A must buy for any DS owner and enthusiast. Single handedly the best DS experience to date!
Simple? Yes, effective? Yes. Creepy? Definitely.
Lets start with the games atmosphere. Ever wanted to play Silent Hill 1 in First Person mode? Thats essentially the experience were getting here. Chock full of young kids creepy stuff, zombies, and weird monsters that might make you jump a little. Its an incredibly creepy and involving atmosphere, which is definitely saying something being as its a DS game. As for the games presentation, can be wrapped up simply: PS2 Production Values in what appears to be a PSX Engine. The game is fully 3d for the most part. For objects that aren't given the 3d treatment, they are given 2D sprite appearances, which do nothing to detract from the overall presentation at all. Example would be a telephone, the body of the phone is 3d but because of the receivers overly complex geometry, its instead drawn out and attached to each phone. It actually works out rather nicely. The animation is top grade and the interaction is spotless. It also supports some standard DS fare, that notebook you find in the game, will allow you to jot down notes with your stylus. VERY handy when it comes to remembering those clues. However, its only good for reminders. Ill provide a small hint here though: Don't over think Dementiums puzzles, they are actually quite simple ones, but its easy to over analyze.
You control the game like Metroid is a way. Use the bottom screen with your stylus to aim, and the camera will follow closely but loosely. The object in your hand is actually whats controlled by the stylus, and the camera does a good job at keeping up and making it feel like your looking through a head, instead of the weapon in front of you being attached to your visor.
The Left Trigger is what uses the item in your hand. If its the flashlight, it'll toggle it on and off. If its a gun it'll fire it, if its your police baton, it'll swing it. You move with the DPad and to run is a simple double tap in any direction. Its a really simple interaction model but its engrossing. I think my biggest complaint with the controls are, i don't find pressing the left trigger all that comfortable on the DS, and this game will really make you wish the DPad was a Joystick like the PSPs as unless you used to pressing down on the thing quite a bit, it going to wear our your left thumb quite easily. Neither of these issues is Dementiums fault however, and unfortunately is just a fact of life we must live with, especially to play a game of this caliber. I do wish your character spoke, if its a pet peeve of mine, is a mute protagonist. And anybody you meet within the game, usually ends up leaving you in some way or another and your always alone. Which helps maintain the feeling of helplessness, but you know, would have been nice to see a half decent conversation to play out the story a little bit. There are indeed cutscenes in this game. Yes, fully 3d, real-time rendered cutscenes. The game rips the camera out of your head and does some really great camera shots of of whatever its going to be playing. And the delivery of the NPCs in terms of voice acting is so far, top notch, and the animation is top grade quality. This is seriously the kind of game experience you would expect out of a next-generation console. However, its on a Handheld, and looks fantastic. For ALL of its 3D glory, it runs as smooth as glass too, not a single framerate hit. And that my friends, is rather impressive if you ask me. Its also worth mentioning, that this game also deserves its M rating. Blood cakes the walls everywhere, and generally this game really COULD scare some people! Its the perfect gamer to play with headphones blastic, in the dark, at 2AM. Its an experience, you will not regret.
There is no multiplayer though, but then again, does it really need it? Its nearly an unheard of thing to see a game in this day and age without the ability to connect to anyone. Let me rest your soul in saying: You wont care. Its a fantastic game all by itself, and demands your attention without some random person yelling "PWNED!" in your ear.
I highly recommend this to anyone who owns a DS, and looking for a good freaky time. Especially around Halloween!
You'll be hard pressed to find a more awesome game on your DS this holiday.