Wanted Dead comes to PC and Consoles on 14 February 2023, and this explosive mix of genre kitsch and deliriously visceral action is about to utterly blow away your Valentine’s Day plans.
Available now on PC and consoles Wanted: Dead is plainly described as a hybrid slasher/shooter by developers Soliel. Brought to PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X storefronts by publisher 110 Industries, this is a trip into a brutal new technological dystopia where powerful forces and crime syndicates run rough shot over the rest of us, and civil society barely clings on among the chaos. It blends elements of Ninja Gaiden, a sprinkling of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and popular first-person shooters on the streets of a brutal near-future city where human-scale robotics, AI, and all manner of electric dreams are now a reality. Follow us as we delve into a dark chaotic vision of the future with the sort of unapologetic R-rated edge that cuts straight to the heart of an eighties action flick.
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In a world where anarchy seems merely a bad day away, the police rely on Zombie Unit, an off the books unit of overzealous and enhanced individuals. Bankrolled by a murky conglomerate called Dauer Synthetics and with their own shady pasts, this bunch of loose cannons is your guide through the Hong Kong of the future. Lead by protagonist Lt. Hannah Stone, this odd bunch of foul-mouthed miscreants is a clandestine side gig for the local law enforcement, taking on the jobs that keep corporate bigwigs happy and tackling the murkier problems the uniformed hordes wouldn’t want to be seen shooting into.
It’s upon meeting this bunch of mercenaries that the inspiration for this adventure becomes very clear. Sitting in a local diner or meandering through the hallways of the local police station, Hannah and her team are a distinct eighties idea of the near future. If the slick synth-pop rendition of ‘She Works Hard for the Money’ by Stefanie Joosten playing in the background doesn’t make it obvious then the manual files, old-school computer terminals, and loud diner decoration all filter the future through the same lens. Hong Kong makes a fantastic backdrop for this mix of old and new. It echoes the likes of Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell with neon skyscrapers and high-tech lobbies of sell and glass intertwined with the vestiges of the past. There’s even something of Night City in among the action.
Hannah and her crew are touched by this too. Rushing into battle with a bright orange robotic arm, Hannah is a brash katana-wielding, no nonsense protagonist that shoots first and asks questions later. As assets of the megacorp that is Dauer Synthetics, this makes the parallels to Verhoeven’s Robocop or Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell quite obvious.
Graphics
With the game firmly established as a love letter to eighties dystopian ideas of the future, the graphics are thankfully not stuck back in this era. Wanted: Dead might struggle to be considered a next generation title but the most important parts of the game stand up to scrutiny. Rather than flood the game with ray tracing or take time making every eyelash move effortlessly, developer Soleil has focused efforts to deliver a stylish cinematic experience that still feels rough around the edges, even while my 3070FE and Ryzen 5 combo only seems only mildly taxed and the quality is turned up to its highest possible settings at 1440p. That’s no surprise based on the system requirements, and Hannah still looks cool as hell. Sporting jeans, trainers, combat fatigues, big guns, a bloody katana, synthetic mods, bright accessories, and a peppy attitude. Hannah the sort of cop that’d just get the job done across Lethal Weapon installments. There might be a pile of cannon fodder in her wake., but why bother about that when you’re able to go blaring into battle and take down some faceless bad people? Despite looking stylish, there are moments when even the Zombie Unit can feel stuck in the past. Whether a deliberate retro call back or not, these action heroes can still feel rigid at times. This is especially common up close when movement, skin tone, and lighting effects can make things feel a little 2015. I, however, loved this, but it might irk you if you’re looking for something that is more present.
Combat
Graphical fidelity becomes far less of an issue when finally in an action set piece. Most of Wanted: Dead is played from a third-person perspective, moving Hannah and her team through a series of linear missions. Pulled back far enough to see what’s going on around you, the minor niggles of in game engine rendering simply blur out of focus. Instead, a mix of environments open up. From Dauer’s own offices to abandoned parks you’ll have to simply cut through anything that gets in your way and there are plenty of chances to do that. While the pastry selection in the police cafeteria might look rather wooden, the sleek oak paneling of a Dauer’s HQ is luxurious by comparison. This corp HQ presents a wonderful backdrop to the early game. Zen gardens are spliced between modern office spaces. Large desk pulpits merge with marble hallways and glass decoration, all of which are blown to sunder under a mix of slice and ‘splode action. Whether it’s simple outdoor shrubbery or the gorgeous paneling of an oriental architecture, you’ll never slow down long enough to do anything more than simply acknowledge the work put in to build each level.
Level Design
Each encounter in Wanted: Dead is relatively linear. Despite the mass of thematic inspiration available to Soleil in this brave new world, there’s not a lot of room to explore. Like Ghostwire: Tokyo, which had somewhat prescriptive pathing, Wanted: Dead doesn’t offer many chances to explore. It does, however, use sections of each environment to encourage a particular type of play to keep things from becoming too repetitive. Open office spaces provide freedom to roam, but work best when bringing out the big guns, utilizing debris scattered around for cover, players can make good progress with thoughtful gunplay. Adjoining corridors and small spaces that link between set-piece encounters can be even more chaotic than a room full of grenade launchers. Here, limited space means quick reactions, combos, and melee becomes crucial to making ground among waves of different enemies, so you’ll need to know how to wield a sword.
Combat
When I went hands on with Wanted: Dead at Gamescom 2022, 110 Industries expressed how important it was to have these two fully formed ways to play the game. Hannah is able to wind through the myriad of opponents without ever unsheathing her iconic katana and technically could get through the game without firing a single shot too. However, doing either would feel almost unforgivable. Wanted: Dead is an absolute riot when indulging every avenue for violence. It veers between first-person gunplay to visceral slice-and-dice combat on a whim, oozing lashings of body fluid as it goes.
Anybody who’s familiar with Ninja Gaiden will almost instantly feel at home with a katana between their fingers. A few basic controls build attacks and blocks into a powerful array of combos and a blood-soaked confetti of fleshy parts. Counters, interrupts, doge rolls, and bonus attacks all fill out a hands on approach that dances among waves of cannon fodder. Whether it’s hammer-wielding heavies, cybernetic elites, or gun-totting minions the blood gets everywhere! 80’s grindhouse is an excellent touchstone for the in game dismemberment system and unashamed action of Wanted: Dead. A glittering array of ingenious finishing moves even decorate the satisfying shoot-and-slice swordplay that never feels overly complex. Fans of beat ’em ups like Bayonetta or Devil May Cry might scream for more variety, but this game has a gutsy chainsaw.
While the streets of Hong Kong might play host to a series of interesting dissections, there are bigger bosses to battle in Wanted: Dead. One of the most evocative, a spider tank, makes a very obvious nod to the likes of Ninja Gaiden 3, and even the aforementioned Ghost in the Shell. Much like the rest of the game’s most powerful enemies, it never takes too long to overcome, and a few upgrades can always help. A solid range of machine guns, semi-auto pistols, shotguns, and grenade launchers mean an adequate mix of other options when you don’t want to be trampled underfoot, but you’ll be best placed to pick and choose thanks to a limited supply of ammo.
There’s more to combat than who’s got the bigger gun. Progression in Wanted: Dead delves just deep enough to make a difference when cutting through crime. Split into a number of perks, Hannah can learn, purchase, and unlock these extra abilities using earned SP. They’ll provide enough variety that selecting Bullet Time, extra med packs, enhanced armor, or gut-wrenching katana attacks lets players focus on a particular playstyle without changing the fundamentals of the game. Whichever route you choose to take, progression ends up feeling easy to access and rewards a flair for showy takedowns. While this skill tree provides a great way to skew combat, Hannah’s guns also get a similar treatment, making minor tweaks and adding customization to the game’s first-person play.
Back At Base
As much as you’d think the life of Zombie Unit is all gore and guns, there’s more to Wanted: Dead than carving up villains as you recklessly tear through the. Between action beats, Soleil manages to weave a narrative set of encounters that are full of unashamed action flick schlock and charming side gigs. Hannah is convincingly voiced by Fee Marie Zimmermann, while Quiet’s Stefanie Joosten returns as the in shop Gunsmith, Vivienne Niemantsverdriet. Not all of the acting and narrative beats land well or feel as heartfelt as these two, however. The random outbursts followed by silence, voices seemingly speaking to silence, and odd mannerisms can make the game seem creaky at times. For every back and forth about the meaning of reality or comment on the slaughter of Synthetic workers, there’s an equally oddly stitched-together moment.
Despite sometimes odd animation and audio production that can veer wildly between sublime and awkward, a love for this gallery of rogues shines through. Silly ideas like a police station full of cats are allowed to just spill out into the overworld. Bonus crane games, an entire retro arcade title, and shooting ranges are all lined up at the police office to keep you entertained. A beautiful 80’s inspired soundtrack mixes retro arcade beats with rock, synth, and covers of classic pop hits. This decoration even goes the extra mile with a ramen eating rhythm game, that probably ends up being the antithesis of this audacious adventure. There’s no real reason to play through these add-ons or spend an hour trying to collect every available record, but I still did and loved it.
It’s these details that really elevate Wanted: Dead. While progression is quick to make an impact and doesn’t dig deep, it doesn’t stop the core philosophy of Wanted: Dead from being an absolute delight This march into retro-action territory is all about finding joy in your work, even if that happens to be fighting crime with the same vigor that John McClain does Christmas parties. There’s a reverence to almost every reference wrapped up in this title and it occasionally feels like the work of an auteur. While the combat is slick with gore, even the creaky moments feel deliberate, crafted to hark back to the days when the PlayStation 3 was in its infancy. It’s almost wholesome to see Wanted: Dead embrace the deconstruction of your enemies with such unabashed enthusiasm. Get Wanted: Dead and clean up the streets, or just make a mess.
