Death by Degrees

"An aptly-entitled game, as it feels like you're being killed very, very slowly whilst playing it !!"

FOREWORD

Ask any sweaty teenage boy who his favourite Tekken character is and the overwhelming majority are going to scream back "Nina Williams", so releasing a game which features her scantily-clad bod doing Frankensteiners on loads of hapless men is sure to go down a right treat ... or so I thought ...

Was it a fantastic purchase ? Or a heap of old plop ? Read on ...

OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME

You play Nina Williams - an assassin who is on a mission to infiltrate the Kometa gang who are stationed aboard the ship Amphitrite, by participating in their fighting tournament. You are working with the CIA and MI6 in what is a joint-venture operation.

The game begins with a beautiful, and I do mean BEAUTIFUL cutscene depicting Ms Williams absolutely destroying the other combatants in the tournament whilst her allies infiltrate the ship. Should they fail, she has to finish up where they left off.

GRAPHICS - 9/10

Graphically this game is beautiful it must be said. From every well-attended to and seductive curve of Nina's beautiful body as she demonstrates her martial arts prowess in kicking the CRUD out of her enemies to the fantastic graphical tweaks such as how the camera gives you a skeletal-view of your enemies when you execute moves which break any of their bones (usually arm, neck or spine). The scenes themselves are beautiful - the Amphitrite is a stunningly decked-out ship with loungers by the pool and water cascading down some of the internal walls as part of a wonderful water feature there.

All in all, this is a graphical treat.

SOUND - 8/10

The quality of the sound in the game is, likewise, very high. Whilst there are a couple of noises sound effects-wise that grate on my nerves after a while, the voice-acting is perfectly reasonable (if a bit hammy), and the music is good.

CONTROLS - 1/10

There is a chink in every suit of armour, but WHAT a chink we find in this one ... just like finding out your favourite food is well past its sell-by date, the control method of this title is nothing short of HORRIFIC. You move Nina around with one thumbstick, and then use the other thumbstick to signal in which direction she should attack. This is the same control method that was used in Jet Li's Rise to Honour (and a couple of other titles too), and it seems as though NEITHER title has taught the developers anything - it's just awful, and it doesn't work ! The number of times you will try and hit this guy over hiar, only to find Nina decides to interpret your thumb movements another way and attack that guy over thar is inexcusable.

You will let it slide because as long as you're hitting SOMEBODY you figure it's ok, but by the time you're finished, it will be you hitting your own head against the table it's that painful to play.

This is, without a doubt, a shining example of how a poorly-planned control method will immediately counterbalance beautiful graphics and sounds for a game's enjoyment. Hated it !!

PLOT - 7/10

The plot itself is quite involved - even at the beginning there is a lot to take in during the introductory cutscene and background information - however the game does feel like it's almost borrowing its dramatic plot from the legendary Metal Gear Solid and, unfortunately, whereas MGS pulled it off with style, flair and precision, this title never really gets over the horrific control method to the extent that you are able to ENJOY the plot, so it is largely lost unfortunately.

GAMEPLAY - 5/10

Don't get me wrong, I have always tried to turn my frowns upside-down. I would ordinarily look at a convoluted control-method as a challenge rather than a hindrance - something to be adapted to and to help me improve my gaming skills, rather than something to be thrown in the bin. However, there are two things which make this game about as much fun to play as having teeth pulled, being :-

A) The control method (which, as I say, I have sincerely tried to adapt to but just cannot when all is said and done - to my mind it is imprecise at best, and could have been done CONSIDERABLY better with VERY little effort); and
B) The difficulty. It would be one thing to give you awful controls were the game simple, but even on its most simplistic difficulty setting, it is a NIGHTMARE to get to grips with, and you will be repeatedly slain whilst kicking in the wrong direction and looking like an absolutely ninny.

STAY ... AWAY !!

REPLAY VALUE - 1/10

I have refused to sell my copy purely because I almost feel I should pay somebody else to take it away from me - every time I try and go back to it with a fresh mindset thinking "Come on man, SURELY it can't be THAT bad", I come away with red mist steaming up my vision I'm that hacked off with it.

VALUE FOR MONEY - 1/10

For what it costs, I think it's overpriced, in much the same way that going to the dentist costs you money and you get pain in return. I would say it's worth the money if you only RENT a copy for a night to see what I'm talking about, but buying it ? Forget it !!

OVERALL - 3/10 (This is NOT an average)

This is a game which will cause you no end of laughter - largely because you won't be able to believe that you wasted all that money buying it in the first place !! Death by Degrees is aptly named, because it actually feels like you are being killed very, very slowly ... except when you're playing it, and then you die very, very QUICKLY ...

All told it's a graphically beautiful game that, in my opinion, seeks to capitalise on its one MAJOR selling point - Nina Williams - at the expense of decent controls or a plausible difficulty-settings system.

Only those people that have Nina Williams transfers, posters, desktop wallpaper, tattoos and PETS named Nina Williams should go anywhere near this title.

MAIN GOOD POINTS

* By the time you decide to stop playing the word "pain" will have lost all meaning.

MAIN BAD POINTS

* The game is VERY difficult to control efficiently - the two thumbs control method should be scrapped for this type of game. It's great in games like Halo where you use it to look and move in different directions, but for actions like punching and kicking and grabbing ? It's SERIOUSLY miscalibrated.
* The game is EXTREMELY difficult, which is made even more frustrating by the fact that half the difficulty stems from your not being able to strike the target/s you would really like to hit !

SO SHOULD YOU GET IT ?

No ! I would recommend you rent a copy if you are really serious about playing it, and THEN buy it if you totally disagree with me, but to be honest ? I don't see any real reason to recommend buying this title (beyond the introductory cutscene which is absolutely lush).

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/07