Product ReviewsDementium: The Ward (Nintendo DS, 2007)

Overall awesome purchase

This is in general a great game. The gameplay is fluent and easy to grasp, but it can take a little bit to get used to as you utilize the touch screen to look around. The backstory is probably the weakest part of the game, with not much being supplied to the player and not having too much explained throughout. However: this does not take away from the compelling nature of this game, with creepy atmosphere and fitting scenery, and strange and frightening creatures lurking around. This is a great addition to any DS collection, and it was well worth the money spent.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: jeuxplus_sherbr...

I'm to Old Four This One

I bought these because of the good ratings they received and the bad ones for the 3DS version. So far I've only played Dementium: The Ward.

While I'm not a stylist gamer at all, this one seems pretty easy to master. I'm left handed so I reversed the controls. Game is very responsive to commands and flows well. It's also very simple to play.

The game play is also straight forward. Other than a "surprise" monster or two, it's pretty boring. Those south of the 20 year mark may enjoy it though. Still I'll try and play it out. There's not many 1st person games out there for the 3DS line.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: abolishtherules

Fun Horror Game, but Little Replay Value

I got this game on the recommendation of a favorite YouTuber. She suggested this title if you're looking for an intense, first-person shooter experience, and that's exactly what Dementium is. Throughout the game, you wander around a deserted mental hospital (as an abandoned patient- which is, in and of itself, creepy) looking for clues about who you are and why you were left there. Along the way, you encounter various creepy-crawlies and monsters, and you are given weapons at each new level of the ward to kill them with. The overall graphics of Dementium are amazing- from the 3D environment to the blood splattered EVERYTHING. If you put on headphones and turn out the lights, it will feel like you are actually inside a spooky hospital, shooting zombies. The cut scenes are interesting and mildly compelling. That being said, there is not a lot of plot- you head deeper into the ward until you find a way out. The main problem I have with this game is its save system. You can record your progress and quit at most points, but if you get killed at any time, you're forced to start over from the last chapter. This can get really frustrating if you are stuck at a hard point. (And believe me, this game throws a few- I recommend finding a good walkthrough). Be forewarned, if you need to re-enter a room, health will not respawn- but monsters will. The "map" you are provided with is a bit useless- there are rooms scattered around that are not necessary to look in to finish the game, as well as dead ends that you have to reroute to get past- but the map gives no indication of the direction you're meant to be headed. The game's flashlight system is good, but weird, as you have to toggle between it and your weapon of choice when battling enemies- not helpful when fighting in dark areas. The weapons selection is nice, but starts off challenging, because initially you are only given a nightstick :(. The gameplay length is about a week or so, maybe less if you're determined to play straight through w/o stopping, but this lasted me through my entire Christmas break. The overall mood of this game is creepy, but to me personally, not pee-in-your-pants scary. If you're wondering about age ranges, I would say, despite the mature rating, this one is fine for older teens who are into horror movies. If you get scared in the dark easily, however, this game is not for you. Due to the crappy save system and repetitive environment, I'm not sure if I will replay this title again- but I will definitely be getting its sequel, Dementium II. I hear the developers made several good changes with that one.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: i-am-toy-crazy

The next step from Renegade Kid...

I've played Renegade Kid's "Moon" which was a very solid first person shooter. I wasn't sure what to expect with "Dementium" but i can honestly say it's a step up.

There is quite a bit of environment repetition between the two games but "Dementium" uses it a bit better seeing as how it takes place in a mental hospital. The atmosphere is far more powerful and there are moments that are downright creepy. My biggest complaints are that if you die, you have to restart the entire level again, rather than from a save point. The game does auto-save after each level, but this still is a point of frustration. Some of the enemies are cheezy and don't do the overall game justice, and others fit perfectly.

I hope with future efforts, Renegade Kid varies their environments more. It seems from the previews that "Dementium 2" improves on the design by adding an item inventory which is nice compared to leaving items behind unless you needed them in "Dementium". The save system seems improved. So unless you want to get the first part of the story, I would actually recommend (and this is just from reviews/previews) the sequel due to the fact that it looks a bit more enjoyable.

Overall, a good game...it just feels like a stepping stone that is a tad shy of greatness.Read full review...

Dementium: The Ward Review

Dementium: The Ward is a visually good game (as far as DS games are concerned at least), and it has neat controls. The levels, however, while not linear, are repetitive, as you see almost the exact same floor scheme on every floor. The game progresses by switching between two hospital buildings, and you make your way down to the bottom floor. I'm not sure exactly which building you start in, but it's something like this: 7th floor East Building, 7th floor West Building, 6th floor West Building, 6th floor East Building. Each side is a level. Each west side floor and east side floor is nearly identical to the floor right below it, providing the player with few surprises past the first few levels.

The game does provide some interesting puzzles, but there really aren't enough to call it a puzzle game.

Enemy AI is extremely poor, and monster locations are rarely surprising. Mindless monsters approach you, and you can always hear a monster when you're nearby it. Since nothing ever pops out at you, it's uncommon to ever feel scared in this game. Enemies do spawn in different locations of the room, however. There are a few times where you feel rushed to run, which can be scary to certain people, but that's about all the adrenaline that will every be pumping through your body, unfortunately, unless you are extremely faint of heart. The monster design is pretty good, however, regardless of their substandard AI.

The music is pretty good in my opinion, though. It's very spooky, and creates a certain tension while playing. The music is much scarier than any of the monsters are though.

Saving is interesting also. It saves upon entering every single room, so you can just shut off the DS whenever you want to, but if you die, you have to start back from the beginning of the level. It instantly saves your death the moment you die, so you can't just shut off the game after that and expect to be back where you were. This can be annoying, but the game is short enough as it is without it though, and you can just shut off the game when you're getting low on health and monsters are closing in on you. Taking all things into consideration, I'm rather indifferent to the saving process.

Another thing is the weapon system. There are a nice variety of weapons, but if you manage to get the buzz saw in the game (you don't actually have to get any guns... they only appear once in the game and if you accidentally miss one, the game just says "too bad") that's all you need for much of the game. Enemies don't get much stronger as the game progresses (except the bosses) so if you're just using the buzz saw, you can kill almost all monsters, except the bosses, and sometimes you can kill the bosses with it too. It doesn't even require any batteries or ammo or anything... you just hack away. It's basically a cheap version of the Doom chainsaw.

Hopefully when Dementium II comes out, it will have: non-repeating floor schemes, more puzzles, better enemy AI, better enemy spawning locations, better overall scares, an improved the save system a bit, and it will make weapon use more strategic and more original.

So ultimately it's a neat game and it IS fun to play through, but if you're looking for a game to really scare you, this game isn't for you. It you can get it for cheap, go ahead and purchase it though. While it's not too great of a same, it is a real benchmark for the Nintendo DS.

Thank you.Read full review...

It's no Silent Hill...

Ok. First off, I like it. The little blurb on the box that compares it to Silent Hill and Doom 3 is a little overstated, though. It IS Silent Hill-esque at best. Graphics are outstanding by Nintendo DS standards and the user interface is truly unique. The controls become second nature very quickly. I like the fact that the main character has no outstanding or amazing abilities. He's just a guy that happened to awaken in an insane assylum full of blood, giant leaches, and horned zombies. It's worth a play, and maybe a replay. If you're a busy gamer (one who does NOT have hours a day to sit at the TV) then get this one.Read full review...

Impressive Game

Game play and graphics are rather impressive for limited hardware specs on original ds. Bought this to play on my 3ds and works very well. If you like resident evil or silent Hill genre games this is the best option I know of for ds/3ds hardwareRead full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: 6jaloux9

The Ward: More bark than bite

This game was not what I was expecting in many ways. The overall 3D play, being for DS, was pretty incredible. Creating smaller video games myself in my spare time, I can tell you that real time lighting is very complicated to include in a game without eating up much of your memory and frames per second, and this game brings that lighting to the table hot and ready to roll. Where I was stunned was in the battle and fighting system or lack there of; it was terrible. It seems like a bunch of creative graphics and good storyline and great texturing and creepy atmosphere was all combined into a great project, then at the last second, they were like "Oh yeah, we need a way to battle enemies... Let's just do this and release the game ASAP!!!" What I recommend to all out there is if you are going to buy this game, wait for a used copy to come along for a discounted price. It's worth a play, but its not worth the price new. Overall, I rate this 3/5.Read full review...

Great Game!

Dementium features full 3D environments and a real-time flashlight. Creative director Jools Watsham also said the game's touch-screen controls are based on those used in Metroid Prime Hunters.[citation needed]

The game was originally set to include a multiplayer mode, but this was dropped so that the development team could focus on the single player aspect of the game.

Among several other features utilizing the touch screen, the game includes a notepad.

Dementium: The Ward is a Nintendo DS survival horror first-person shooter game developed by Renegade Kid and published by Gamecock. Dementium was released in North America on October 31, 2007.Read full review...

Interesting game

The graphics are good, the game so far is better and I love the fact that it's like a bit of a startle when you aren't expecting it.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: powerupvideogames