Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
Dean ‘N’ Furious could win the award for best title ever given to a video game. The title is something you’d hear during a particularly bad episode of the “say what you see” classic Catchphrase. Sadly, that non-existent award is all the game has going for it, with the gameplay badly mimicking House of the Dead without an ounce of style or fun.
As an on-rails shooter you are in charge of shooting, making the odd decision over which direction to take and that’s about it. Shooting, obviously, is handled by the stylus, which replaces the light-gun used in the arcade and home console entries in the genre. Instead of the skill required when using a light-gun, the stylus makes aiming a cinch, with headshots not nearly as tricky as they should be.
Problems arrive pretty early on, with reloading being an issue due to the large number of enemies that stumble towards you. The speed of reloading increases as you progress, but the act of dragging the ammo clip across the screen to reload isn’t easy when you’re trying to headshot every enemy on screen. It seems the abundance of enemies has been used to counter the relative ease of aiming, but you often can’t keep up with the relentless pace.
What makes matters worse is the way boss battles don’t act as levels in their own right. Failure here will see you forced to replay the previous section before you’re able to tackle the boss once again. Repeated failure becomes more than a little aggravating, and the game’s bland design and unexplainable zombie placement make ploughing through levels rather uneventful even on your first run through.
If you like bad Rock then you’re in luck as Dead ‘N’ Furious pushes the limits of taste when it comes to its soundtrack. The repetitive use of enemy designs and the ‘seen it all before’ feel to the levels hammers home the budget feel of the game, even if the 3D engine isn’t bad for a DS title.
A token gesture co-op mode isn’t enough to save Dead ‘N’ Furious from a slow and unpleasant death. Problems with the reload system and a general lack of excitement or surprise mean this is a shooter almost as lifeless as the zombies you’re shooting.
