GAME REVIEW | A "Dead Man" Tells an Insane Tale of Love & Pop

Just as Quentin Tarantino gets me to see his films on opening weekend, Suda51 gets me to plop down and experience his latest video game immediately when it’s available. Consider me a sucker for a guy who shoves so much pop culture into their creation that the line between originality and homage practically vanishes. We’ve seen it in his past works like the No More Heroes franchise and Shadows of the Damned, and while they weren’t all perfect games, they had a charm to them that made them memorable to the very end. But with Grasshopper Manufacture’s latest game, Romeo is a Dead Man, Suda51 and director Ren Yamazaki have dived right into the deep end and reemerged with something truly wild and unique.

Before you ask, no, Romeo is a Dead Man has nothing to do with Lollipop Chainsaw or its hero Juliet Starling. However, there is another Juliet involved with this game, and she’s pretty much the motivation behind our hero, Romeo Stargazer. After nearly dying from a strange monster, Romeo is brought back to life with the aid of his grandfather, Benjamin. Now dubbed Dead Man, Romeo must aid the FBI Space-Time crew to catch villains, fix some time paradoxes, and find his girlfriend Juliet, who may or may not be responsible for all of this.

While Suda51 is known to be Tarantino-esque with his storytelling, this one feels more akin to a David Lynch production. (Perhaps some of Swery65’s style brushed off of him when they worked on Hotel Barcelona.) At first, I couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on with the narrative. Things didn’t make sense, and the dialogue was all over the place with its nonsensical style. But the deeper I dove into Romeo is a Dead Man, the more things began to click.

As Romeo jumps from one paradox to another, his life and Juliet’s start to come into focus. Here is a man who was looking to escape his small-town life, far away from the comfort that his parents, friends, and other citizens have been accustomed to. It took Juliet appearing one night on patrol for things to kick that escape into gear. But who would’ve guessed that where Romeo would go wasn’t some big city on the East Coast, but rather somewhere deeper in the galaxy? But as he and the FBI Space-Time crew dive deeper into the stars, you constantly wonder whether or not he’ll find his Juliet again on the other side.

But fear not if Romeo is a Dead Man’s story confuses you. (Advice: don’t skip the cut scenes, or things really won’t make sense!) This is a video game after all, and it is truly one of the best-controlled games in Grasshopper Manufacture’s lineup. While it still doesn’t beat using a Wiimote to use a light saber, switching between blade and gun weaponry here is one of the smoothest transitions I’ve seen in years. It might take a bit to perfect the aiming with your blaster, but once you figure it out, you’ll be hitting targets and taking head shots like a pro!

At first, the game would make you believe that it would be a 100% shooter and hack ‘n’ slasher. However, there are times where it takes a sharp left turn into a whole different genre! In one instance, a level based in an asylum goes the survival horror route, with no way to use your weapons to defend yourself. You’ll need to have Romeo sneak around and avoid being caught by one of the nastiest behemoths outside of a Resident Evil game, or else Dead Man will truly be a dead man! Not only was it a great twist, but it genuinely terrified me in places because I had no idea what could’ve been around the corner!

The more you play, the more you can earn upgrades for Romeo and his weaponry. Things like reload times, more powerful slashes, and ammo capacity are what you could expect when you make your swords and guns better. As for your health, that system is more based on a retro arcade game, as you bring the cute little pixelated character around a maze to collect hearts, defense, and other knickknacks that will make Romeo be the hero that he’s destined to be.

Players can also grow zombies that will aid in battles. Some explode, others harm, and a couple even give Romeo a good push towards victory. You can even give them weird names that make almost no sense, or seem to do anything that affects their style. Either way, these zombies do help out nicely, especially during boss battles or when you’re completely surrounded by enemies.

There’s one thing about Romeo is a Dead Man that irks me slightly: its camera system. I started having war-like flashbacks to when I played The Simpsons Game on the Wii, as I constantly had to fix the angle to see where Romeo was. In a few cases, it cost me plenty of health, and I even died a couple of times because of it! If they could’ve just made an auto-focus button, it would’ve made things a bit easier.

PROS:

• Brims with its own unique attitude and style
• Very fun gameplay
• Kooky story that keeps you guessing

CONS:

• Camera gets in the way of big fights
• Takes a while for things to make sense

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Romeo is a Dead Man, but his adventure is filled with life and a hard-hitting attitude. Our hero here can easily be placed alongside the likes of Travis Touchdown and Garcia Fucking Hotspur, proving that Suda51 knows how to craft some God-tier protagonists. Thanks to its killer action and wild story, Romeo is a Dead Man takes it from the Earth to the moons of Uranus with just how much fun this experience is!

FINAL GRADE:

Promotional consideration provided by PressEngine. Reviewed on the PS5.

Share your 2 cents