If only Dementium had better controls and gameplay, it could have been a success!

User Rating: 6 | Dementium: The Ward DS
I haven't beaten this game yet and while this may discredit my review, I think I have some good reasons for why I give this game a six out of ten. Dementium: The Ward is Doom 3, Silent hill, and "The Ring" combined into a single package. It has the signature flashlight that forces you to constantly switch between it and firearms as well as enemies that vaporize coincidently in a similar way to doom 3, a hospital setting and puzzles (including a piano puzzle) from Silent hill, and a stereotypical girl with long hair in a white gown that looks evil like the one in "The Ring". This isn't actually the reason for the low score, but it doesn't help it either. In other words, the story is a bore.

The games biggest fault is its gameplay and controls. You control your character with the stylus, which works nicely, but the controls for moving around are really lame. You can strafe left and right, slowly move backwards by holding the bottom button, and if you press the top button twice, you will sprint. The choice of pressing the button twice to sprint is one of the biggest faults in the game. Sometimes I needed to sprint away only to be stuck walking at a crawl because I didn't double tap the top button correctly. Other problems include turning in a tight situation. There is no quick turn so if you get attacked by an enemy; it's very difficult to flee. The other problem is the gameplay. There are two enemies in the game that cannot be killed with a melee attack because your character is too tall and the enemy is too short. This means if you run out of bullets, you can't kill these enemies. Did I mention enemies usually respawn if you reenter the room?

The worst feature of the game overall is the fact that if you die, you begin at the beginning of the chapter. If you get stuck on a boss, expect to spend an extra 10-15 minutes running back to him every time you die. Fortunately I discovered a trick to this. Because the game saves normally after every room, you can reset the game right before you die to avoid having to repeat all of the areas. I don't know what the creators where thinking with this one. Saving after every room is convenient especially since it's a portable game, but forcing you to begin the level when you die is completely ridiculous. Would I have purchased this game if I could go back in time? Probably not. Dementium is a game that had the potential to be really good. Unfortunately the controls, combat, and save system destroyed all hopes of it being good. I have no idea why so many gamers are giving this game high reviews for having so many major faults.