Death Jr. and the Science Fair of DOOM review

A hiply morbid platform actioner determined to kill your happy time

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Unfortunately, the method for this is pretty shabby and typical. You can hack out a fair complement of attacks with DJ's own scythe, either with a button or just by tapping enemies - however, you still have to point him toward the beast with the D-pad for the attack to connect and the tapping timing is sluggish, so it doesn't work as well as you'd think. Over time, you'll unlock a few more weapons, like pistols, a shotgun, and suicidal hamsters with C4 strapped to their backs (they can open new paths as well). Ammo is pretty limited though, so it's usually the scythe or nothing.

Unfortunately, combat is the good part; you'd think the ability to double-jump, combined with the scythe's power to propeller glide, to grab onto high ledges or to swing from hanging hooks would make DJ a veritable Spider-Man. It doesn't. You're mostly hampered by swooshy controls, but the camera views and the fact that the scythe doesn't grab that ledge you'd hoped it would at least half the time also contribute to the anti-awesome.

There's a whole second system in the game, in which you can take control of Pandora's spirit and navigate the spirit realm for 15 or so seconds at a time. She can sometimes reach areas DJ can't (spirit platforms, you see). But mostly she collects the souls of fallen enemies and then shoots them, slingshot-style, to replenish DJ's health and confidence (a mostly useless meter that helps you do more damage when you're feeling potent), hit spirit bull's-eyes that figure into puzzles, and stun enemies.

More info

GenreAction
DescriptionHow bad can a science fair be? You'll find out when you take control of Death, Jr. and Pandora in their first touch-screen adventure.
Platform"DS"
US censor rating"Everyone 10+"
UK censor rating""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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Eric Bratcher
I was the founding Executive Editor/Editor in Chief here at GR, charged with making sure we published great stories every day without burning down the building or getting sued. Which isn't nearly as easy as you might imagine. I don't work for GR any longer, but I still come here - why wouldn't I? It's awesome. I'm a fairly average person who has nursed an above average love of video games since I first played Pong just over 30 years ago. I entered the games journalism world as a freelancer and have since been on staff at the magazines Next Generation and PSM before coming over to GamesRadar. Outside of gaming, I also love music (especially classic metal and hard rock), my lovely wife, my pet pig Bacon, Japanese monster movies, and my dented, now dearly departed '89 Ranger pickup truck. I pray sincerely. I cheer for the Bears, Bulls, and White Sox. And behind Tyler Nagata, I am probably the GR staffer least likely to get arrested... again.