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Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
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Game Info
Publisher: Vivendi Universal / Sierra
Developer: Rebellion
Genre(s): First-Person Shooter, Action
Players: 4
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Release Date: February 27, 2005
Summary
It is the third decade of the 22nd century. Unemployment is endemic, boredom is universal and only the Judges can prevent total anarchy Empowered to dispense instant justice, they are judge, jury and executioner all in one. The most feared and respected of all the Judges is Dredd he is the Law! In the darkest depths of Mega-City One a group calling themselves the Death Cult are devising a fiendish plan to free the evil Dark Judges from their holding chamber in a Justice Department penitentiary. Meanwhile the Judges of PSI Division have foreseen that the Big Meg will be blighted by a terrible plague. Soon enough, as predicted, there are outbreaks of vampirism across the city. Is this the return of some ancient, forgotten evil? [Vivendi Universal]
Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central
Also On The Web: GameSpy Preview Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Play Magazine
The adventure-addled gameplay is pure Dredd too, and the story--Dark Judges have risen - is very cool. [Apr 2004, p.64]
Xequted
This hard work, however, is denigrated by the repetition of character models throughout the entire game.
Read Full Review >BonusStage
Arrests are fun for about two levels, and then you notice the same few sayings keep repeating when you slap the cuffs on perps.
Read Full Review >Game Informer
Judge Dredd scores a minor victory in its ability to let its roots show through amid the usual indistinguishable mess of guns and guts. [May 2004, p.93]
Read Full Review >GameReviewer
As with the gameplay, the weapons of Dredd vs Death also manage to walk the fine line between licensed glory and gaming mediocrity.
Read Full Review >netjak
It oozes character from every pore, yet bends rather than breaks the steadfast conventions of the FPS. For this reason, a partiality towards the Dredd franchise is not just a recommendation, but a practical requirement when playing the game.
Read Full Review >Yahoo! Games
There's a very limited, repetitive number of enemy types (whose quickly depleted voiceovers get annoying), and the core combat is solid, but uninspired (circle-strafe, reload, repeat).
Read Full Review >Xbox Nation Magazine
Gets the gunplay and gruff attitude right, but beneath the badge, it's simply, well, not unlike most first-person shooters. [May 2004, p.81]
GamerFeed
It's merely a very standard game that's all about mindless blasting and consuming copious amounts of Red Bull, to which I say, rock on!
Read Full Review >TeamXbox
Awkward gameplay mechanics, sub par graphics, and bland audio keep this game from reaching any sort of potential.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
It's a short, simplistic shooter that's not worth even its budget price.
Read Full Review >My Gamer
The truth here is this: the game should have been released two years ago as it was meant to. Hardcore comic fans might love the game, but for a casual gamer, it’s an average offering in an already overcrowded genre.
Read Full Review >IGN
For those starved action gamers in need of an immediately accessible fix, there is still some strange sense of joy to be found in pointlessly gunning down the minions of evil in colorful environments.
Read Full Review >Edge Magazine
Your main objective is the bane of the modern FPS: follow a little blue arrow while shooting things, with the odd escort or protect responsibility thrown in to make you turn around occasionally. It's average justice dished out to the licence, but nothing more. [Christmas 2003, p.121]
Gamer.tv
Rebellion has taken a sci-fi world tailor-made for an FPS game and created a title that feels like it could have been made six years ago.
Read Full Review >Official Xbox Magazine
Poorly designed levels with lackluster textures and little to no environmental interaction only compound the game's senseless enemy AI. [May 2004, p.84]
Maxim Online
But for the crimes of middling graphics and dull-as-dirt game play, we sentence Dredd vs. Death to eternal burial in the discount bin at Costco. Court adjourned.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 6.4 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
The Champ Rocky gave it a3:
Yo Adrian! Help! I'm all beat up in this blocky mess. Yo Adrian! Hey Paulie! I can't get up in this drivel...
Richard S. gave it a6:
Overall - disappointing. What could have been exceptional is undone by too many sloppy elements that fail to take advantage of the Xbox's capabilities. Problems: the gameplay is way too repetitive; the arrest sequence is dreadful - way too fast, you can't read the arrest details which waste's the point and ruins the armosphere; for a megacity with millions of people, it is incredibly empty, too many scenes have no-one in them - I wanted a realistic, over-run city, particularly the mall scenes; the characters who are in the game are ALL the same - the same fat guy, the same afro guy, the same knee pad guy, the same scrawler girl. It's appalling - no variety at all. Again, ruins the atmosphere. The rag doll AI is annoying. And why do so many games resort to horror elements? V annoying - Dredd comics rarely resort to horror. The lawenforcer gun is a great idea - the different settings etc - yet they NEVER all get used. The ricochet bullet is NEVER used throughout. The environment is also repetitive and not interactive - the posters and signs are the same throughout - BORING! The good - the cityscape backgrounds look exceptional. It's a poor man's Halo/Doom, but it's still entertaining and challenging enough to be worth a play.
Jimmy S. gave it a 10:
Brilliant and well made game that perfectly captures the comic. Its easy enough for me to play all the way through!
DC gave it a 7:
Shows its PS2 origins in the graphics but a fun and atmospheric shooter.
Baron S. gave it a 6:
Dredd versus Death is an enjoyable co-op experience but I can't help but feel it would lose a lot if played purely as a single player. The graphics aren't exactly amazing (and look a bit dated) but they do give a feeling of being in a massive Mega City and are fairly true to the designs in 2000AD. As I mentioned before, it's a good co-op game and has plenty to unlock in it, to give you more reason to keep playing. If you're a big nerd, like me, in terms of both 2000AD and videogames, it's a suitable match.
