даже в тихом режиме (слайдеров звука в игре нет, есть только три настройки - "нормальная", "тихая" и "выключить"). А нахрена в игре постоянный звук сердцебиения я вообще не понял. Ну и как хоррор игра тоже ничего предложить не может, если конечно вас не пугают измазанные клубничным джемом коридоры и враги-косплееры, которых не приняли в серию фильмов Hellraiser.

Абсолютное убожество. Кроме как из порыва ностальгии я ещё могу понять почему кто-то мог положительный отзыв поставить, но других причин я просто не могу найти. Графика понятное дело что ужасна, но помимо неё геймплей максимально топорный, монстров раз-два и обчёлся по разновидностям, одни и те же коридоры, один и тот же саундтрек, никакого сюжета, почти всю игру можно тупо пробежать. Просто абсолютная никчёмная поделка, которую сложно оправдать как выбор даже при игре во времена Nintendo DS

Cool game, worth the money.

DO NOT BUY THIS Buy anything else, its about 2 hours long and idk why this got a port to pc.