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I haven't played too many games like BrainDead 13. The only game which remotely comes close, from my knowledge, remains to be Dragon's Lair, a game which often intrigued me, but I never found myself learning to play very well. BrainDead 13's game engine is nearly identical to Dragon's Lair's. The player views a short cartoon segment and then must make a split-second decision, or you will see a show of your character's detailed death. You control Lance, a clumsy character who has been called to a mysterious castle in the darkest hours of the night. When repairing a computer in the castle, you learn of Dr. Nero Neurosis' evil plan of world domination. The mischievous character sends a half-pet, half-human henchman after you to keep you from stopping his plans. Now, with this odd Fritz character on your tail, you must reach the Brain Chamber, which proves to be a difficult task. The game play can be quite frustrating at times, being that you must guess with one of the five buttons used until you finally find a working combination. A button that works in one instance may not work the next, so the player must explore back through parts of the game to find new ones. You definitely won't find your way through the game in one sitting. It's LONG! When playing BrainDead 13, you'll think that you're watching a cartoon. The strange characters and the odd scenarios throughout the game really make the game a pleasure to play (if you can get over the frustration factor, that is). Lance is very much like Dirk from Dragon's Lair and the obstacles he encounters are humorous, yet very dangerous at the same time. After hours of playing the game you'll see the many mutilations that Lance can endure. This can include having a blender shoved onto his head, having his head or face chopped off, being melted in toxic acid, or even strangled by killer vines. Simply put, you may never see all of the death scenes in BrainDead 13. While almost all of them are severely violent for a cartoon, it is unique and welcome since it's not a normal thing in cartoons. BrainDead 13 is not only a pleasure to play, however. It's also enjoyable to listen to. The music fits the game, and while it's silly, I still wish that I had the soundtrack. As the scenes switch (which is quite often), you'll notice a slight cutting of the music, however. It doesn't flow quite as well as I wish it could have. The graphics, while full-motion video, are much better than in some games like this, but, unfortunately, the backgrounds are often dull and dreary. Brightening them up could help the characters fit in better. The sounds go along very good with the game though; they are the usual zany sound effects that you could find on a cartoon, along with a plentiful supply of voices, giving the characters a personality all their own. If your ears could smile, they would be while playing BrainDead 13. In tying up this review, let me tell you that BrainDead 13 is long and frustrating along the way to the end of the game, and after seeing a gag or death scene once, you won't want to see it again. Replay value makes no appearance here. You'll only want to replay the game to finally complete it. I would recommend BrainDead 13 to someone who loved Dragon's Lair or to someone who has a lot of patience. Wait, I guess those two sort of go hand-in-hand. |
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