PSP World

Death Jr.

In Death Jr. you play as the Grim Reaper’s son, trying to save your friends from an eternity of suffering at the hands of Moloch. Armed with his scythe and an arsenal of guns and explosives, Death Jr. will battle through numerous levels towards a final confrontation with Moloch himself. Although generally classified as a platformer, the game is actually a mix of platform and third person shooter gameplay — but is this a good thing?

We had fairly high hopes going in to Death Jr., if for no other reason than it’s been a while since we’ve had a really quality release. Unfortunately, Death Jr. isn’t it. While it shows shimmers of being a great game, it’s sub-par camera and controls hold it back from what is a very promising presentation. Graphically, the game is good-looking, if rather simple in style. The audio is really kind of a disappointment — it can get rather repetitive, and the sound effects are rather uninspired. Overall, it’s not a horrible game, but it’s not that good either — sad, because we feel the game could have been a must own if it had just had a little more time to develop and someone had realized the possibilities for the audio.

Review Round-Up

IGN: 7.0
“Death Jr. just needed more “oomph” to it than it has. Not only is this the is the son of Death here, but it’s also the game that has become known and “the first PSP game” — that’s a lot for the little fellow to live up to, and he doesn’t stand up to the challenge.”

GameSpot: 6.5
“As periodically intense and initially charming as Death Jr. can be, the whole of the game isn’t engaging. The fact that there’s no real storyline or charm to latch onto makes the unremarkable gameplay and presentational components that much worse—not to mention how short the whole adventure is.”

GamePro: 5.0
“You’ll want to like the game because of its charm and aesthetics, but too much stands in the way. Between the untameable camera, and the sporadic control issues, far too often you’ll find yourself running away simply because you can’t get a bead on your enemies.”

Stuff Magazine: 5.0
“Bury this one six feet under. Even if the Tim Burton aesthetic turns you on, the tepid gameplay makes this disc DOA.”

Aggregate Rating: 6.1