Death by Degrees

"Nina Williams Kicks much ass/10"

When I first heard of a game featuring the sassy assassin Nina Williams, I was very pleased that Namco had decided to take a character from one of its most popular franchises and make a whole new game based around her. As you are probably aware Nina Williams has appeared in every Tekken fighting game since its early beginnings on the PSone.

Well since its early conception using the aptly named title of simply “Nina” the game has progressed a lot since then and has now been released stateside. In Death By Degrees, players get to take control of Assassin and general babe, Nina as she undertakes covert work for the CIA and UK's MI6 in a joint operation.

GAMEPLAY

Death by degrees is essentially a 3rd person action fighting game whereby players can move freely across the levels, solving the odd puzzle and scanning fingerprints from the dead to unlock doors. Combined with dispatching a wide number of armed and unarmed opponents using hand to hand combat, melee weaponry such as swords and batons of which she can dual wield and of course fire arms such as pistols, machine guns, rail guns, heavy weapons and grenade launchers. Phew! Whilst many 3rd person games use this formula, Death by Degrees opts to utilize Nina's combative skills to the maximum, especially the unarmed combat.

After a rather excellent opening movie which is rendered in the highest quality and really sets the scene of the game follows a brief tutorial which outlines the core mechanics of the game play; which unlike more traditional games uses a unique control scheme. Whilst movement is handled as you would expect the actual combat is rather different. Instead of opting to use a reworked system as seen in the Tekken bonus games Tekken Force; Death By Degrees uses a system where by tapping the right stick in what ever direction allows Nina to attack from all sides. The system used does feel a little strange at first especially if you are used to more conventional attack buttons, however after a little practice you begin to realise that they do work quite well within the context of the game. If I was to complain then it would have to be the complexity of some moves which require precise stick movement in combination with other buttons. Against a single opponent this doesn't really pose much of a problem, however most times during the game you will be faced by multiple enemies who attack from all sides and so in the heat of battle become a little tricky to perform. For those players who simply lack the patience or don't really get to grips with the unusual controls means that game play will becomes repetitive if you are simply using the same moves over and over again.

One of the most important moves in the game is the evasion moves which essentially allow Nina to move out of the way from incoming blows and bullets. It also allows Nina to position herself to suit the environment especially as some of the areas are quite open. Its clear to see that the level design is such that players should be encouraged to move around rather than block themselves into a corner ready to be beaten to a pulp.

Evasion is key to success in this game and learning it is probably just as important as learning attack moves. I found that tactical use of evasion combined with Hit and run attacks meant that I didn't get hit so much from troublesome foes. I also found that by simply trying to overwhelm five armoured guards was not going to work and just showed that Nina isn't some superhero type character.

One of the better uses of the stick tapping control method is the ability to parry or block an attack; simply tapping the stick towards an opponent's strike will enable you to do this, which in turn allows you to counter attack. Nina certainly has a number of moves available, and most are lifted from the Tekken series. Throws, Kicks, sweeps you name it is all here, although using the games levelling system means that you will have to purchase more moves with the points you earn from good combos and defeating foes. Once you have gained a few levels during play then some of the more interesting moves can be purchased, such as the ability to jump off a wall and then launch into an attack or perhaps the awesome disarming throw moves. These extra moves do add that little bit more complexity to combat and turn Nina into a genuine fighting machine.

Nina is also able to perform critical strike moves which are performed by filling a special meter. Once filled Nina is able to focus on a single enemy where the view changes to Xray vision. Here she can target an opponent's skull, arms, chest, legs with the intention of inflicting maximum damage and ultimately breaking bones. These moves are pretty spectacular and extremely useful for crippling tough opponents. However some enemies later in the game or on tougher difficulties can still fight on regardless of broken bones, which is rather unrealistic to say the least. Despite this the focus moves are pretty cool and take sizable chunks out of enemy health; most useful during boss encounters.

GRAPHICS

The graphics are actually pretty good looking throughout the game and convey the scale of the ship very well with some impressive indoor and outdoor areas. The level of detail is quite high throughout the ship and the gloomy prison has a fair amount of atmosphere. The level of interaction isn't very high and will no doubt annoy some players. There are many breakable items in the game however there are many non breakable items that perhaps should have been. I guess the developers didn't want you to purely focus on breaking the scenery when its bones you should be breaking.

The character models are reasonable although it's clear to see that Nina has had the most work put into her. The outfits that she wears throughout the game clearly show that Nina is dressed to kill and looks pleasing from any angle especially during CGI scenes and especially when she is wearing swimwear. What is a rather cool feature is the fact that after boss encounters Nina's clothing gets torn and ripped including the odd scratches on her flesh. This makes her outfits even more revealing and is a nice touch albeit rather inconsistent considering her clothes should rip during regular combat as well.

If I were to complain about the graphics then I would have to say the loading can be annoying at times as it appears that some scenes need to be loaded and then the game itself reloaded again after a scene. Whilst this is not as intrusive as others might lead you to believe it does hamper the flow of the game at times.
I would also complain about the cumbersome menu which needs to load each page as you cycle through them. This is simply a pretty poor effort and makes navigating the menus an unnecessary chore.
The camera can also prove to be tricky in places and especially during combat in places. Although very few games actually get the camera perfect, Death By Degrees needs a little more player interaction to work best, which is a shame really as players should be focusing on the enemies rather than the camera. Either way the camera placement wont necessarily hamper your enjoyment of the game too much despite being annoying in places.

SOUND

Death by degrees features some pretty generic music which although creates the required atmosphere is hampered by the fact that it reloads each time you either check the menu or enter a new area or room. This is absolutely terrible and really is an insult to whoever created the tracks as it's rare that you will hear anything more than the intro.

Some average voice acting is used throughout and does a reasonable job of conveying Nina and the characters she meets throughout her adventure. Although don't be expecting award wining performances as some of the dialogue is rather dry.
Other sound effects are pretty standard and sound as you would expect them to in a game such as this.

LONGEVITY

Death by degrees is quite a reasonable length game and once beaten offers a few extra modes and difficulties to mess around with. Sadly there is no multiplayer element which perhaps the game could have benefited from in the long term. With a unlock able outfits and concept art makes Death By Degrees worth playing again especially once you become more skilled at the fighting and wish to unleash your honed skills on a tougher setting.

OVERALL

Death By Degrees is a fairly decent fighting game, which although has its fair share of problems does deliver some moments of fun. If you can get to grips with the slightly unconventional attack controls and perhaps forgive some off key loading then there is definitely a game worth having here. For fans of Nina Williams then I would say get this game as it offers a welcome change to how you would normally see her in action. For non fans I would suggest a rental first as maybe the flaws might prove too much for you to bear. Either way I like this game for what it is. It might not be the best game out there but at the end of the day it does offer some fun; although I do admit that as a player you have to work that little bit harder compared to some other games which make things very easy for you.

Gameplay 7
Graphics 8
Sound 6
Longevity 7
Overall 7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/14/05