Death by Degrees

by Namco

Product Features

• utilizes a unique control scheme built completely around the analog sticks
• players can see the weak points of enemies and the phyisical damage taken by a beating
• utilize stealth techniques never seen in the Tekken series

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0002CTTR6
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches ; 5.4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: November 29, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,094 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com

Death by Degrees has been designed as an odd hybrid of Resident Evil style game structure (think fixed camera angles, plus lots of hallways and item/key puzzles) interspersed with all-analog fighting à la Rise to Honor. I think this basic foundation is where the developers went wrong. The survival horror genre was conceived to build tension. All the running around you do in Resident Evil titles is actually helps to create a mood of foreboding. Here, there's none of that. For this reason, all the wandering seems like filler. This tedium is not helped by the inexcusably long loading times. In addition, the fixed camera scheme isn't well-suited to all-out brawling either, as sometimes you'll be pushed into an area of a room where you can't see your opponent.

I actually had fun using the analog control to effortlessly string together combos. Even cooler are Nina's finishing moves, where the screen goes to an x-ray view of your prey that allows you to select just which part of his torso you're going to crush. However, I didn't like the mechanics for blocking or evades (which require a quick flick of the analog stick). During heated battles, both were way too erratic, even with the sensitivity adjusted to high.

All told, this game will please neither action fans nor followers of the Tekken franchise, and comes off as a marketing scheme gone horribly awry.

Concept:
A mix of Resident Evil and third-person beat ‘em ups, starring Nina from Tekken

Graphics:
A very nice-looking PS2 title, Death by Degrees excels graphically

Sound:
Generic to the extreme (is that possible?), a ho-hum mix of rock guitars and cheesy techno

Playability:
I'm not sold on the 360-degree combat, and the exploration is tedious

Entertainment:
Hardcore Tekken fans will be disappointed, as will everyone else

Replay:
Low

Rated: 5.5 out of 10
Editor: Matt Helgeson
Issue: March 2005

2nd Opinion:
There are two things that I like about this game, and the rest (and I mean rest) of the package reeks of utter despair. In a plus column, I have the opening cinematic and the x-ray finishing-move dynamic. Cool stuff, please do it again. Other than that, there's nothing here but a handful of standard features notable only for the variety of ways that they suck fun from the experience, nestled between long bouts of loading.

Rated: 5.25 out of 10
Editor: Lisa Mason


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Product Description

An action/brawling game starring Nina of the Tekken series. The story centers on an organization called the Camietta. A member of this group recently completed work on a super weapon called the Salakia and is intent on selling it to terrorists. It is learned that the upper ranks of the Camietta group will be appearing on a luxury cruiser in order to witness a fighting tournament. Nina and two other CIA agents board the ship in order to get to the bottom of things.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An adventure/brawler very worthy of your perusal, May 1, 2005

By 

Nightfall (UT, USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Death by Degrees (Video Game)

It is very high time that somebody came out and declared that this game is not nearly as bad as the gaming media has been saying it is. Why the reviews have been so nasty, who's to say. All I know is, I've been playing this game for quite some time and I have been very impressed. This game was developed by Namco, a Japanese developer, and I think the reason so many people are reacting against it is that it doesn't follow the typical Japanese fighter game style. For one, the graphics are phenomenal. This game is one of the most gorgeous PS 2 games I've ever seen. It doesn't have the "Konami look"--you know, the washed out, watered down graphics that so many Japanese adventure/fighter games have. The graphics in this game are bursting with detail and color, and the animations of both Nina and her enemies are very well done. The combat system is very innovative, employing movements of the analog sticks instead of lengthy button combos. Bravo! It's about time somebody got away from button combos. The puzzles are fun and quite involved. The only legitimate problem this game has is its camera, but it's not serious enough to warrant the extremely negative reviews it has gotten. Give Death by Degrees a try and I think you'll be impressed.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dont even try to evade or block! Just watch Nina bounce, May 31, 2005

By 

Damien Lambert "The good Bad Boy" (New Yoyk) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Death by Degrees (Video Game)

Yes, it's Nina. Whatever, I found her to be a very annoying character in tekken (I'm an Eddy Gordo man meself). I got the Demo In PSM and amidst the Area 51 and Musashi demos, I played this one the most. Why? Well, I do love the ladies, but I did find it fun to kick ass with the taps, pick up guns and katanas, and bust up goons internally. It reminded me of the Sonny Chiba streetfighter movies. I played through the demo a couple times before I even realized how to use weapons! needless to say, the weapons made my ass kicking efforts more effortless. I would buy the game for $15 bucks or less, but not for 25! It does have major issues with the uselessness of blocking and evading (why put those on the same stick Namco?). Bottom line, $15 yes, anything over NO.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but...., February 22, 2005

By 

Zippo "Zippo" (Mexico) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Death by Degrees (Video Game)

It's a decent action game, sure, but it suffers from the (very common) problem of being very fun one moment, and then just frustrating for an equal amount of time, you grit your teeth and keep playing and then it gets good again, and so on. No PS2 game is going to impress graphically today (unless you mean impressive graphics "for a PS2 game", like MGS 3 for instance), but Nina looks OK. I think the main problem is that Nina just isn't as interesting as she could have been - neither is the "story" of the game. You keep thinking: "This could have been so much better if only...". I would recomend this only to fans of guns & girls-games.