Oct. 30, 2007

Shocking. That's the easiest way to describe Dementium: The Ward. We're equally taken aback by the technical feat that developer Kid Renegade and upstart publisher Gamecock have managed to pull off, and that there's a terrifying first-person survival horror game that elicits genuine scares on the Nintendo DS. If Metroid Prime Hunters proved the platform detractors wrong, then Dementium proves them infinitely wronger.

From the moment you start up the game, you know you're in for something different. Right from the get-go you're assaulted with mysterious and horrific imagery, such as a unsettlingly large hellbeast dragging a speechless lass covered in blood across the dingy floor of a mental institution. Yikes indeed. Click here to see what we mean. Seriously, the game is grisly and disturbing as all get out. But perhaps describing it like a depression-era great aunt is underselling it.

The DS isn't supposed to do FPS horror right? Those were our initial thoughts too, as you start out in a dark room with a layer of black fog. But as soon as you snag a flashlight (which is immediately), Dementium proves its worth by displaying vast areas, numerous enemies and lengthy corridors with disturbing zeal and no loss in framerate.