The Nintendo DS, much like the Wii, quickly became synonymous with family-friendly gaming. When looking back at the most popular DS titles, there are the likes ofMario Kart DS,New Super Mario Bros., Nintendogs,Animal Crossing,Brain Age, andPokemon. While more mature, adult-focused games were certainly released for the Nintendo DS, they aren’t often the ones remembered today. And that’s why gems likeDementium: The Wardhave been forgotten.
Released in 2007,Dementium: The Wardis a first-person survival horrorcrammed onto a Nintendo DS cartridge. Despite being one of the best survival horrors on any handheld console, let alone one from 2007,Dementium: The Wardhas been largely forgotten about in recent years. The only timeDementiumis brought up in modern gaming discussions is when it’s on top 10 lists of the most graphically impressive DS games, which it certainly belongs on. ButDementium: The Wardis so much more than that.
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Dementium: The Ward - A Rare Nintendo DS Horror Classic
Developed by Renegade Kid,Dementium: The Wardputs players in the shaking boots of William Redmoor who suddenly awakens in an abandoned hospital ward, with no memory of how he got there. Equipped with just a flashlight and nightstick, Redmoor must explore the ward, but he isn’t quite as alone as he initially thought.
From a first-person perspective, players need to work their way through the hospital, using the light from the flashlight to deter all manner of horrifying creatures and monsters. As the game progresses, players will eventually unlock a few more weapons, butDementiumstrikes the perfect balanceof giving the player enough ammo to be able to defeat their enemies, but not quite enough to make it through completely unscathed, keeping every single encounter as intense as the last.
Control-wise,Dementium: The Wardplays pretty similarly to just about every other goodfirst-person shooter on the Nintendo DS. While the D-pad controls movement and the face and shoulder buttons activate attacks and access inventories, the touch screen is used to move the player’s first-person perspective. It’s obviously not as natural as using a mouse or second analog stick, butDementiummakes its limited control scheme work by giving its enemies slower, more deliberate movements. Throughout the game, players will also be able to jot down notes via the touch screen to help solve puzzles, which is a pretty neat implementation of the Nintendo DS' hardware.
WhileDementium: The Wardhas decent gameplay, it’s the game’s visuals and the resulting atmosphere that are worthy of praise. As far asNintendo DSgames go,Dementium: The Wardmay just be the most atmospheric, visually-impressive game on the platform. Though its graphics are still blocky and low-res, it’s whatDementiumdoes with its limitations that makes it so impressive. Rather than fight against the Nintendo DS' hardware,Dementiumadopts it, using the console’s natural film grain-like graphics to give the game a sense of eerie dread. The same is done with draw distance, withDementiumembracing the console’s lack of sight to introduce a range of different scares.
Dementiumalso uses lighting to its full potential, with the game’s flashlight casting a surprisingly realistic cone of light. The game’s character models are also a real highlight. Taking clear inspiration from theSilent Hillfranchise, with Renegade Kid even pitchingDementiumto Konami asaSilent Hillspinoff, this game’s monsters are truly horrifying, even with the DS' limited graphical capabilities. Though there aren’t too many monsters, each one features a unique, spooky design, with plenty of horrifying moving parts and tons of pixilated gore.Dementium: The Wardabsolutely nails its survival horror atmosphere from start to finish, and it remains one of the most impressive Nintendo DS games.
Dementium: The Wardis available on Nintendo DS and 3DS.
