Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death
A first-person shooter based on the Judge Dredd comic.
Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death is a first-person shooter developed by Rebellion Developments, based on the Judge Dredd character from the 2000 AD comics.
In the single-player campaign, players control Judge Dredd across eleven levels, fighting criminals and undead vampires. Three difficulty settings—Easy, Normal, and Hard—are available, along with a cooperative mode. A "law meter" tracks how well the player follows Mega-City One's laws. Completing objectives and arresting criminals raises it; attacking without first issuing a challenge to surrender, or harming Judges, civilians, or surrendered criminals, lowers it. Using incendiary ammo on humans, even hostile ones, heavily drains the meter. If it empties completely, the level becomes unwinnable and the Special Judicial Squad executes the player. After each mission, the player receives a rank: Cadet, Rookie, Street Judge, Senior Judge, or Judge Dredd. Performance also unlocks at least one multiplayer character or map per level.
Arcade mode offers twelve challenges; completing each with a high rank earns cheat codes. Multiplayer supports up to three human players and twelve computer-controlled opponents in deathmatch. Online play is exclusive to the Windows version.
The plot is set in 2121. Mega-City One, a dystopian home to 800 million, relies on Street Judges who act as police, judge, jury, and executioner. Judge Dredd is the most effective. Psi Division's Judge Anderson has a premonition of a plague. Dredd is told to watch for leads. On patrol, he fights feral vampires. He learns a vampire-filled aircraft crashed into Nixon penitentiary, disabling defenses and sparking a riot. Dredd secures the prison, but the Dark Judges' spirits escape their containment. With no leads, Dredd returns to patrol. He finds a death cult creating physical bodies for the Dark Judges; he fights through, but the ritual completes, freeing them.
A zombie outbreak at a megamall initially seems to be Judge Death's work, but it's revealed that both vampires and zombies are humans infected by a genetically engineered retrovirus from Dr. Icarus's pet reanimation business. Dredd is sent to arrest Dr. Icarus, who injects himself with a modified virus and apparently falls to his death. His lab self-destructs; Dredd escapes. Judge Mortis attacks Clooney Hospital.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death
- Developer
- Rebellion Developments
- Platforms
- PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows, GameCube
- Released
- PS2 & XboxEU · 17 October 2003 · NA · 23 February 2005WindowsEU · 17 October 2003 · NA · 3 March 2005GameCubeEU · 12 December 2003 · NA · 1 March 2005
- Genre
- First-person shooter
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The game is set in 2121 in Mega-City One, a dystopian megacity of 800 million people. The player takes the role of Judge Dredd, the city's most effective law enforcer, who acts as police, judge, jury, and executioner. The singleplayer campaign consists of eleven levels where Dredd battles criminals and undead vampires, following a plot involving a premonition by Judge Anderson of a plague, a prison riot at Nixon penitentiary, the escape of the Dark Judges, and a genetically engineered retrovirus developed by Dr. Icarus. The game features a 'law meter' that gauges the player's adherence to the law; if fully depleted, the level becomes unwinnable and the Special Judicial Squad executes the player. After each mission, the player receives a ranking from Cadet to Judge Dredd. Completing levels unlocks multiplayer characters or maps. The game also includes an arcade mode with 12 challenges and a multiplayer deathmatch mode.
Reader's Guide
Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death received mixed reviews on all platforms according to Metacritic. Critics complained about weak AI, lackluster graphics, bizarre character models, and simplistic gameplay. However, the game was praised for its multiplayer and arcade mode, which contains over a dozen maps and several playable characters and modes, similar to TimeSplitters 2. IGN noted that the arcade mode 'adds some spice to an otherwise boiled and blanched game' and concluded that fans of the fiction would appreciate its faithfulness but wonder how it could have done the source material the same disservice as the 1995 film. GameSpot called it a 'short, simplistic shooter that's not worth even its budget price' and recommended waiting for better full-priced shooters. Many game magazines gave early reviews about a year before the US release. A novelization by Gordon Rennie was published in October 2003, altering the storyline by giving some events to other judges.
Did You Know?
- The game was originally announced in February 2001 as an Xbox exclusive with a 2002 release window.
- The law meter can be fully depleted by using incendiary ammunition on humans, even if they are hostile.
- The arcade mode contains 12 challenges, each rewarding cheat codes when completed with a high rank.
- The novelization by Gordon Rennie alters the storyline, giving some events that happened to Dredd to other judges like Judge Giant and Anderson.
More in First-Person Shooters of the 2000s, Part 1 1-24
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