So I Tried… Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs Death

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never tried before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time I went for the PC version of Judge Dredd: Dredd vs Death.

What I thought it was

A first-person shooter based in the Judge Dredd universe of the 2000AD comics. As a long-time comic book fan, and a British one at that, you’d have thought I’d know a lot about Judge Dredd. I’m ashamed to say that it’s a series that has never really appealed to me, but not always due to its content. When I used to pick up the odd issue of 2000AD in the newsagent, I would be tempted by Judge Dredd, but the art on other strips would make me put it back down. If you were unaware, each issue of 2000AD contains several ongoing stories for several characters, making them less than ideal for picking up with a limited pocket money budget when you only actually want to read seven pages of it. When Dredd vs Death came out, I honestly don’t know why I didn’t pick it up. Based on a UK-created character, developed by the UK-based Rebellion… I can only think that I was on a third-person anti-first-person kick at the time...

The Mega City looks good

What it actually is

A first-person Judge Simulator! With guns, of course. You play as the titular Judge Dredd, and start off by patrolling Mega-City One just like any other day. You can arrest any non-Judge NPC and it will list the crimes they did -- resisting arrest, polluting the area with cigarette smoke, what have you… Your gun has multiple ammo types which can be cycled through; explosive, bouncing, person-seeking, armour piercing and one other that I couldn’t quite catch the name of. You can pick up other weapons, but you get much more mileage out of the main weapon.

Argh, vampire! Ricochet shot!

Will I keep playing

Yes, I think I shall. After a bunch of arrests and having to put some people down, vampires began attacking. Of course, this requires investigation -- and murder -- so that Mega-City One can be safe once more. Safe to arrest people into submission.