I don’t always rip my own head off, but, when I do, I’m playing NeverDead.
NeverDead is crazy. It’s almost as if the developers at Rebellion threw out the social acceptability rulebook and consciously decided to make the Crank of videogames. Oh, sure, there are certain videogame-y elements of NeverDead that might cast it alongside other third person shooters, but its basic premise sets it aside from the pedestrian affairs that usually compose a sound action game.
For example, the first thing I did in NeverDead was tear off my own arm and then use it as a grenade. This wasn’t a problem because I could hold in the left stick and regenerate my arm. I have no idea why my arm exploded and killed things and honestly it might diminish my appreciation of the game if there was actually a reason why it was physically possible. The theater of the absurd didn’t end there, as, over the course of the rest of my twenty minute demo, I managed to either blow off or tear off all of the limbs off my body. I was a torso hopping around on one foot and I was a head rolling around on the floor. As one could imagine, losing limbs sort of limits Bryce’s (that’s you) movement and combat abilities, which is why dodge rolling over non-exploded limbs to reattach them is a good idea (again, I don’t want to know why).
Aside from the limb mechanics, combat was relatively simple. Bryce was armed with two pistols which could be fired at weird alien bug things simultaneously. Eventually other bullet resistant enemies popped out, so I drew a sword and started hacking them to pieces. Sword play was attached to the right analog stick, which wasn’t something I was used to, but after a bit of practice it seemed to work well enough.
Bryce’s relative immortality is balanced by his ladyfriend’s delicate skin. I couldn’t get an answer as to whether or not the entire game will be of the escort variety, but Arcadia’s (that’s her) presence was a means to create some sort of challenge. If she’s overwhelmed in combat and falls, Bryce has a limited amount of time to go over and revive her. You can also lose the game if Bryce’s head (and head only) gets destroyed, but that didn’t appear to be as consequential as making sure your buddy stayed above water.
NeverDead is insane and penciled in for release later in 2011. The further away it stays from traditional third person action the better, and it might shift from cult to legitimate classic if Rebellion can back it with solid combat and sturdy mechanics.
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