Never thought anything worthwhile aside from Pokemon would be on the DS, did you? Well, here is a rare sight: a horror FPS on the handheld system that actually creeps you out. What is it?
Dementium: The Ward (2007)
Story
While we don't have a deep, complex, Silent Hill-esque story, here's the gist:
You awaken to find yourself in a bed insane a dark, cold, bloody insane asylum, festering with monsters. Upon seeing a large monster drag a hapless woman down the hall, you decide to take pursuit. However, the deeper you go into the asylum to escape, the more horrifying things you encounter as you dig deeper into the truth behind your prison, the woman, and a mysterious young girl who eludes you at every turn.
Let's begin the review with my critique of the story, which is weird considering that we still have a few descriptive sections to immerse you into what the game will bring, like the Characters, Monsters, Bosses and Weapons section. Since Story is the first section, I don't see why we can't bring our critiques to the table before we go anywhere else! When I first played Dementium: The Ward, I was too terrified by the atmosphere and monsters to really focus on anything else. However, after I got further into the game, it was actually unveiling something that struck me as being a lot more interesting than the beginning. You begin encountering and seeing this mysterious woman and girl, you keep finding out more about yourself, like an instance where you find a record player that (I think) says "You're upset with *name blurred*", and you come across some interesting story elements. For a horror FPS on the DS, I was actually really impressed.
I was let down by the ending. (HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILERS):
After you defeat the final boss, you wake up in your bed and find the woman and girl, your wife and daughter. However, then we get a shot of William as he is getting brain surgery from the Mysterious Surgeon, so the entire story was basically "It was all a dream." WHAT THE FUCK. The story was great up to this point, but then everything is made mostly irrelevant because the whole thing was imagined. Despite the fact it was an interesting twist in which it was brain surgery as opposed to just a really bad dream, I still can't help but feel slightly let down because of the similarities between these two scenarios.
Characters
William Redmoor: A man who wakes up in the insane asylum, this is the nut who you play as! Not much is known about him, but soon you learn more about yourself as the game progresses.
Mysterious Woman: A poor woman who is seen being dragged by the Cleaver, she is a seemingly innocent victim. As you go deeper into the asylum, though, you learn she is connected to your past.
Mysterious Little Girl: You see her from place to place, and you think she's just another Japanese cliche. However, the more you learn about her, the more appropriate she is in the context of the story.
Mystery Surgeon/Jedi: A douchebag you meet in the second-to-last level, and is the final boss. Not much is known about him, but he seems to know William well.
Monsters
The Chestmaw
The first monster you encounter in the game, these nasty guys charge at you with their mouthes agaping, ready to fuck you up. How do you kill them? Easy! Shoot 'em in the heart!
Scritters
(What more do you want, they're fucking roaches)
Simply roaches with an appetite for flesh. The best thing to do? Simply walk past them. They run from light. There is a flying variety that you also encounter later, but you need to turn your flashlight off when these fuckers are around because they are attracted to it. Again, simply run away.
Infantile Mollusca
Easily the most FUCKING ANNOYING monster in the game, you meet these guys in the Infant Ward. They constantly cry as they approach you, their circular maws open to nibble you to death. Shoot them once with your pistol, and they're as good as dead.
Screamers
When you first meet these guys at the end of the Infant Ward chapter, you go "HOLY FUCK WHAT THE HELL ARE THE-". Then you die horribly. You can't kill them when you first encounter them, but when you get more that just a shotgun, you can mow them down with no problem.
Sneaky Torso
Yeah, I know. The name is kinda gay. They are sneaky because they can climb on the ceiling as well as crawl on the floor to spit acid at you. They also make cicada noises. Yummy.
Vomiting Maw
Yup, it's these guys again. They spit acid out of their chests, though, and take more hits to kill. Again, aim for the heart.
Bosses
Boss 1: The Cleaver
OH FUCK, MY EX FOUND ME! Anyway, this is the Cleaver. You meet him at the beginning of the game, but you actually fight him a little later on. Compared with the bosses in Dementium: The Ward's sequel, these bosses are nothing to write home about because they aren't really that tough to beat. Each boss has a basic pattern, and the Cleaver is no exception. He has two attacks: either waddle up to you and smack you with his cleaver, which will incapacitate you for a few seconds as he laughs and walks away, or fire green liquid from his syringe from afar. If he gets anywhere near the morgue lockers on the walls, he will also open them and release some Infantile Molluscas. Just keep shooting the fat bastard while keeping your distance, and he'll be finished in a jiffy. Remember, head shots hurt the bosses more!
Boss 2: The Wheelchair
The Wheelchair finds you in Chapter Six, "The Buzzsaw." Ironically, this is a chapter not named after a boss, but after the Jesus Christ of weapons you find if you have the patience to find it. This boss is not exactly just a wheelchair, but a man bound to one who wears a gasmask, and threatens you with a machine gun hand like Barret from Final Fantasy 7. Anyway, the main strategy for this guy is hard to explain, but what you need to do is this:
When he reloads his weapon after he fires five shots, run up and shoot him. Again, we have a very elementary pattern that almost begs to have been improved on, because bosses like this kind of suck. Give me a boss with a challenge, and I'll be happy. Shoot him enough, and he'll eventually die. Remember, head shots (again) hurt more!
Boss 3: Green Room
Okay, this isn't even a fucking boss fight but whatever. It's considered as such by the game, so we have to begrudgingly treat it as if it were a boss battle. After you put a record in a gramophone, you see the mysterious woman lying bloody and dead next to you. You hear a scream, and you turn to see the girl in white running away and through a door. When you follow her, you run into a sealed green room that looks like it's been covered in toothy vaginas. Ew. Basically, shoot them all on the walls and ceilings until they die. They also spit out Infantile Molluscas that want to give you a kiss, so avoid them like the plague if you don't feel like wasting ammo. What I did was constantly keep running and just shoot whatever maw was in my way, and this strategy seemed to work for me.
Boss 4: The Cleaver Returns
Oh man the developers fucked up with this one. You take an elevator all the way up to the floor where the Cleaver rears his fat face again, but you have an advantage. Let him waddle up to you while you stay in the elevator, and you can shoot him in the head with your shotgun while he gets stuck in the doors! He will not try to shoot the green liquid at you when this happens, and he will try to keep waddling towards you to use his mighty cleaver! Take advantage of this glitch if you want, or be the good guy and use the same tactic as Boss 1 to beat him. Did they run out of ideas with what bosses to throw at you, so they had to recycle the first two Big Bads you encounter? I don't know, but it's alright, I suppose. As I said, take advantage of the glitch, or use the same strategy as Boss 1, to kill the Cleaver again.
Boss 5: The Wheelchair Returns
No glitches to exploit here, so just use the same strategy as before to deal with his ugly mug. Like the Cleaver before him, the Wheelchair uses the exact same tactics as before, namely shooting at you from down the hallway. You'll have the sniper to clip at him from afar this time, but he also has a nasty surprise at his disposal: he fires acid canisters at random, so watch out for those when you run up to shoot him in the face.
Final Boss: Mystery Surgeon/Jedi
The final boss that you encounter a chapter earlier comes out of nowhere, but he may be responsible for this whole nightmare. Follow him into the basement, and after enduring countless rooms with a bunch of enemies you get to face off against this phantom menace. The basic strategy is to not let him get too close to you, or he will bitch slap/punch/karate chop (?) you to death, and this takes a helluva lot of health off. If you get too far, though, he Darth Vader-force chokes you. However, to break free, shoot both of his hands that are emanating a white aura, and he will not only take damage but back off. At first, he can be a bit daunting, and he is all the harder by the fact that you don't have any way to heal yourself for the entire battle, so you are going to die. A lot (thanks for the invention of an awesome catchphrase, Until We Win). Just keep shooting him in the face with your revolver, while being sure to avoid whatever attacks come your way, and he'll be down for the count.
Weapons
The Nightstick
The very first weapon you'll come across, it's possibly the most useful thing you'll find!... until you come across the next weapon on the menu...
The 0.9mm Pistol
Bangbang! As in every good FPS game, you get a pistol that is used to pick off the weaker enemies with ease. This will make the Chestmaws easier to deal with, and will make the Infantile Molluscas bearable to handle. That is, until you find...
The Shotgun
Ah yes, who could make an FPS without a decent BOOMSTICK? This is extremely useful against bosses of all shapes and forms in the earlier part of the game. Just be wary that it takes a little long to reload, although it does pack a powerful punch when used correctly. However, it's nothing compared to...
The Machine Gun
Hell yeah, now we're talking! While not as powerful as the shotgun, it is much faster, has much more ammo, and can cause a lot more damage in the long run. This is super effective against those pesky Screamers, and it'll serve you a lot of good when dealing with almost anything else. However, when you want to talk business with enemies who are far away, you need...
The Sniper Rifle
Yes. A fucking sniper rifle. No monster is going to fuck with you now! Complete with a scope you can adjust, picking off faraway enemies is the best thing you can do with this. However, if you want to get up close and personal, this is the thing for you...
The Electric Buzzsaw
You have found the Jesus of weapons in this game. Have fun.
Gameplay
For a while, the Nintendo DS has been known for two things: being the next in the Gameboy line, and being a fucking joke. Cheap flash games have been released for it, the stylus gameplay has been mediocre at best, and nothing new or innovative has been done with it. However, Dementium: The Ward changed two things. It showed us that the DS could actually host some great games, and the stylus control system, when done correctly, can actually lead to some innovative and enthralling gameplay.
You use the D-Pad to move forward, strafe, or move backwards, but the DS stylus is used to point the character in a certain direction. Being a first-person shooter, you turn your head with the stylus, basically. You can also access the different items at your disposal, enter doors, and pick up objects with this stylus system. Naturally, it may sound difficult, but when you pick the game up it's actually very intuitive and easy to use. Not only this, but the controls are actually smooth! It's surprising how well Renegade Kid executed the control scheme to the extent where Dementium: The Ward is very fluid in its controls, and the game doesn't suffer for it. I remember games that were made with shitty or sub-par stylus controls (Star Fox Command, I'm looking at you), but these are easily the best controls I have seen on the DS in a long time. For once, DS stylus controls don't suck donkey 'nads!
Above: Sucking donkey 'nads.
However, something that I will complain about in terms of game design is the general lackluster diversity in both setting and monsters. The setting, an abandoned and horrific mental hospital, is the only place you will be for the entire game, and so you will be passing through the same corridors, offices, and surgery rooms from start to end. The diversity of monsters is somewhat lacking, as later in The Ward the enemies who appear are simply stronger, re-colorized versions of earlier critters. Green Infantile Molluscas, acid-spitting Chestmaws, stronger Screamers... originality in terms of creature design was lacking in 2007.
Sound
The sound department has some mixed reactions from me. On the positive side of things, the sound effects were creepy as hell when you use really good headphones, which is required for horror survival games on a handheld portable system. From the heavy breathing of a nearby Chestmaw to the terrifying screaming of Screamers before they appear and eat your face, the atmosphere of The Ward can be a bit overbearing thanks to the sound. The music also helps add to the ambiance. At first I was bugged that it wasn't just bangs and clangs like Silent Hill, or just silence, but then again, who needs to copy another franchise? The music that Renegade Kid uses in The Ward is fitting and deliciously creepy!
However, a blessing is a curse as some of the monster sound effects are annoying as fuck to listen to after a while. The Screamers and Infantile Mollusci have their distinct sounds, but after the shock has worn off the crying and screaming can get a bit tiresome. The noises are overbearing, but for the wrong reasons. This is a minor complaint, so it won't hurt the score all that much!
Graphics
Okay, in terms of graphics compared with Xbox 360 games, PS3 games, or even the Wii's games, they are shit. However, this isn't on a home console, this is on a handheld system. In comparison with anything else that has come before or after the graphics on the DS, Dementium: The Ward has some pretty good graphics that remind me of one of the medium-quality Nintendo 64 games. Renegade Kid may have made a few missteps about the level design and the monster design, both being repetitive into oblivion, but the strength in the horrific presentation still lies with the graphics that actually enhance the sense of terror. You won't wet yourself, but you'll be sincerely creeped out. I have to agree with another review that I read about Dementium: The Ward in terms of graphics because they said that while the game does not sport ultra-realistic graphics that show every little detail, that is what actually helps the horror be even more effective. It sports a surreal tone to it, and I know that other horror games that are ultra-realistic, like Clive Barker's Jericho, are actually less frightening thanks to the ultra-realism to the monster and level designs.
Scary? No. Disgusting? Hell yes.
Graphics
8.0
Compared to home consoles, they are shit, but compared to other games on handheld systems, they are actually some pretty groovy graphics that remind me of the early days of the Nintendo 64.
Sound
7.0
Creepy as hell, but hampered by some of the more aggravating sounds that come from some of the enemies, like the Infantile Mollusca or the Screamer.
Gameplay
10.0
Easily some of the best gameplay I have actually experienced on the Nintendo DS that is not only fluid, but actually utilizes the Stylus screen in its major gameplay mechanics.
Story
7.0
Sans the very end, the story actually impressed me for a survival horror on the DS. Weak in some aspects, The Ward actually gave us a bit of a mystery in finding out the past of William.
Replay Value
4.0
After you beat it, I don't really see any reason to come back to play Dementium: The Ward again. With a running time of maybe three hours, you'll easily beat it in an afternoon. However, if you want to pick it up again after a few months, then you'll get to immerse yourself in the creepiness all over again.
OVERALL
7.0
Despite the fact the overall score is hurt by the replay value, I highly recommend Dementium: The Ward to horror congaseuirs who actually have a Nintendo DS (the five of you that do).
That is weird because my brother is a Doom fanatic and he has been trying
to get me to play Dementium The Ward. I guess I should look into this game.
Should I get one of the new Nintendo DS that has the bigger screen? I just
assume that a bigger screen would make the game more frightening.
Kenny Farino
03 Jun 2010, 12:22
I played it on the old DS Lite model, but I would assume that if you DO
have the bigger one, it would be more frightening! That's a guess, but
you're more than welcome to try the DS XL!
Riley
12 Jun 2010, 12:24
Creepy looking stuff. I like scary movies and games so I may need to find a
used copy of Dementium at play n trade or gamestop.
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Dementium: The Ward
