Dementium: The Ward

Dementium: The Ward is a survival horror first-person shooter game developed by Renegade Kid for the Nintendo DS. The game was released in North America on October 26, 2007, published by Gamecock Media Group.

Dementium: The Ward
Developer(s)Renegade Kid
Publisher(s)Nintendo DS
Nintendo 3DS
Renegade Kid[1]
Director(s)Jools Watsham
Designer(s)Jools Watsham
Composer(s)Jools Watsham
Platform(s)Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS (eShop)
ReleaseNintendo DS
  • NA: October 26, 2007
  • EU: April 17, 2009[2]
Nintendo 3DS
Genre(s)Survival horror, first-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Dementium: The Ward was originally planned as a Silent Hill game for the Nintendo DS, but Konami turned down Renegade Kid's pitch, causing the latter to create an original game instead.[5]

In September 2014, Jools Watsham of Renegade Kid announced on his Twitter account that the developer gained back the rights to the title,[1] and later announced plans to release an enhanced version of the game, Dementium Remastered, on the Nintendo 3DS eShop in Q4 2015.[6] The remastered version was released in North America on December 3, 2015 and Europe on February 11, 2016.[3]

Gameplay

In Dementium: The Ward, the player takes the role of William, a man with amnesia, and has to venture through a hospital's rooms and hallways in order to find the exit and escape the establishment. The game uses a first-person view. In order to advance in the game, the player has to resolve puzzles and defeat monsters. At the beginning, William only has access to a nightstick that he can use to defend himself against enemies in addition to a flashlight. As the game progresses, he finds more weapons, such as a revolver.[7] The console's touch screen is used to move the character's vision, to change weapons and to interact with some nearby elements. It also displays the health bar and can show a map or the player's inventory.[8]

Plot

Dementium tells the tale of a man, William Redmoor, who has an operation on his brain. The Doctor realized that the mind of William is in danger, so he made nightmare dreams where William must fight back to the end and get out of his dreams. As the Doctor calls it, this is the first phase. Throughout the game, the constant mention of a man who murdered his wife and daughter is brought up. It was believed by the staff that William was the murderer. A news report towards the end of the game says that a man was found standing over the dead body of his wife with a gun in his hand. After a brief struggle police shot and wounded the man. His daughter was found alive.

Reception

Dementium and Dementium Remastered received "mixed or average reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[9][10]

Craig Harris of IGN said that the visuals were "outstanding: the lighting effects and texture work in Dementium: The Ward are pretty special when you consider the Nintendo DS' capabilities." He also noted "the flashlight effect might not match what other developers have done on more powerful systems" but "it's a believable technique that's pulled off better than anything seen on same-level hardware."[7] Pete Sellers of Deeko was more positive, commenting on the DS version's many pros and few cons in a parody of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe: "Visually, Dementium's divine and every facet is designed / To create a sense of ambience that offers frights galore. ... / If you've the guts to enduring gaming in which you do lots of playing / All the while softly praying, preying on some churlish horde, / Go out and buy this game now quickly! Preying on churlish horde / Within Dementium: The Ward!"[30] The DS version was criticized most prominently for its short length and lack of replayability; but also for its save system, and that most of the in-game enemies respawn on revisit, leaving a player short on items and ammunition and discouraging exploration.

In Japan, where the DS version was ported and published by Interchannel-Holon on June 26, 2008, Famitsu gave it a score of two eights, one six, and one eight, for a total of 30 out of 40.[15] On September 22, 2008, the Japanese Association of Psychiatric Hospitals published a protest against the DS version,[31] asking it to be taken off the shelves because "the game uses the tradition of psychiatry in name but uses imagery of attacking patients".[32]

The DS version sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide.[33]

Sequel

Prior to E3 2009, Renegade Kid released a teaser trailer announcing the development of Dementium II for the Nintendo DS. The game was released on May 4, 2010.

After finally gaining publishing rights to the series in September 2014,[1] Renegade Kid announced a third installment in development and to be released after re-releasing the first two games on the Nintendo 3DS.[6]

References
  1. McFerran, Damien (September 17, 2014). "Renegade Kid Now In A Position To Produce More Dementium Games". Nintendo Life. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  2. East, Tom (April 9, 2009). "Win! DSi and Dementium". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  3. James (November 19, 2015). "Dementium Remastered has a release date". Pure Nintendo Magazine. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  4. Brian (November 26, 2015). "Dementium Remastered targeted for January/February release in Europe". Nintendo Everything. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  5. Campbell, Evan (April 27, 2015). "Dementium: The Ward Was Pitched to Konami as a Silent Hill DS Game". IGN. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  6. McFerran, Damien (December 15, 2014). "Renegade Kid Is Bringing Survival Horror Title Dementium To The Nintendo 3DS". Nintendo Life. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  7. Harris, Craig (October 31, 2007). "Dementium: The Ward Review". IGN. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  8. Logan (July 3, 2009). "Test du jeu Dementium : L'Asile sur DS" [Review of the game Dementium: The Ward on DS] (in French). Jeuxvideo.com. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  9. "Dementium Remastered for 3DS Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  10. "Dementium: The Ward for DS Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  11. Whitaker, Jed (December 2, 2015). "Review: Dementium Remastered". Destructoid. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  12. Bennett, Colette (October 31, 2007). "Destructoid review: Dementium: The Ward". Destructoid. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  13. Edge staff (May 2008). "Dementium: The Ward". Edge. No. 188. p. 99.
  14. Reed, Kristan (April 10, 2009). "Dementium: The Ward". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  15. Brian (June 18, 2008). "Famitsu review scores". Nintendo Everything. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  16. Vore, Bryan (December 2007). "Dementium: The Ward". Game Informer. No. 176. Archived from the original on January 9, 2008. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  17. Melick, Todd (December 17, 2007). "Review: Dementium: The Ward". GamePro. Archived from the original on January 4, 2008. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  18. Hudak, Chris (November 19, 2007). "Dementium: The Ward Review". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  19. Anderson, Lark (November 6, 2007). "Dementium: The Ward Review". GameSpot. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  20. Lewis, Cameron (November 5, 2007). "GameSpy: Dementium: The Ward". GameSpy. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
  21. Couture, Joel (November 29, 2015). "Review: Dementium Remastered". Nintendo Life. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  22. Schreiner, Paul (July 12, 2009). "Review: Dementium: The Ward". Nintendo Life. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  23. "Dementium: The Ward". Nintendo Power. Vol. 223. December 25, 2007. p. 84.
  24. Miller, Zachary (December 2, 2015). "Dementium Remastered (3DS 3Shop) Review". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  25. Miller, Zachary (January 17, 2008). "Dementium: The Ward". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  26. Aranda, Ramon (November 20, 2007). "Dementium: The Ward (DS) Review". 411Mania. Archived from the original on November 21, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  27. Dahlen, Chris (November 12, 2007). "Dementium: The Ward". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on November 15, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  28. "Best of 2007 (Best First Person Shooter)". IGN. Archived from the original on January 5, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
  29. "Best of 2007 (Best Graphics Technology)". IGN. Archived from the original on January 4, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
  30. Sellers, Pete (November 6, 2007). "Dementium: The Ward - Review". Deeko. Archived from the original on November 9, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  31. "Letter of Protest". Japanese Association of Psychiatric Hospitals. Archived from the original on October 8, 2008. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
  32. Ellison, Blake (October 1, 2008). "Japan Psychiatric Association Wants Survival Horror DS Game Pulled". Shacknews. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  33. Prell, Sophie (January 3, 2013). "Hackers claim to have gained entry to the 3DS - developers sound off on possible homebrew and piracy". Penny Arcade. Archived from the original on January 6, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
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