Wanted: Dead Reviews
Wanted: Dead is a hard game to review considering nearly every aspect has positives and flaws. The gameplay can be extremely satisfying when you get into a good rhythm, but the limited enemy variety and spongy health make every mission feel the same. The story and characters have wacky charm, at times being incredibly funny yet far too frequently becoming a head-scratcher. The cutscene voice acting is bad, but the anime flashbacks are superb. I could go on and on but the bottom line is this game is unique—for better or for worse—and probably just as many people will love it as those who don't.
Wanted: Dead captures the spirit of schlockier action blockbusters that've been long forgotten, but doesn't successfully argue why they deserve a comeback.
For all intents and purposes, Wanted: Dead ironically captures all the worse aspects of a seventh-generation action game. The generic story capable of putting an insomniac to sleep is accompanied by awful voice acting, bad editing and flashy but shallow combat. The finishers look cool as hell but that isn’t enough to save the game from being a dud. Wanted: Dead is a hard pill to swallow even for the most hardcore jank lover.
Wanted: Dead is a cute and fun throwback to the bygone ages of the gaming industry. It offers enjoyable characters, addictive combat and a lot of heart, which is more than enough to offset its dated graphics, unbalanced difficulty and all the bugs.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Wanted: Dead brings so much and at the same time, that as a player we are perplexed. That's way too many emotions for a game that doesn't make any effort to truly improve any of them. Despite everything, the evident humorous side takes us to the opposite of the most negative emotions that we could get from this experience, even reaching several moments of: "just go for another 10 minutes". I can't really recommend it, but honestly I can't tell you to put it away either. In my humble opinion, despite everything and the calamity of everything that the game brings, I will give it a positive note... just because it managed t9 make my comic persona won over my rational one!
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
I’ll say it like this: I’m actually mad about how much I want to like this game. While the simple but effective personalities can be so-bad-it’s-good occasionally and the soundtrack certainly survived the sound check, this gameplay isn’t doing it any favors. I can’t help but feel the story might have worked better as an anime as the interactive element is what lets Wanted: Dead down the most. With some more work, Wanted: Dead could be that hilariously fun love letter to retro anime and games of the early noughties that I desperately wanted it to be. As of right now, it’s just far too short, clunky and directionless to be worth the price of admission.
Despite the impressive moves and cool style it tries to put out, Wanted: Dead is anything but cool.
Review in Greek | Read full review
I enjoyed some features of the game. Like the way it looks, chopping the opposition to separate parts and grooving to some ramen and music. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep me playing. I couldn’t get over the protagonist’s voice and some of the cliché and borderline cringe cutscene dialogue.
Wanted: Dead is a Slasher/Shooter hybrid from the creators of Ninja Gaiden. You take control of Hannah Stone, a badass cop from the 'Zombie Unit'. Armed with a katana and a number of firearms, Stone hacks and shoots anything that stands in your way.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Wanted: Dead is perhaps too ambitious, at times punching above its weight while mostly missing the mark and also being brutally difficult at times.
Initially Wanted: Dead seems to pull it off, when one still appreciates its pleasurable imagery and is becoming familiar with its gameplay layout. It takes very little, however, for big and small wrinkles to come up, again and again, making the experience unsatisfying, frustrating, repetitive. Something is saved, of Soleil's game, but absolutely not enough to make it even vaguely enjoyable.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Wanted: Dead is first of all a violent and completely ridiculous game, but it's a game that is completely self-assured. But it is also very difficult which makes it inaccessible for many people. However, if you are one of those people who are always looking for a challenge, this game could probably fulfill your need. But only if you are able to get past its camera problems as well as the small picture slowdowns here and there. It's a shame because the game was promising in its genre. But in the end, we end up with a game that is at most correct.
Review in French | Read full review
Wanted: Dead is as befuddling as it is bloody. Players will find the plot of Soliel's slasher/shooter hybrid varying levels of coherent depending on their interpretation. What's undeniable is the fun to be had in its streamlined slaughter. Come for the demanding and gory action gameplay, and stay for the odd voice performances, anime flashbacks, and karaoke with Stefanie Joosten. It's sometimes frustrating, often satisfying, and almost always janky and weird; I can't stop thinking about it.
Wanted: Dead is an alleged slasher-shooter that only ever manages to slash my interest and shoot its respect for me as a player in the head. Save your bullets and play something else.
Wanted: Dead had a great team and the idea of mixing two action types so distinct was propitious, but unfortunately the game came with many gameplay issues. Besides that, it's inconceivable that the final visual quality is so far from the one shown on the trailers.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Although Wanted: Dead is a lot of fun at the controls, at no time does it exploit its full potential at any level, remaining a very decaffeinated experience that could have aspired to much mor
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Wanted: Dead's challenging settings, unique approach to battle, and visual presentation will attract some interest, but they certainly won't be adequate to hold most players' interest for very long. Its gameplay mechanism and core plot shortcomings made it difficult to enjoy as a whole. If you, however, like hack and slash, decapitating enemies, and are willing to die often to do it, then Wanted: Dead is the game for you.
With the right execution, Wanted Dead could have found a ready-made audience for its old-fashioned approach. But what the developers of Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood and particularly Evil West did so well, Soleil has done very badly. A game built so totally on combat simply cannot afford to have combat which is implemented in such a tiresome, frustrating way. Wanted Dead is a confusing, disappointing miss which will likely fall far below the quality of forthcoming action games in 2023.
While Wanted: Dead has some charm and some interesting gameplay and minigames to break up the pace, the terrible shooting mechanics, and lack of checkpoints in crucial parts of the game mean you have to really take up the game with its own broken-as-heck terms. At the very least, it's a 10-hour-or-less thrill ride so it's not a complete slog and it has its heart in the right place design-wise. It will toughen you up, if you give it a chance.
Wanted: Dead is a sneaky love letter to the PS2 & OG Xbox era of gaming. It's tough as nails, charming, and addictive as hell. What more could you ask for?