Judge Dredd: Dredd Versus Death Demo

Mega-City One is not the kind of place you want to visit, given that it is filled with crime, corruption and more than its fair share of ludicrous cults bent on spilling blood and sacrificing people. However, the Street Judges are doing their best to neutralize as many criminals as possible at any given point, although the rising population makes things a bit more difficult than it should be.

Judge Dredd: Dredd versus Death is a first-person shooter set in the fascinating universe seen in the comic book series with the same name and it aims to provide you with a more personal glimpse into the violent underbelly of Mega-City One. Playing as Judge Dredd himself, you must take your job seriously and try to eliminate or arrest as many criminals as possible, in order to maintain the city safe and protect the honest citizens.

Story-wise, the plot starts off pretty slowly, but it quickly becomes a bit more interesting and convoluted, or at least enough to keep you playing. Hence, it would appear that the Psi Judges feel something that's about to go wrong and damage the city, but they just can't pinpoint exactly what is it. As it turns out, a nasty cult plans to revive the Dark Judges, including the almighty Death, who happens to be the final boss of the game.

Unfortunately, despite the very nice level design and really good soundtrack, the game plays out in a very weird manner, mostly because of the severely broken AI. Thus, although there are moments when the action gets pretty intense and atmospheric, most of the time you just run between the enemies that do not notice you unless you are breathing into their eyeballs.

Technically, the game looks acceptable and even impressive at times, but that is mostly thanks to the inspired level design. The futuristic back alleys and omnipresent shiny billboards work wonders for the atmosphere, as do the characters themselves. As previously mentioned, the soundtrack is quite nicely engineered as well and it blends extremely well with the overall feel of the game.

All things considered, Judge Dredd: Dredd versus Death really could have made a good impression on the industry, if only a little bit more work would have went into the gameplay mechanics and the dreadful AI. Other than that, the setup is already there and it is quite capable of sustaining a triple-A title.