Phase II is ready to begin. Pick up your DS, insert Dementium II, and prepare yourself for yet another twisted tale by the team that brought you Dementium: The Ward and Moon. Renegade Kid, the developer behind the much-appreciated Dementium survival horror/first-person-shooter series has out done itself.
Dementium II opens where the first game left off. Phase I of William Redmoor’s lobotomy has been completed, and it is on to Phase II. Redmoor begins the next chapter after waking up in Bright Dawn Treatment Center. This is a maximum-security treatment center, and with the likes of William Redmoor running around, they will need all the security they can muster.
Of course, it isn’t long before Redmoor begins having difficulty discerning the reality of the real world or the hellish reality that plagues his conscious. In fact, playing the game, you begin to wonder if Redmoor is truly insane or if the ol’ Doctor is experimenting on the poor lad.
Either way, Dementium II is a great romp with a decent story. The game may not scare the bejewels out of you, but it will entertain you for 5-6 hours. There is plenty of replay value as you unlock Survival Mode for the different areas as you progress through the game.
The controls are similar to the other titles Renegade Kid has developed, but they’re cleaner in this release. The game feels tighter, and with the added feature of being able to carry a flashlight and a one-handed weapon this time around, I have to say thank you! One of the more clunky mechanics the first Dementium had forced you to switch back and forth between the flashlight and a weapon. I also want to point out that this is one of those moments when a developer listens to the fans and makes a subsequent game better. Renegade Kid is actually very good at listening to fans and making the games more enjoyable for them. Kudos, guys!
The graphics in Dementium II are amazing. For what the people at Renegade Kid get out of the DS, I am amazed. These guys know what they are doing, and they do it well. They are pushing 60 frames per second, never missing a beat, and they do it with a consistency that some larger studios should take note of. In fact, I just want to throw out my appreciation of the developers at Renegade Kid and what they do by begging Southpeak to bring the Dementium series to the big screen. This game deserves to scare the crap out of me on a next gen console where the grit, ambiance and terror can really be brought to life.
Dementium II is once again an amazing game by a great group of guys. I look forward to their next games, and I encourage you to support them by pre-ordering their titles. If you haven’t played Dementium II, go out and get it. If you are a fan of survival horror games, you will enjoy this series. For those of you who count this stuff, I give Dementium II a 96 percent. Yeah, it’s that good!
