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NeverDead
NeverDead is a game with
a couple of interesting ideas at its centre. Its main hook is that the
protagonist Bryce Boltzman is immortal. He cannot die, but he can be
dismembered, which can be used to his advantage. Back this with a
different sort of art style, a metal soundtrack and you have the
foundation for a pretty cool game right? Wrong. The ideas of NeverDead
are the ones that make it an awful game to play.
Let’s start with the story. Bryce lost his wife to a
demon king, and was cursed with immortality. Cut to a couple of hundred
years later, Bryce is the definition of “anti-hero”. He drinks, he
cracks wise, he hunts demons for revenge and he smokes cigarettes. He
works with his partner Arcadia, and they investigate demonic invasions.
Arcadia hunts demons, but does so in ridiculous attire where her bra
pops out her top and she has thigh high porn star boots. Together they
banter their way through a ten hour campaign that feels more like a
relief when it’s over than an accomplishment. The garbage that these
characters spout is rarely funny, and often doesn’t even make sense. In
the cut scenes it’s tolerable, as it only has to be experienced once.
During gameplay is a different story. Listening to Arcadia say “Ewww
Gross” over and over, followed by Bryce saying things like “I hope this
doesn’t mess up my hair” is incredibly tedious.
As mentioned before the central conceit of the game
is that Bryce can be dismembered. What sounds like an interesting idea
is squandered within the first level. There is no consistency to the
dismemberment. This means that every three to four minutes Bryce will be
hit by an enemy, randomly explode into bits and his head will have to be
rolled onto his body. What’s even more frustrating is that sometimes
this cannot even be achieved. The rag doll physics will place Bryce’s
body in an awkward position and no matter what way it is approached, the
head can’t reattach. When Bryce is in a headless state, there is also
the chance to have the game abruptly ended. Every floor is cluttered
with enemies called “Grandbabies” who roll around looking to eat Bryce’s
dismembered body parts. If they get a hold of him a short QTE is started
up, if this is failed, Bryce’s head will be forever lost in the beast
digestive tract. Another interesting idea becomes another annoying
reality, as they disrupt what little flow the game has. Bryce can also
dismember himself to solve a variety of puzzles. Except there is no
variety to them, as they all involve rolling Bryce’s head somewhere his
whole body could not get. It’s an interesting idea let down by a
shortage of ideas of ways to creatively use it. Rolling Bryce’s head
down vents seems to be the best thing they could come up with. There is
also a head-throwing mechanic, so Bryce can throw himself into hard to
reach areas. This is infuriating, as Bryce only seems to be able to
throw his head a couple of centimeters.
The game is not saved by the combat either, which
sucks all the fun out of the game. Bryce can use either guns, or his
sword, which are very clunky to change back and forth from. It’s not
really necessary to change back and forth either, as very early on it
becomes apparent that the guns are next to useless and the sword is the
only way to do damage. Occasionally there are enemies inserted that
require guns to be killed but for the most part they serve just for
aesthetic purposes. The enemies that are encountered are all incredibly
bland and there is no variety to them. It also favours quantity over
quality, sending wave after wave of creature at you instead of giving
the creatures any intelligence. Most of the game will be spent trying to
destroy the enemies that constantly spawn these creatures, it is a
monotonous and painful experience. Bryce also has to take care of
Arcadia, who adds nothing to the game. She runs around and fires her
guns, but it never becomes apparent that she is adding anything of
value, apart from her and Bryce’s “chemistry”. The metal soundtrack
that plays every time a fight starts, also grates pretty early on.
NeverDead could have been something interesting.
Instead it squanders this with poor design and a story that is hard to
care about. If the designers had worked on the combat, or some of the
potential that could have been explored with the dismemberment, it could
have been a sleeper hit. Instead it is a game that will hopefully be
ignored and quickly forgotten, as there is very little here to recommend
about it. |
