TouchTheDead
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DS Daily: On shooters
Shooters are rare on the DS, but not unheard of, though they often debut to mixed reactions. Metroid Prime Hunters is one of the system's most polarizing titles, and the same seems true of the more recent Touch the Dead. Yesterday's impressions of Dementium: The Ward seemed promising, and of course, IGN's Matt Casamassina continues to insist that someday, we're going to see Halo DS, maybe, kinda, probably -- not really. But do shooters really belong on the system? The touchscreen and other controls manage to do a lot of things really well, including some things that are really off the wall, such as acting as a full-fledged guitar. But is the DS suited to shooters? Considering the smaller screen size, some system limitations, and the unique control system, we can't help but wonder if we really need shooters, or if they're suited to the system.Don't get us wrong -- we love a good FPS. But that doesn't mean we necessarily have to have one on every available system, so we think it's a fair question. On the other hand, is there any reason not to have any FPS titles on the DS? Where do you stand?
Metareview: Touch the Dead
The reviews were slow to come in on Touch the Dead -- which usually indicates a dud. From the scores, it looks like that cliché may really be a fair assessment of the title's merits. With a current metascore of 58%, Touch the Dead is less OMG-zombie scary and more scary like Grandma's lingerie. Game Informer: 66% (average of two reviews) - "What you imagine to be headshot city is, in reality, the most challenging zombie game to come along in quite some time. As the zombies struggle to walk, their heads jerk about violently, making it an incredible test of skill ... this is a game that every zombie fanatic could love, but only the hardest of hardcore gamers can excel at." (Issue 170, p117)Game Almighty: 45% - "The first thing you notice when the game starts is the awful graphics. Touch the Dead reinvents what it means to have jaggies. Everything is pixilated and bland and the closer the zombies come, the worse it gets. Ironic, because the bad graphics actually inspire you to kill the creatures when they're as far away as possible, lest you think your DS has a broken graphics chip."GameSpot: 55% - "Every time you empty a clip, you have to manually reload by dragging the stylus from the ammo icon on the lower right-hand part of the screen to the clip icon on the lower left-hand part of the screen. While it certainly injects a little tension into the game, you quickly get to the point where you have to reload your clip after every zombie you take down, so you actually end up spending more time reloading your weapon than you do shooting zombies. It feels unnatural and can be difficult to consistently reload fast enough when you have a swarm of zombies bearing down on you."
WRUP: Touch the Dead edition
This week, we've got a handful of good games up for grabs in the United States, with Japan receiving even more than us (Ouendan 2!) and Europe playing their usual role (see: they got nothing). Sorry to hear that friends from across the pond! But, the question still needs to be asked: what are you playing this weekend?Are you picking up (or have already picked up) Touch the Dead or Etrian Odyssey? Maybe you're planning on cracking the Code Lyoko? Let us know!
DS releases for the week of May 14th
This week, gamers in the U.S. have some options again, but the big news is in import titles, with the release of the Ouendan sequel. How many of you will be shelling out the extra cash required to bring this one across the ocean? Probably more than a few, considering this is one of the most hotly anticipated sequels ever.DS releases in the U.S. Code Lyoko Etrian Odyssey Touch the Dead For the rest of the globe, check after the jump.
Touch the Dead changes name, sharpens up
Touch the Dead seems to have gotten an upgrade along with its new name ... and speaking of that, we appreciate the need to work in a 'DS' subtitle or some clever witticism about touching, but really, Dead 'n' Furious seemed a more appetizing name. We're not sure we want to touch any of these guys, and it doesn't exactly look fun when they touch you.But what's in a name, really? It's what's in a video that matters, and we've got one after the jump, showing off the new look of Touch the (really angry) Dead, and it's step up from where it was before. We'd like to see the main character in this -- as one of our commenters aptly noted, last go-round he looked a little big like a refugee from a Lego game. Originally, this game was to be published by Virgin Play (according to the Dead 'n' Furious website, which is still there), but IGN is reporting that it's Eidos that's picked up the title. Touch the Dead is now scheduled for a release in May, so what you see in the video is likely to be what you get in this shooter. Frankly, we think it looks a little better than we expected, since we've seen it since a rough beginning, and the style is intriguing if nothing else. Light gun without the gun? We'll try anything once.
