Death by Degrees

"Nina in her own game? Yes please!"

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Introduction
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Welcome to my review for a pretty damn good game, Death by Degrees. This game stars Nina Williams from the Tekken series, and a few other characters who shall go unmentioned. This is a pretty full game, with gorgeous graphics, awesome gameplay, a great storyline and a few mini-games threw in for fun.

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Story - 7/10
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The CIA and MI6 work together in this game, and they get Nina to help them board a secret cruise ship called the Amphitrite. Boarding the ship with two other helpers, she enters an illegal fighting contest on the ship, and of course wins. Enter Lana Lei. She owns the ship, and nothing ever stands in her way. Until now, that is. She gets Nina sent to her room later while Nina is trying to relax, and Nina later discovers that one helper is dead, and the other on the run from the security guards on board. Now Nina must help this person to finish her mission.

The story is pretty good, but I think it could have stood to be a bit better.

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Graphics - 9/10
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Like I said earlier, the graphics are really good. Especially during the cutscenes. Nothing much else to say about this, so let's move ahead.

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Gameplay - 7/10
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One thing I really hate about this game is the camera angles. These are extremely annoying, but it's nothing you can't get used to.

In this game, Nina must look around the ship, while scanning dead bodies fingerprints and fighting deadly bosses (and zombies in a certain part!). And you Tekken buffs finally get to see Richard Williams! That's right! Anyways, back to the gameplay. Nina can also equip weapons and different outfits that can rip. Mini-games include a honeycomb lock and a spy camera mission (Stingray is the devices name). When you fight enemies and Nina saves up enough power, you can break enemies bones. You can also use a sniper rifle to kill enemies from far away, but they can still shoot you.

Truly good gameplay, but crappy camera angles.

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Sound - 8/10
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The sounds okay, but it gets repetitive after a while. Nina and all the other characters have speech in this game, and that's gotta be better than reading speech, like you're doing now!

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Replay value - 7/10
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The game is quite fun to play, but it can get repetitive. This is another thing I hate about DBD, but I can get over that too.

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Overall Score - 8/10
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FUN FUN FUN!!! Seriously, this is a game for Tekken fans and... not so Tekken fans. You will be kept on your toes during boss battles, and biting your nails during cutscenes. Or is that just me?

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Rent or buy?
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I recommend renting it first. I was a bit sceptical about it at first, and I realise this game is not for everyone (especially the light-hearted!). Have fun!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/12/05