Dementium II Review

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You are trapped inside of your cell when the world around you suddenly transforms into a darker, more sinister version of itself. The walls are painted with blood and corpses decorate the putrid green walls. As you make your way down the narrow corridors, deformed, human-like abominations start shambling towards you, intent on ending your miserable existence. With nothing more than a broken shard of glass, you manage to fend off the monstrosities and are once again drawn back into the real world. This sets the stage for Dementium II—one of scariest titles to ever grace Nintendo's dual screened portable.

 

The folks over at Renegade Kid knew that if they wanted Dementium II to be a success, they first had to correct the issues gamers had with its predecessor. Having read up on nearly every review, the developers not only addressed the problems from the previous game, they've done everything in their power in Dementium II, to up the scare factor and create an authentic horror experience.

 

One of the problems with the original Dementium was its save system, or lack thereof. The game only saved once at the start of a new chapter and it was very discouraging after battling your way through hordes of respawning enemies, if you died right before the end of the chapter and had to do everything all over again. Dementium II not only corrects this issue by including save points throughout the game, it also has checkpoints during those long stretches of gameplay between saves. Respawning enemies is also a thing of the past, so when you bash a grotesque monstrosity to death don't expect it to come back.

 

Speaking of enemy bashing, Dementium II has plenty of weapons for you to use against its violent ensemble of creatures. Starting off with nothing more than a shank, you will eventually get your mitts on a shotgun, an automatic rifle, a sledgehammer, and even a makeshift flamethrower. And with a total of 10 weapons, each more powerful and varied than the next, you will find yourself constantly switching weapons and adjusting your tactics. Alternately, you can throw tactics completely out the window and just chuck dynamite at anything moves.

 

Enemies aren't all that will influence your weapon use in Dementium II. The environments, which vary from the scenic and snowy outdoors to claustrophobic corridors and abandoned homes and mines, will require the use of your flashlight—a tool that will make you unable to wield the game's powerful, two-handed weapons. This is where a bit of strategy comes into play. You will have to decide what's more important: quickly taking out enemies and running the risk of sustaining damage due to the lack of visibility, or using the flashlight along with a weaker weapon to take enemies out more slowly. And let's not forget about the boss encounters at the end of each chapter. You will definitely want to conserve your ammo for those. You'll also want to make sure your reflexes are up to snuff as these battles will test both your ability to move and react and your ability to aim. It all makes for a gameplay system that is never dull and is incredibly foreboding. 

 

Bludgeoning enemies and filling massive creatures with lead isn't all you will have to deal with on your horrifying journey; every now and then you will come across a puzzle or two that needs solving.  While the puzzles aren't all that difficult, they do add a little extra something to the game's overall atmosphere. One puzzle has you in a small room with four mutilated bodies hanging upside down from the ceiling with notes in their hands. The setting here is more about building an overwhelming sense of anxiety than slowing you down by making you think too long. There is also a bit of backtracking involved in puzzle solving via postcards that are littered throughout the game. These postcards instruct you to visit certain areas to obtain valuable bits of information—things like the combination to a lock you might have come across half an hour before. And while it would have been nice to use the stylus to mark the location of the locked doors, the in game map does a good job of preventing you from getting lost by letting you know which unlockable doors you haven't ventured into yet.

 

For all of Dementium II's enemy variety and blood-filled environments, the game wouldn't have been half as terrifying if the soundtrack wasn't handled so beautifully. Somber piano melodies permeate the world of the game with an undeniable feeling of loss. You'll have to enjoy these melodies while they last however, for the moment an enemy enters your field of vision the music suddenly changes to violent violin strings that sound inspired by the music of classic Hitchcock movies like Psycho. And if that weren't enough, you have to deal with an ominous voice that taunts you throughout the game, mocking your efforts and testing your will.  

 

While Dementium II is a horror lover's dream come true, it does have one flaw—its length. With only five chapters in total, the game takes no more than 4-6 hours to complete. There is a Survival Mode which lets you revisit old chapters just for the fun of it, but it adds little to the game's replay value. That said, Dementium II is a rollercoaster of violent imagery and gore never before experienced on the Nintendo DS. And though the scares are over far too quickly, what you're left with is a tangible horror experience, one that reaches out and pulls you right into the heart of madness.
 

 

Fun Factor: A variety of weapons and a world full of monsters makes for a lot of fun.  

 

Difficulty: Moderately difficult with boss battles requiring an extra bit of skill to come out of alive.

 

Game Length: 4-6 hours.

 

On the Negative Side: Other than its disappointing length, Dementium II doesn't have a lot on the negative side. There is a bit of backtracking here and there but not so much that it cripples the experience.

 

Bang for your Buck: DS owners looking for a mature gaming experience should check out Dementium II. While its short length works against it, it is a horror story that needs to be experienced.