Kill Me If You Can

One of the best items in any Mario game is the Star, allowing you to zip through stages while being invincible for a delicious 99 seconds. But how many times have you wished you could stay invincible the whole time in a video game? Rebellion Developments has heard your thoughts (creepy, huh?) and throws you into their upcoming title NeverDead as Bryce Boltzmann, an indestructible member of the National Anti-Demon Agency.

However, invincibility is not all it’s cracked up to be. The Demon King Astaroth murdered Bryce’s wife, left him completely broken, and then cursed Boltzmann with invincibility. With indestructibility comes immortality, so Bryce has been fighting demons for the past 500 years...when he’s not hitting the bottle, that is. Now, Astaroth himself has returned with a legion of demons to slaughter, which is where our part of the story begins.

A Man Of Many Parts

NeverDead has the gameplay elements of a traditional third person shooter, but there are abilities that skew the cookie-cutter category (say that ten times fast). Bryce can dual-wield guns as well as use a Butterfly Blade for close encounters. If that’s still not enough power for you, the destructible environments allow you to topple a building on your enemies or shoot a bridge out from underneath them. If you’re still having trouble with a foe try electrocuting yourself or setting yourself on fire, your weapons will follow your body’s lead and allow you to shoot flames or zap enemies while simultaneously slicing them up. But the most intriguing aspect of NeverDead is that Bryce can literally fall to pieces, and each part of his body is able to move independently.

These limbs can be lost in battle, such as when a demon dog bites off an arm, or they are voluntarily yanked off; such as when tearing an appendage off so as to cause a distraction. A severed arm can still fire the gun it holds albeit with less accuracy than if it was attached. Limbs can also act as bombs to take enemies out from a distance by simply pulling off an arm, tossing it into a group of baddies and detonating it to see the demons go flying. In addition, Bryce can turn his put-together body into a grenade, blowing up both enemies and himself. This causes Boltzmann’s body to tear into six pieces: a head, a torso, two arms and two legs. In this dismembered state, the player controls Bryce’s head by rolling along on the ground. There are icons on the minimap that show where your other body parts are as well as a bright white outline around them if they are in your line of vision, you simply have to roll the head over them to reattach. If you don’t want to go on a scavenger hunt and the energy bar is charged up, you can press a button to cause Bryce’s head to completely regenerate his entire body.

Living The Lives Of Others

Although Bryce can’t die, he can still use some help every now and then. Arcadia Maximille; a mortal female agent and the recipient of Bryce’s flirtatious advances, and Alex; another invincible being who has throwing knives impaled into himself and seems to have homicidal tendencies, also work for NADA and assist Bryce in his battles. It is through the inclusion of these assisting characters that the developers have ensured a Game Over screen is not entirely absent. Originally, your partner Arcadia could fall in battle and if you didn’t revive her in time you would fail. This caused much pain in that you didn’t have much time to revive her and that if your body was in pieces your ability to get to Arcadia and save her before she died was greatly impeded. Apparently, it’s hard to revive someone without arms.

Gratefully then, this gameplay aspect has been changed to scripted sequences where Arcadia will be pinned down by demons and Bryce must fight them off. But you’re not in the clear yet, there is still one known way to end your progress. While controlling just Bryce’s head, there is a certain demon called a “grandbaby” that will swallow the noggin whole, causing Bryce to be digested in the demon’s stomach for all eternity. Thankfully, as you go through the game you gain experience that you can spend on improvements such as gun damage, unlocking parts of the game or making your severed head roll faster, making it easier to keep the baddies away and escape from starving grandbabies. There is also a Max Payne-esque ability that allows you to slow down time in order to better control the situation.

If the demon hunting single player isn’t enough for you, then you will be glad to hear that there will also be a few different multiplayer options available. There is a four player co-op form that involves killing waves and waves of demons, much like Gears of War’s Horde mode. However, unlike your single-player protagonist, your multiplayer NADA agent can die. There will also be competitive multiplayer modes, though any details, other than using your decapitation/regeneration abilities as a strategy, have not been released.

Wasn't This A Monty Python Sketch?

If games such as Gears of War or Dead Space appeal to you, I highly suggest that you give NeverDead a chance. Since he can’t die, Bryce is sure to be the bringer of non-stop action in more ways than one, made even better with helpings of dark humor. With the ability to hold a SMG in one hand or slice and dice with a sword so large that it almost rivals that of Cloud Strife, you won’t get bored of mowing down the little devils. Of course, if using traditional weapons has become a little worn out, the ability to become a ticking time bomb with explosive body parts is a unique and refreshing way to kick your enemies where it hurts. I find the decapitation system to be the most alluring part of the game, as it allows for more ways to strategize your next move in a variety of ways. And with a legion of demons coming after you, you’ll need all the planning and manipulation of the environment that you can muster. But don’t lose your head about it; Bryce will be doing enough of that for you.