E3 '07: Dementium: The Ward Hands-On

Earlier today, while visiting Santa Monica's Hotel California--which has been taken over by the Gamecock Media Group for the duration of E3--we met with startup developer Renegade Kid and had an opportunity to get our hands on a demo version of Dementium: The Ward. Perhaps best described as a survival horror first-person shooter, Dementium takes place in a derelict hospital where, at the start of the game, you awaken with no clue who or where you are.

Using the D pad to move around (double-tapping to run) and the stylus to look around, we were introduced to additional controls as and when we needed them. You'll pick up items using one of the face buttons, and you'll equip them simply by tapping the respective picture on the touch-screen inventory. The only other control we ever had to use that wasn't on the touch screen was the left shoulder button, which is used to attack. Items that we found during our time with the demo included a flashlight, which impressively bathed the dim corridors and rooms in light; a nightstick, with which we were able to kill most enemies with four or five blows; and a pistol, which had severely limited ammo that you'll no doubt have opportunities to replenish as you progress. Other, noninventory items that we happened upon during our time with Dementium included a map of the hospital and a two-page notebook, which we were able to write in anytime we found door codes and the like that we'd otherwise have to memorize.

Renegade Kid isn't saying too much about Dementium's story for the moment, but we were told that the horribly deformed, presumably once-human creatures that were confronting us as we explored were test subjects of some kind, and that the hospital was anything but normal. Most of the enemies that we came up against resembled zombies of some kind, but we also saw a much larger enemy dragging a screaming woman off into the darkness at one point, and toward the end of our session we were being hounded by maggotlike creatures that made disturbing noises as they moved along the floor and the walls.

The action was quite fast-paced at times, and the sound of our character's heart beating when he was injured really added to the game's atmosphere and to our sense of urgency. Health-restoring pill bottles were masterfully placed in locations where we could find them anytime we got a little too close to death for comfort, and although our progress through the hospital was clearly predetermined, we always felt like we had the freedom to explore or to backtrack at any time.

Although we only spent about 10 or 15 minutes playing on this occasion, we had an opportunity to sample one or two of Dementium's puzzles, which were pretty ingenious, but not so taxing that they took a long time to figure out and interfered with our test-subject killing spree.

Visually, Dementium is certainly one of the more impressive 3D games that we've seen on the DS. The textures are quite detailed and, importantly, they're varied enough that you'll recognize rooms and corridors that you've seen previously while trying to find your way around. The audio--which we were listening to on a decent set of speakers--also impressed, with the sounds of alarms and automated emergency announcements occasionally providing an atmospheric backdrop to the noises made by enemies and by the weapons that we were killing them with. The aforementioned heartbeat is also worthy of another mention, because with it we were able to tell how close to death we were without having to look at the visual representation of it on the touch screen.

In case you haven't guessed, we came away from our meeting with Renegade Kid feeling really good about what we'd seen. Rest assured that we'll be bringing you more information on this one just as soon as it becomes available.