Wanted: Dead Reviews
Wanted: Dead is going to annoy a lot of players. It’s also going to please plenty more. Soleil has made a game that leans heavily into its PS2-era inspirations, and that includes an unforgiving difficulty level. Without any real way to make things easier, some players may never see the ending of an otherwise enjoyable campaign, outside of watching a streamer perhaps. For those who can manage to hone their skills, however, the time put into Wanted: Dead will be worth it because this slasher-shooter offers so much visceral joy when things go your way that it makes all the painful death worth it.
Wanted: Dead feels like a game made in 2006. It looks like a game from 2006, which is not a good thing. But at the same time, it plays like it's from 2006, which is great. It offers fun action gameplay, a decent challenge, some offbeat humor and doesn't take itself very seriously.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
While there's an audience out there for Wanted: Dead's schtick, the myriad of issues with the whole game make it a tough sell.
Wanted: Dead has the briefest, briefest glimpses of good, but this third-person action game is a frustrating mess in almost every regard.
Wanted: Dead is, at its worst, a frustratingly bad action game, but in its inexplicable presentation, nonsensical storytelling, and baffling character dialogue, it's difficult to completely dismiss. There's undeniable fun to be had here in a so-bad-it's-good kind of way, and that might even be enough for the game to secure cult status somewhere down the line. But for now, you'll need to slog through some of the most jank combat in full-price gaming to squeeze enjoyment out of the experience. Wanted: Dead is a truly fascinating mess.
Wanted: Dead is a mess of a game with hints of excellence strewn about. I wanted to love it a lot more than I did. Instead the game kept making me frustrated at every turn. There have been a million examples of how to make a challenging game without making it frustrating. Wanted: Dead is the epitome of the latter. It simply uses lazy tropes instead of clever game play to create its difficulty. The end result is a game that has some great ideas, but will not interest most players. I expect most to quit before finishing the first boss.
Wanted: Dead starts off strong with plenty to learn and enjoy, but towards the end bogs itself down by trying to be difficult, forgoing what made it good to begin with.
Wanted: Dead will make several admirers of old-time action-shooters happy, but it seems like a wasted opportunity and many gamers will find it frustrating and unrefined.
Review in Italian | Read full review
With Wanted: Dead, Soleil fails to accomplish its mission to make a good comeback for hardcore action games like Ninja Gaiden: this game seems blocked in the PS2 era.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A game full of personality but that not always knows how to execute some of its most differential ideas, those that separate it from being simply a hack and slash "from the creators of".
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The creators of the first two Ninja Gaiden and several Dead or Alive installments bring us an attempt to return to those times in the current generation. Released for XBOX One, XBOX Series, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC, and with some aspects to be polished but that seems to have been resolved in the version that we have been able to play, it does not impress audiovisually, but it is convincing in terms of playability once the system has been mastered of combat, giving us a lot of satisfaction in this aspect. Undoubtedly a recommended option to spend a few good hours enjoying this love letter to the sixth generation of consoles.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
After spending 12 or so hours with review code, I’ve come to the conclusion that frankly, this game just isn’t very good
Wanted: Dead has a charm and sense of humor that is rarely found in modern games, and it backs that up with an amazing combat system that only gets better the more you play.
If you're out for some janky, old-school action that doesn't take itself seriously in the least, there's a good chance you're in the minority that will very much enjoy Wanted: Dead. But at the same time, I imagine a lot of people would bounce off this somewhat scuffed throwback pretty hard.
Wanted: Dead has some cool ideas on show, but some dull combat mechanics and repetitive gameplay leave it feeling a bit rough to play. I wouldn’t say anything is outright bad in the game and it does have its cool moments, but they’re few and far between when compared to the more monotonous aspects of the experience.
Wanted: Dead promised to be a very violent action game, with a macabre style and unexpected mechanics, but instead we have found a frustrating experience that is rarely fun. We cannot recommend it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Despite not living up to the character action games it clearly draws inspiration from, Wanted: Dead is a competent action game in its own right.
Wanted: Dead's shallow combat, dated presentation, and poorly balanced difficulty are the tip of the iceberg of issues that ultimately sinks this disappointing action game from the makers of Ninja Gaiden.
Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.
It's not often that the promotion campaign might be more enjoyable than the final product, but Wanted: Dead may have to grin and bear this ignominy. Despite some effort to subvert genre norms with its characters and amusing mini-games, the core action is bogged down by low production values, imbalance, and repetition. For every moment it hits its stride, there's another where it stubs its toe, and some slick execution animations are as imaginative as it gets.