Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death review

I’m a 2000 AD fan. There, I’ve said it… for the uninitiated, 2000 AD is one of the UK’s most long-lived and famous comics, with 25 years of history and a set of central characters who look set to continue gracing its pages well into the 21st century. Chief among these is the granite-chinned, uncompromising lawman Judge Dredd. Dredd operates in a vast, post-apocalyptic hyper-city called Mega-City One; so crowded is the city, and so high the crime rate, that namby-pamby liberal notions like trial by jury have been replaced by a law-enforcement body empowered to dispense instant justice to all the city’s inhabitants.

This rather bleak vision of the future (think Blade Runner but with jokes) has long been a compelling draw for film-makers and games designers alike. In 1995, Sylvester Stallone bored the world senseless in the abysmal movie Judge Dredd, while in 1997 Gremlin Interactive released a platform game which, like the film, was released to shattering indifference and disappeared into similar obscurity. For fans of the comic, the wait for a decent game or movie has been long, and disappointing.

A New Hope?

Now, true to their word, Rebellion (who only recently acquired, not just the rights to 2000 AD, but the company itself) have released a cross-platform game based firmly in the comic book universe. The plot is basic, involving Mega City One’s most enduring villains, the Dark Judges. From an alternate dimension, and driven to wholesale slaughter by the logic that, since all crime is committed by the living, life itself is a crime punishable by death, these beings have tried to destroy the city several times in the past, and this outing sees them at it again. Not the most complex of stories, but the “defeat evil maniacs before destruction of the world” plot does at least lend coherence to the game. Spiced up with liberal helpings of vampires, zombies and loony death-worshipping cultists, and driven by a bespoke game engine promising stunning graphics and ultra-realistic physics, we should be in for a hell of a ride.

As well as the save-the-world single-player campaign there are a number of other modes to play, including split-screen deathmatch, deathmatch against bots, co-operative play, and a range of arcade modes unlocked by progress through the campaign. Lots of replay potential, then. The arcade modes, in particular, are great fun, and allow you to play as various other characters, including criminals, in the 2000 AD universe. The multiplayer levels are pretty much what you’d expect, and hamstrung by not working on Xbox Live.

You Really are the Law

After a standard training level, which introduces movement, weapons and various other game concepts, the game launches a good-looking cutscene rendered in the game engine before dropping you into the action. Dredd vs. Death takes the form of a straightforward FPS, with a twist; as you are Judge Dredd, responsible for upholding the law at all times, you can’t simply wade in with all guns blazing, killing everything in your path. Along with the usual health, armour and ammo meters, the HUD also displays a “lawmeter”. This tracks your performance at upholding the law and is increased by arresting criminals and protecting the innocent. Kill the innocent (or ‘accidentally’ ventilate criminals who’ve surrendered) and your lawmeter drops to zero. Transgress again and you’ll be declared “rogue” and the Special Judicial Section will come and kill you. As a twist on the “kill everything all the time” FPS ethos, this works very well. The only downside is that some enemies will surrender before others, and if a grovelling, terrified crook catches a shot in an ongoing crossfire, it’s the end of your career. Still, this feature adds depth and interest to the normal formula.

It’s a shame, then, that it doesn’t run right through the game. As your pursuit of the Dark Judges gathers pace, the opportunities to arrest people dwindle. Certain categories of enemy will never surrender to a Judge, and as the game nears its conclusion it becomes more and more like any other “blast everything that moves” game. Since Dredd vs. Death does little else to distinguish itself from the crowd, this is a serious failing and a missed opportunity.

Umpty Candy for the Eyes

Dredd vs. Death is powered by an all-new engine, developed specifically for the game. On the Xbox, the graphics are colourful and crisp, and the engine allows for enormous open spaces and plentiful activity without any perceptible drop in frame-rate. The design of the surroundings is true to the comics, with huge skyscrapers, vast and colourful billboards advertising all manner of futuristic odds and sods, and a perpetually dark and brooding sky. The levels themselves are large, if a little linear, but there are plenty of opportunities for exploration and your secondary mission objectives will normally involve having a good poke around the environment rather than sticking to the quickest path. The character models are fairly simple but the animation is superb. Much has been made of “ragdoll physics” in recent game releases, but this is the first game in which I have seen them so realistically employed. Bodies slump to the ground, bounce off walls, and generally behave as if they were heavy, solid objects rather than weightless images. The effect is shown at its best in a cutscene where the Dark Judges escape from their prison by possessing a guard and using his body as a puppet to open their cells. The effect is actually faintly disturbing, and extremely well rendered.

What is less impressive is the narrow range of skins for NPCs. There are half-a-dozen varieties of civilian and ten or so different kinds of villains, which feels inadequate by two levels into the game. This problem is compounded by the relatively small numbers of civilians on most levels. Streets that should be packed are instead deserted, which rather defeats the idea of an overcrowded city. The engine is clearly capable of rendering many more characters than are ever used in practice, and the empty streets lend the game a slightly unfinished air.

Guns. Lots of Guns

As you might expect, Dredd has access to a wide range of weaponry with which to fight the good fight. As in Halo, you are limited to carrying two weapons at a time, so you have to select weapons carefully to survive. As well as the usual FPS arsenal (shotguns, machine guns, pistols, sniping rifles and so forth), Dredd uses his standard-issue Lawgiver pistol, which can fire a wide variety of ammunition, including armour-piercing, explosive and incendiary rounds. Again, this adds depth to the game and replicates the original comics. Don’t expect invincibility though; the more powerful the ammunition the smaller the supply. Standard bullets come 64 to a magazine, but you only get 8 incendiaries before having to reload. Use powerful ammo gratuitously and you’ll run out pretty fast. Overall the weaponry is nicely balanced, and you can always acquire more from imprisoned or deceased enemies.

God is in the Details

Dredd vs. Death is certainly authentic. The game’s designers have clearly studied the 2000 AD world in some detail, and for any fans of the comics there’s a wealth of detail to spot and enjoy. Little in-jokes and references abound (levels set in Clooney Hospital and the Nixon Penitentiary, anyone?) and the light-hearted, subversive flavour of the comics is captured well. In the eyes of 2000 AD fans, this will be the game’s greatest strength. For everyone else, it’s likely to prove its main weakness. By paying so much attention to the rich world of the comics, the game designers may find they’ve restricted their market somewhat. Some details (you can arrest any citizen you see, sending them down for heinous crimes like ‘possession of a hamster without a license’) will work for anyone, but a lot of the other touches specific to the comic will be only be noticed by long-time fans. This keeps the hardcore fans happy, at the expense of engaging the wider gaming community.

Having said that, who but a fan of the comic would buy the game anyway? For the rest of the world, there’s really nothing that stands out about Dredd vs. Death to make it a must-have. A missed opportunity.