Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death

Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death is a first-person shooter video game based on the Judge Dredd character from the 2000 AD comic series, developed by Rebellion Developments. It was released on October 17, 2003 in Europe and February 8, 2005 in the United States^[1]. It was released at a budget price and received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Mega-City One is filled with 400 million people, each holding the potential for criminal activity. Judge Dredd is the city’s law enforcer, respected by all judges and feared by all crooks. The Psi Judges sense a horrible plague approaching the city, and the Dark Judges are their prime suspects. Later the release of viruses that change the host into a "Vampire" or a "Zombie" was then blamed on Dr. Icarus and Judge Death. Judge Dredd is then forced to fight the insane Dr. Icarus (who almost becomes immortal, his original plan was to find a way to become immortal, not make vampires) and the Dark Judges (Mortis, Fire, Death, Fear and Death again, in that order). The last time Dredd fought Death, Death uses Icarus's immortal body to fight Dredd, but is ultimately defeated and Death flees into Judge Anderson's body, whom had been held there against her will.

Main characters

• Judge Dredd: Dredd is one of the most feared and respected Street Judges.
• Chief Judge Hershey: There is no higher position than Chief Judge in the Justice Department.
• Judge Anderson: A Psi judge who, captured by the Dark Judges, was used to open a vortex from Mega City to Dead World, allowing the Dark Judges to enter Mega City.
• Judge DeMarco
• Doctor Icarus: A mad scientist who created the strain of virus that turned infected people into Vampires and the Undead in his pursuit of immortality.
• The Dark Judges: Undead judges from a parallel universe.
• Necrus: The high priest of a cult of religious fanatics who worship the Dark Judges.

Other characters

• Med-Division Judge: These Judges help the sick and injured.
• Street Judges: The elite of Mega-City One, they are the Law enforcers.
• Psi-Judges: These Judges have psychic powers to assist when traditional methods prove inadequate.

Weapons

Judges are only able to carry two weapons at a time. If a weapon is depleted of ammo, it is no longer usable and must be replaced by a newly picked up weapon.

• Lawgiver: It is the main weapon the Judges use. It has six modes of fire for the same magazine. The weapon is controlled by voice activation.
  • Standard: With 64 bullets per magazine, this is the standard bullet and provides a fast rate of fire and mediocre damage.
  • Armor Piercing: Holds 32 bullets per magazine and strong enough to pierce any type of metal as well as enemies.
  • Ricochet: Contains 32 shots per magazine with the ability to ricochet between walls, proving useful in tight situations.
  • Incendiary: Fires 8 shots per magazine, and sets the target ablaze.
  • High Explosive: Fires 8 shots per magazine, and does much damage to its target. Dredd must be careful with this mode because it can also affect him, and when fired it acts similarly to an explosive weapon.
  • Heat Seeker: Fires 8 shots per magazine, locking onto heat sources to hit the target effectively.
• Arbitrator: Able to annihilate an armored person when used in close range although it does less damage when fired at long range.
• Lawrod Rifle: Similar to the Lawgiver Mark 3, however this is an advanced version with greater accuracy and range. It has two firing modes, one functioning as a sniper weapon, and other as an assault rifle.
• Stumm Gas Grenade: Used for Street Judges, and does minimal damage but causes enemies to choke and lose consciousness. Mostly useful for capturing enemies intact.
• Pistol: The most common weapon in Mega City. Citizens can use this weapon to attack, and threaten, others.
• Split Gun: Gun which is effective at close range, but lacks accuracy over long distances.
• Stump Gun: A Weaker version of the Arbitrator that can only hold 4 rounds.
• Grenade Launcher: Best fired at large areas.
• Las Pistol: A very lethal directed energy weapon.
• Las Rifle: A deadly directed energy weapon surpassing even the Las Pistol.

Gameplay

In the single player campaign, you play as Judge Dredd through 11 levels. The campaign essentially plays like a straightforward first-person shooter, with objectives, useable weapons, and enemies to defeat. Dredd goes through the city stopping criminals and undead vampires. Players can play through the campaign on either Easy, Normal, or Hard difficulty. Also available is the ability to play the game cooperatively with a friend on any difficulty level. Players have a 'law meter' in their HUD, which determines how well Dredd is doing as a protector. If you shoot/kill criminals who do not shoot you first, shoot them without challenging them, or if you challenge them and they give up, your law meter goes down. Another way your law meter goes down is if you shoot innocent people or other judges. If the entire meter goes down, you fail the mission. After each campaign mission, you get either a Cadet, Rookie, Street Judge, Senior Judge, or Judge Dredd rank. With each level you complete, you unlock at least one playable multiplayer character, or more depending on how well you do. You can also unlock new maps by doing the same thing.

Aside from the campaign, there is an arcade league and a multiplayer mode. In the arcade league, similar to the TimeSplitters games, you complete various challenges, earning cheat codes for each one completed with a high rank. You are ranked with the same levels as the single player mode. There are 12 arcade challenges to unlock. In the multiplayer mode, you can play with up to 3 friends, and/or up to 12 computer controlled players in the deathmatch-type games. Without bots, you can play non-deathmatch related games. Online play was not supported by any platform except for PC.

Novel

Gordon Rennie wrote a Dredd vs. Death novelization, published by Black Flame, as a tie-in to the game (October 2003, ISBN 1-84416-061-0). The novel alters the storyline somewhat in that certain events which in the game happened to Dredd are given to other judges such as Judge Giant and Anderson. Galen DeMarco also plays a prominent role.

Reception

The game received mostly average reviews from critics. It currently has an average of 57% for the Xbox version, 56% for the GameCube version, 55% for the PC version, and 52% for the PlayStation 2 version. Some areas of complaints were weak A.I., lackluster graphics, overly bizarre character models, and simplistic gameplay. However, the game was praised for its multiplayer and arcade mode, which contains over a dozen maps and several playable characters and modes, similar to that of TimeSplitters 2. The arcade mode was also noted as being superior compared to the campaign (IGN said it 'adds some spice to an otherwise boiled and blanched game.'). IGN gave the game a 5/10 and concluded 'fans of the fiction will finally appreciate a style that keeps its faith, but will wonder how this game could have done its source material the same sort of disservice the decade old movie did',[1] negatively comparing it to the 1995 Judge Dredd film. GameSpot was among the group of sites that complained about the game that did not completely trash it, but called it a 'short, simplistic shooter that's not worth even its budget price', concluding that 'it's not embarrassingly bad, but you're better off waiting for your next paycheck and then sinking in the extra cash into any of the much better full-priced shooters readily available on all four platforms'.[2]

External links

• Official website
• 2000 AD profile for the game
• 2000 AD profile for the novel
• GameSpot review
• IGN information page
• Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death at MobyGames
• Team Xbox info about Dredd vs Death

References

1. ^ "Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death". IGN. http://pc.ign.com/objects/017/017423.html. Retrieved August 23, 2009.