Wanted: Dead Reviews
The fact that it successfully revives the 2000's style of games, along with their problems, doesn't mean it deserves any kind of a pass. Wanted: Dead is aimed at a strictly specific audience and no one else. It doesn't even have impressive graphics to grab the attention of the rest of us, and the voice over is mediocre and irritatingly repetitive. The fact that, price-wise at least, it's being marketed as an AAA title can only be described as another joke by its creators.
Soleil is an up-and-coming studio that has been showing real promise in the mid-tier games space. A space that has gotten less and less attention this past decade. I think that they succeeded here more than they didn’t. I found myself continuing to come back and fight against the frame rate issues and the technical flaws. I like these characters, even if they are more shallow than they could be. I like the tone. Referencing Supa Hot Fire in 2023 and then having your war criminal antiheroes do karaoke or see who can eat the most ramen right before they lay waste to a government building or comfort a child who doesn’t seem to care that his parents just died in the next room is a crazy, weird, off-kilter, fun time. I even liked the combat: as cheap as it may be to get insta-killed by a random merc with a rocket launcher or a ninja flying out of nowhere. I liked the weird pace of it. I liked the puzzle of deciding how to get to the next checkpoint. I just really, really did not like having to fight through a non-stop onslaught of glitchy jittery frame rate issues or other small and large performance issues. I want to give this game at least a 7.5, and if it is ever patched further we might be able to reexamine it, but I can’t overlook something so glaring as countable frames and frequent crashes. I hope that Soleil Ltd. is able to bounce back and stick the landing on the next one because I like everything else I’ve played from them. And I know they’re capable of more.
I went into Wanted: Dead expecting to be an overpowered badass that ripped and tore through the opposition. It delivered for a fleeting moment, but quickly deteriorated...
Wanted Dead is a game that strives to please gamers of old. While I appreciate that, I think the biggest issue is that the gameplay loop is not polished enough. Something just feels off and overly clunky as well. Maybe I am just stupid and don’t understand the combat system, but I’ve had a healthy share of action titles in my years of gaming. I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly.
Wanted: Dead is an okay hybrid game and despite it giving me vibes from my time with Devil's Third, this is a way better experience overall and would-be players should check all the videos before making that final decision.
Wanted: Dead looks back at the last twenty years of game design and manages to combine shooter and hack ‘n’ slash elements rather cohesively into one of the tightest melee/shooters I’ve played in a long while. Unfortunately, while I will scoop praise on the gameplay until the end of time, there are issues that can’t be ignored. When I wasn’t shooting things with gleeful abandon, everything else was trying to make me put down the controller. The wooden plot and lifeless characters are a given, but the strange minigames, awful level pacing and difficulty spikes left a bitter taste in the mouth. There’s no doubt this is a fun game and I can see a small section of players absolutely loving it to death, but outside a tight knit niche of fans, I’m certain that Wanted: Dead will sadly be quickly forgotten.
Wanted: Dead is a game filled with good ideas but none of them feel as good as it should. The game definitely can be in the "So bad is good" pile (and it kinda is), but also feels like a more polished Devil's Third, a sequel could solve a lot of problems but ultimately is kind of a PS2/Xbox game released in 2023.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
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.
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.