Dredd vs Death

[Grobbendonk]

I just remembered that I bought this in a GOG sale ages ago and played a few hours, then (feeling underwhelmed) didn't play again. Booted it up just now and had a very happy hour blasting perps and shouting Drokk etc.

It is clunky as hell (keep getting momentarily stuck on objects, and swapping weapons when I meant to arrest a perp and countless other annoyances), and basic in many ways but I actually really like this game... anyone else?

[Dandontdare]

I just remembered that I bought this in a GOG sale ages ago and played a few hours, then (feeling underwhelmed) didn't play again. Booted it up just now and had a very happy hour blasting perps and shouting Drokk etc.

It is clunky as hell (keep getting momentarily stuck on objects, and swapping weapons when I meant to arrest a perp and countless other annoyances), and basic in many ways but I actually really like this game... anyone else?

I got stuck under the stairs in the training rooms right at the start. Most times, I got so frustrated with my lack of skills that I'd just end up shooting judges until the SJS arrived. That tutor judge at the beginning has the patient of a saint though - he took about twenty shots whilst gently admonishing me before the heavies arrived!

[Grobbendonk]

I just remembered that I bought this in a GOG sale ages ago and played a few hours, then (feeling underwhelmed) didn't play again. Booted it up just now and had a very happy hour blasting perps and shouting Drokk etc.

It is clunky as hell (keep getting momentarily stuck on objects, and swapping weapons when I meant to arrest a perp and countless other annoyances), and basic in many ways but I actually really like this game... anyone else?

I got stuck under the stairs in the training rooms right at the start. Most times, I got so frustrated with my lack of skills that I'd just end up shooting judges until the SJS arrived. That tutor judge at the beginning has the patient of a saint though - he took about twenty shots whilst gently admonishing me before the heavies arrived!

Shooting Judges when it all gets too much is quite fun. Also cuffing a perp then popping them in the back of the head when they're helpless!

[radiator]

It certainly was clunky - I remember that jumping while descending in a lift would incur fall damage!

The best bits for me were the small amount of time when you were actually being a judge - busting a bank robbery etc - not really sure what the rationale was behind having Dredd fight zombies and werewolves for the vast majority of the game - seemed like a weird sidestep and a huge missed opportunity.

I genuinely think Dredd could make an awesome FPS - you could build a unique and interesting game around the capabilities of the lawgiver, and to my mind there aren't many successful games where you play the role of a cop.

[radiator]

vampires, rather.

[Grobbendonk]

I totally agree that Dredd could make an awesome game. Its sad we haven't seen one yet.

An RPG-lite FPS in a fairly open world MC1 with some apocalyptic big quest and loads of actual perp busting, crime fighting, side quests etc. Set in a classic 2000AD crazy MC1 with fatties and all that. It could be awesome!  The world is so rich, you there could be any number of mission types etc.

The game mechanics that could be built around making arrests etc would be fun. I'm sure it could be done so much better than mashing "E" to shout random Dreddesque quotes in the hope the perp will give up (while all the time getting shot at when they don't). The lawgiver and lawmaster would be pretty unique for a shooter too. And stuff like sleep machines and fast heal etc. All in all it could make for an unusual game.

Well, I'm a few hours in now and it is being just what I need - endless mindless on-rails FPS with some 2000AD references. So far the only rationale for the zombies etc is "because Judge Death". Hmmm.

[radiator]

I don't generally like FPS games with an emphasis on fantastical, multifunction type weapons, but with the Dredd concept it's built-in from the get go. You could really go to town on the various enemy types, and have to use specific ammo types - or combinations thereof - to bring them down. It could add a real layer of strategy, not to mention the possibilities for puzzle-solving.

They paid lip service to this concept in DvD, but ISTR using generic shotgun/machine gun type weapons for most of the game. A low-budget XBLA-sized shooter really emphasising this aspect would be great and seems far more realistic to me than the usual pie in the sky calls for 'Dredd meets GTA'. They could base it on movie Dredd, confine it to Peach Trees and have Dredd/Anderson co-op gameplay.

So far the only rationale for the zombies etc is "because Judge Death". Hmmm.

Always seemed strange to me. With Dredd you have almost unlimited scope for the type of enemies to pit him against, it seemed so odd to go down a tried-and-tested supernatural route. I mean, Dredd has fought vampires and zombies in the past, but it's hardly the norm and something to showcase the character...

[JamesC]

I thought the vampires were there because they already had the code from another game, or maybe an aborted project?
I quite like the game at the time and remember enjoying the prison riot (I think?) level the best. It think it's where you first get to use the sniper rifle.

[radiator]

I thought the vampires were there because they already had the code from another game, or maybe an aborted project?

It wouldn't surprise me if it were something like this.

[GordonR]

Should have been a third-person shooter, like the later Rogue Trooper game. If I'm playing as Dredd, I want to see me as Dredd. And not as a pair of green gardening gloves holding a gun in from of the screen.

[Noisybast]

IIRC (and it has been a while since I read the "Making of..." book), one of the lead writers had already started working a zombie game, which ended up getting canned. Seems the guy really wanted to make a zombie game...

[ThryllSeekyr]

I played and completed this game a few times.

Really enjoying the video game realisation of the world of Judge Death, The environ's of Mega-City-One and the realm of Judge-Death. Even if it was bit too bright looking for me.

I would play this again if they remastered it to todays standards and added new stuff and otherwise improved it. Made it more of a sandbox.

[DrRocka]

What's the best ever game based on a 2000ad character, then?

I'm asking this because I loved Dredd vs Death at the time, right up until I encountered the vampires at the end of the first level. Then it became a slog, only the 2000ad references got me through the whole game.

That said, Rogue Trooper was a pleasant surprise. Bit of an ill - judged difficulty level in places, but overall, awesome!

I remember the old Rogue Trooper game on the ZX Spectrum, a bit like "Commando" and I remember trying fruitlessly to make sense of Strontium Dog: The Killing. So what's the best ever 200ad game?

[radiator]

I never got round to playing Rogue Trooper, but out of the ones I've played it has to be Dredd Vs Zombies on mobile - which was a very solid little game. I remember buying the PS1 lightgun game by Gremlin Graphics which was godawful.

It's got a bad rep, but I remember somewhat liking the SNES Judge Dredd game that was based on the movie. IIRC it was made by Probe - the studio who did the awesome Alien 3 16-bit games and Die Hard Trilogy on the PS1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL9Ggb6g2vQ

ISTR - and this is a vague memory - reading a letter in the prog's letters page from around that time from a guy that worked on the game. He said he had never read the comic before but had become a massive fan while doing research for it. Apparently it became a bit of a passion project for him and he pushed to include a lot more comic material, and that's why the game continues on well past the story of the film (where it was supposed to end), for loads of further levels featuring (IIRC) the Dark Judges, Fink Angel, Chopper et etc. It may also explain why the Dredd sprite looks a lot more like the comic version than the Stallone movie version.

[Keef Monkey]

I'd say Rogue Trooper is easily the best 2000AD game I've played, felt like affection for the character aside it really held its own as a game. Great mechanics well used and a lovely rendition of Nu Earth. You got to play through the Quartz Zone Massacre! Brilliant.