Dementium: The Ward

Dementium: The Ward was a Nintendo DS exclusive game released on October 31, 2007. It was developed by Renegade Kid and published by Gamecock. It is a survival-horror first-person shooter, with some puzzle elements.



Story
In Dementium: The Ward, you play as a man named William Redmoor who suffers from amnesia. He has no clue of his identity, his whereabouts and his current situation. He finds himself waking up from a bed in Redmoor Hospital and discovers that the hallways, rooms and wards are swarming with hideous monstrosities in which you are to fight your way out from these creatures and hopefully escape from this dreadful hospital.

The story follows a man who has a dream about being admitted into a dark and frightening hospital. While being rolled to his room, he sees deformed patients and blood everywhere. When he wakes up, he finds that it is raining and no one is in the hospital. Upon leaving his room he sees a notepad and key. The notepad had two pages left, with one of them having "WHY DID YOU DO IT?" written on the first page. The notepad can be used in the game to write down important hints. The key unlocks the door to his room so he can escape.

A voice is heard over the intercom in the main hallway. "This is an emergency. Everyone must evacuate the building. Proceed to the nearest stairwell." All of the rooms are locked and covered with blood. A newspaper near the starting room is found on the floor. The headline reads, "MAN BRUTALLY MURDERS WIFE." It was believed by the staff that William was the murderer. A news report towards the end of the game says that a man was found standing over the dead body of his wife with a gun in his hand. After a brief struggle police shot and wounded the man. His daughter was found alive.

Chapters

 * 1) The Admittance
 * 2) The Rooftop
 * 3) The Infant Ward
 * 4) The Cleaver
 * 5) The Courtyard
 * 6) The Electric Buzz-saw
 * 7) The Main Security Room
 * 8) The Flashback
 * 9) The Hole in the Wall
 * 10) The Torn Photograph
 * 11) The Guard Tower
 * 12) The Cleaver's Return
 * 13) The Door with no Handle
 * 14) The Wheelchair's Return
 * 15) The First Encounter
 * 16) The Final Encounter

Weapons

 * Flashlight
 * Nightstick
 * Pistol
 * Shotgun
 * Electric Buzz-saw
 * Machinegun
 * .357 revolver
 * Sniper Rifle

Enemies

 * Chest Maws (Also officially known as "Zombie")
 * Scritters
 * Mollusca
 * Banshees (Also officially known as "Screamer")
 * Crawlers (Also officially known as "Sneaky Torso")
 * Flying Swarm
 * Poison Chest Maws
 * Poison Mollusca
 * The Cleaver
 * The Wheelchair Gunner
 * The Doctor (Also officially known as "Evil Doctor" and "The Brain Tweaker")

Remastered
Following the re-acquisition of rights to the Dementium series, Renegade Kid immediately began development of Dementium Remastered, A full-scale remake of The Ward. Remastered included many improvements and changes to The Ward, most of which are elements from Dementium 2. Textures now include bump mapping, models have been upscaled and re-animated, weapons now have a reload function as well as a fixed ammo system, along with the Dementium 2 save system. Released in North America for the 3DS on December 3rd 2015, the game received critical praise, but a more mixed response from players, much alike the original, but suffered from a lack of sales. As of Febuary 2016, the game has gathered less than 5,000 purchases. The game is set to release in EU and Australia mid-Febuary 2016.

Reception:
Dementium received mixed to positive reviews. Craig Harris of IGN said that the visuals were "outstanding: the lighting effects and texture work in Dementium: The Ward are pretty special when you consider the Nintendo DS' capabilities." He also noted "the flashlight effect might not match what other developers have done on more powerful systems" but "it's a believable technique that's pulled off better than anything seen on same-level hardware."

Dementium was criticized mostly for its short length and lack of replayability; but also for its save system, and that most of the in-game enemies respawn on revisit, leaving a player short on items and ammunition and discouraging exploration.

On September 22, 2008, the Japanese Association of Psychiatric Hospitals published a protest against the game, asking the game to be taken off the shelves because "the game uses the tradition of psychiatry in name but uses imagery of attacking patients".

Remastered has received high praise from critics, with scores ranging from 80/100 to 70/100. Jed Whitaker of Destructoid gave Remastered a 10/100, due to its lack of an in-depth story. (His review has received backlash from other critics and players alike)