ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN Review

ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN is… well, an “Ultra-Violent Science Fiction Action" developed and published by GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE, who you may know for the No More Heroes series, Lollipop Chainsaw, killer7, and a whole other bunch of absurd games that came from the mind of Goichi Suda, or more known as Suda51. This game is the latest original title in their line-up of fever dreams-turned-virtual products, and their first in several years. So, is Romeo better off a dead man or will I finally kill the past? This makes a lot more sense if you play the game.

Enter a new Garden of Madness

You play as Romeo Stargazer, a rookie deputy sheriff stationed in Deadford, Caliban County, in a perfect relationship with an amnesiac woman named Juliet Dendrobium… well, for about two minutes into the intro before a monster proceeds to rip off his arm and half his face. As Romeo lies dying, he gets a second chance (and a sweet sword) thanks to his grandfather, the scientist Benjamin Stargazer, with the help of the DeadGear Life Support System, “borrowed” from the FBI. He’s not quite dead, but he’s not alive either; ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN.

That’s not all, as it turns out Juliet is kind of the FBI's #1 Most Wanted Space-Time Drifter who is causing all sorts of destruction and chaos throughout history… and there are multiple of her. Romeo (or DeadMan, because it sounds cooler) is roped into joining the FBI as a Space-Time Special Agent and must hunt down other Space-Time Drifters, while finding his real Juliet and figuring out the true story behind her existence.

What a classic love story that spans across space-time.

For anyone who didn’t read all that insanity: Romeo needs to kill Juliet to save the world. Also, his grandpa died and is now a living graphic on his jacket. Is that all good? Because the intro just kind of throws you into all this without rhyme or reason. Cool, let’s go murder stuff.

It’s your expected GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE title in terms of writing. It deals with themes of death, the nature of killing, change, and moving on, presented in weird, goofy, and horrifying ways. Considering Romeo screams “Kill the Past” in one cutscene, I’m certain that this game is part of that entire thing.

Wow, this is disturbing.

I quite like the story for what it’s worth, and it delves into some seriously disturbing stuff (that I am not looking forward to playing through again) while occasionally throwing out a “Fuckhead” or two. I do think the terms “dead” and “space-time” are used way too much that they lose their meaning, and no one can remember if they’d rather call Romeo by his name or DeadMan.

There are a lot of references to past titles, so fans of the studio’s work will appreciate them. From the shop using the UI from The Silver Case to a character from No More Heroes 3 being part of the crew. Is this too self-indulgent? Because I think it’s all hilarious!

Didn't expect this to be a zombie game (called Rotters here).

As for the visuals, they are as spectacular as they are random. Seriously, it can go from 3D environments (that admittedly look about as good as on the PlayStation 4) to 2D sprites, hand-drawn animations and comic book-style cutscenes from different artists. While the main game isn’t too spectacular to look at, it’s still a visual spectacle… too much of a visual spectacle, actually. Because of how gory and flashy everything is, it can get a little messy. Blood and special effects will fill your screen to the point where you don’t know what you’re attacking. I mean, I can still fight, but sometimes it melts into random flailing as I beat zombies to death with my chainsaw katana.

I swear this makes sense when I get into the gameplay. As Romeo/DeadMan, you’ll mainly be navigating through levels, killing enemies while hunting down parts to assemble a key that will unlock the Klista Gate and allow you to fight the boss of the level. There are some levels that mix it up (sometimes to its detriment), but that’s generally how things go.

Let the bodies hit the floor.

Onto combat, and if you’ve played No More Heroes 3, you should find yourself in somewhat familiar territory. You have a light and heavy attack, dodge, and a jump. If you need help, you can summon Bastards; zombies grown in the garden of a spaceship that can perform special actions like blowing up, shooting lasers, stealing blood, and healing. No, I’m completely serious. You can even fuse them to make them stronger and create new Bastards as if they’re demons from Shin Megami Tensei.

You do have access to items, but most of them simply give you bonuses like increased melee damage or curing status effects. If you want to heal, you need to pull off a Bloody Summer attack. It requires a Blood Charge to do, which necessitates, you guessed it, blood from attacking enemies. With upgrades, you can have up to three charges, you can use them mid-combo, and each weapon has a unique Bloody Summer.

"DIE!"

Speaking of different weapons, although you start off with the aforementioned chainsaw katana and an energy pistol, you can purchase new armaments to really diversify your arsenal, from fists and greatswords to assault rifles and railcannons. In all, there are eight to unlock and level up, each with unique attacks and niches to really fit any style you prefer. And honestly, I found the combat to be pretty engaging.

You need to identify who will be the problem first and deal with them while frantically fighting off whatever other threats are in the area. It’s satisfying to pull off a Bloody Summer to end a fight in one final swing, almost like No More Heroes’ deathblows. While you won’t be pulling off insane combos like in Devil May Cry, it just feels good to slice bodies into paste.

Combat is fast, bloody, and almost completely unreadable at times.

In contrast, the guns aren’t that great to shoot, to be honest. They’re a little too slow to use, you're forced to walk when shooting, and aiming faster requires upgrades. They’re not unusable and can definitely overshadow the melee weapons if you treat them right, but I expected something a little more snappier that matches the fast-paced combat, and not survival horror–esque gunplay.

Between your desperate struggles, you can use a Space-Time Pharmacy to head back to the Last Night, a Space-Time spaceship that acts as your home base. You can talk to the crew, cook different types of katsudon dishes, upgrade Romeo and his weapons, grow Bastards, fuse those Bastards together (as in have them fight to the death), pilot the ship through space, and go to sleep after a hard day’s work. This is all in a 2D art style that wouldn’t look out of place on the SNES.

I... promise I won't.

Honestly, I think the progression is actually engaging. It is a little annoying to run around the ship to get better Bastards or cook katsu, but each upgrade and choice you make really matters. Heck, getting better stats is a mini-game/puzzle all on its own. Want to increase your base attack, stock more Blood Charges, or reload faster? Well, you have to play DeadGear Cannonball, spending the Emerald Flowsion you collected in levels to guide nanomachines through a maze while collecting power-ups.

If you don’t like the path you took, you can reset it at any time for free, and there are plenty of opportunities to grind the Emerald needed to continue playing it, like tears in space-time that lead to randomly generated dungeons full of enemies and loot (and are easy to get lost in because rooms are reused over and over again).

You can switch weapons in the menu or via a button combo.

Overall, I really enjoyed ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN. While I do have issues with some parts of the game, it’s still a fun time for anyone who loves the absurdity and deeper meanings within GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE’s titles. However, it isn’t without flaws.

I admit that the game can feel tedious at times, and grinding is a requirement in later levels. Plus, the camera can be a little too close at times and sometimes also gets in the way, which makes already chaotic fights even messier. There is also one section of the game I dislike greatly, especially knowing that I might need to replay through it in the future. I won’t go into details, but it does feature forced stealth, a jumpscare, and playing with brains. It’s not terrible, but I do think it sucks.

This game is just too fun.

As for technical performance… yeah, it gets rough in places. The framerate can dip in some areas or when things get chaotic (which is pretty frequent with this game), but it takes the biggest hit in Subspace, an area that consists of disappearing and moving cubes and a surrounding forest. Turns out, my GPU doesn’t like all these blocks rendering all at once, with the added bonus of hurting your head if you look at it too long. It’s absolutely not optional, as you need to travel through Subspace to make progress in the level. Although this could get better with some patches because it certainly did while I was reviewing the game.

I got to the credits in about an hour or two... and you will get them again after the next level.

In the end, I recommend ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN to anyone who loved GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE’s previous titles. It’s fun on its own with interesting progression and awesome game mechanics. It is rough around some edges, but these problems can be ignored for the most part… except for the framerate drops, which aren’t that great.