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With the over-abundance of racing and sports games for the PSP it?s nice to
see another genre come to the PSP. While Death Jr. isn?t the first platform
game for the system, it helps round out a rather shallow game selection.
You?re just a normal kid on a field trip with some classmates. The only
difference is you?re the son of the grim reaper, and your friends seem to
have some problems of their own. There?s Pandora, who can?t leave anything
closed and Stigmartha, who hands start to bleed when she gets nervous. The
Seep, an armless, legless foreign exchange student who lives in a jar, Dead
Guppy who is the wild one in the bunch and finally Smith and Weston who are
inventors that share one doubly large brain.
On the field trip to the museum, this group of friends breaks off from the
pack to go exploring and happen to come upon a sealed chest. With Pandora
unable to open the box, Death Jr. (DJ from hereon) decided his scythe could
come in handy. Opening the box was a big mistake. DJ realized he released
an ancient evil called Moloch, who has captured and shattered his friends?
souls that are now hidden throughout the museum. It?s now up to DJ to fix
this himself, because if his dad finds out he might be shipped off Military
School.
When DJ was announced I was excited with anticipation for a new platform
license. What I wasn?t excited for was all the complaints about the camera
angles. Is it true? Well, yes and no, to some extent. At times the camera
is fine and by just tapping the L button it will center itself behind DJ.
Other times, especially when battling a multitude of enemies, you can get
yourself stuck in a corner, not being able to see who is attacking you.
The gameplay is like any other standard platform game. You can jump, wall
jump, hang onto pipes and hooks with your scythe, strafe and lock onto
targets. Aside from your scythe as being your main weapon, you also have
sub weapons such as pistols, a shotgun, a flamethrower, freeze thrower,
rocket launcher, chain gun, electric gun, and my personal favorite ? the C4
hamsters. Depending on the enemies you?re fighting, you want to pick the
right weapon, which can be easily selected with the control pad. There?s
nothing more satisfying than clearing out a room using rodents with heavy
explosives strapped to their backs. You do have unlimited ammo with the
pistols, but all other weapons use ammo which you can pick up throughout
the course of the game. The enemies in the game are also varied, and you?ll
need some strategy to decide the best course of action for taking them out.
The sound and graphics in the game are impressive. The music in most levels
is very well done, but it tends to get repetitive. The voiceovers are
pretty good as well. Nothing spectacular, but above average. Most of the
level design is very well done, and definitely gives DJ a high playability
factor. I didn?t notice any jagged edges, or slowdown when fighting
multiple enemies.
If you?re still undecided about adding this game to your collection, I
highly recommend renting it first, or borrowing it from a friend. While I
believe this is a good game, there are those who would disagree with me. If
you?re a platforming game fan, I would still recommend playing it first.
It?s not difficult, but some of the playability; especially the camera
angle can become frustrating at times. For the hardcore platforming gamers,
I would say to go pick up this game, you shouldn?t be disappointed.
By: Peloquin
Jesse Labrocca
Media Link: Death Jr. Screenshots
| Gameplay: |
 6 |
| Graphics: |
7 |
| Sound: |
8 |
| Learning Curve: |
8
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| Overall: |
7 |
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