Deadpool is an officially licensed game recently released by High Moon Studios starring everyones most loved/hated Marvel comic hero, Deadpool! For those of you who aren't in the know, Deadpool is a character that exists in the universe of Marvel alongside the X-Men (Cyclops, Wolverine etc...) and acts as a mercenary for hire.
Deadpool is well known for his abilities to break the fourth wall as well as the combination of mutant powers that he has gained through the Mutant X program (look it up). Healing factor like Wolverine and amazing sword/gun skills like DmC's Dante are what he brings to the table this time around.
So what is Deadpool all about? How the hell should I know? Deadpools story follows Deadpools adventures through his own video game, with the player acting as the camera crew following him around, recording the "game play". The story follows the same guidelines that a Deadpool comic book would, so fans would feel right at home with what the story offers. People who haven't experienced the comics may also enjoy it for its comedic dialogue and actions. Luckily for those not experienced with the Marvel universe will be able to access Bios of characters during cut scenes to watch/hear Deadpools biased opinion them to get them up to speed on knowledge they will need to know. It'll then cut right back to the cut scene as if nothing ever happened.
The start of the game is reminiscent of Duke Nukem: Forever. Tap L2 to play with things, earn some funny trophies. That's all good fun and is much more indepth than what was offered in games previously. These interactive moments appear through out the game and are over-the-top funny but well written to keep it open to people with differing tastes in comedy. That being said, Deadpool will say lines during combat relative to what weapons he's using and who he's fighting. The designers are able to make these quips stay fresh when said and you never feel that they're being said too often. The one liners are diverse and frequent enough that they're funny and on time without coming around too often.
"The start of the game is reminiscent of Duke Nukem: Forever. Tap L2 to play with things-"
But enough about the comedy, you don't need to know Deadpool is funny. It's on the box, literally. The Deadpool game play follows a mix of Uncharted and Ninja Gaiden/Batman: AA. Combat revolves around the use of several different melee weapons and ranged weapons with the use of tools (Flash Bangs, Grenades, bear traps and so on) to score a high combo meter. These help you earn Deadpool Points (DP) which are used to buy upgrades for all the items you can acquire, and pump up Deadpool himself. Although the available combos aren't as diverse as DmC would offer, they are easily accessible and fun to use with great visual appeal and variety when used on different enemies. Deadpool is nimble, and will fly across the screen, do double jumps or hundreds of wall jumps with ease making this a great spectacle fighter. Some of the combos and dismemberment may remind some of Ninja Gaiden which is a very good comparison due to the way weapons work.
"Some of the combos and dismemberment may remind some of Ninja Gaiden"
The game allows you to aim in 3 different ways. in mid combo you can attack the nearest enemy with R1, using whatever gun you have equipped. Or you can use precision aiming with L1 or shoot without it by just pressing R1. The L1 controls are clunky and imprecise and the hip shooting style of R1 seems to hit the target more often thanks to the help of a slight auto-aim. Despite that, the other controls feel smooth. The game has stealth kills as well, but these are always pre-determined. With Deadpool even making comments that he's "sneaking up on them". It's played for laughs, but is never used in actual gameplay segments.
"The game has stealth kills as well, but these are always pre-determined."
Enemies come and go in many different flavours and through out the game I was still experiencing new ones as I progressed through the levels. The game suffers from cloning but the game says they ARE clones in a fantastic game development cover-up used for comedic effect, these joke excuses occur a lot in the game however. Deadpool's boss fights happen against a lot of D-List Marvel villains with some high ranking ones appearing further into the end-game.
Graphically, the game is at Batman: Arkham Asylum levels, but less optimized with some noticeable lag when there's a lot going on screen at once. Although it doesn't take away from the game experience and becomes hard to notice as you play more, it is something that can be a bit jarring at the start of the game.
Deadpool's costume will get torn and shredded, revealing his scarred body underneath. But thanks to his healing factor (read: Regenerating health), his health will restore as well as his costume over a short period of time. Health can also be earned by combos when particular upgrades are purchased.
The locations of Deadpool can be boring. I found myself looking at similar sewer and outside areas very often, with a definite focus on dark and modernised greyish colours with little to no bright tones to be found outside of a silver. Although fitting for the graphical style, it doesn't fit with the colourful style of most Deadpool comics and the dark colours and lighting can become very dull very quickly after so many sewer segments or small rooms dedicated to them.
"I found myself looking at similar sewer and outside areas very often-"
Sound wise, the game sounds great. Atmospheric sounds mixed with music and dialogue all work well with each other. With music taking a more back seat to the sound effects and dialogue being barely audible but picking up, or adding a musical sound byte when a particular action is performed, like counter-attacking with Deadpool's teleport belt. Dialogue is seamless and isn't interrupted often, and can be very enjoyable to listen to during the longer fights against enemies which can admittedly get dull at times until you unlock yourself a new set of gear to enjoy fiddling around with.
Most reviews don't use a point based system, but I do. So here's what I think:
Deadpool for PS3
Story & Dialogue: 7/10 - Story is sometimes used for laughs, and the dialogue is comedy gold. One of the high points of the game despite how minimal the story can be.
Gameplay: 6/10 - Detailed player and enemy models and environment design is top notch with Deadpool's nimble abilities for what they had. Loses points for clunky controls and FPS drops on Consoles. Fights can get dull over long play sessions and lack of diverse combos can be upsetting but dismemberment is appreciated. Game can be short for those that don't play it on a higher difficulty. Offers challenge modes and future DLC to come however.
Audio: 8/10 - Fantastic sound design with great music and sound effects, but the music taking a backseat seemed like a bad decision at the same time. Hearing what enemies are saying during fights clearly above my current actions was appreciated.
Graphics: 7/10 Great visuals with lack luster diversity for environments but when considering what they had, it looks fantastic with not many hallways/rooms looking the same as any others and succeeding in making some locations look like they were used by people.
Overall: 29/40
May be a good game to rent for a weekend or to play and own if you're a fan of the game or the genre.