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Boo! Shame on you, Namco!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: May 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I heard all the criticisms -- how the game is unworthy of the Tekken franchise and the character of Nina Williams, how the controls are just not great, and the gameplay is sub-par. But Nina was the one character I bothered to master in Tekken (as much as I like the game, I was always pretty bad at it, and could never memorize all those controls), so I thought, there's gotta be some enjoyment in playing this character in an espionage setting, right?

Wrong! Death by Degrees contains everything that I hate about post-1995 video games, and nothing I like about Tekken or espionage games.

The fighting mechanics are a direct ripoff of Jet Li's Rise to Honor, with timed slaps of the right analog stick to execute moves. Not the greatest control scheme, but at least you'll be able to execute *something*. But just five minutes into the game, I was treated to what I consider the most inexcusable of modern game problems: Bad camera. The super-long intro movies and "cut scenes" should have clued me in. Death by Degrees once again demonstrates that the most annoying sentient beings on earth are game designers who think they are filmmakers. This game blasts your perspective around mercilessly so that as you're trying to run to the right, the camera does a 180-degree shift and suddenly you're running up and towards the new angle, but hey -- you're still pushing right on the stick! There is an "over-the-shoulder" POV available by holding the R2 button, with the right analog stick set to rotate the camera, but while this feature helps ground the controls, it is also so frequently disabled that I gave up trying after 20 minutes.

The "puzzles" are basically running around trying out objects, straining your eyes to see tiny little glowing items that you have to pick up or interact with. The maps are large and unwieldy, and because of the hyperactive camera angles, I couldn't tell left from right, explored area from new area. Oh, and save points are invisible! You have to use this "save-point detector" on the upper-right corner and play a game of "warm, warmer, hot" to try to find save points. Well, the last thing I'm looking at is the upper-right corner when I'm trying to find my way around. I spent 48 minutes just to get past two puzzles in the tutorial (!) level. The objectives didn't even ellicit a "frustration" factor -- it's not engaging enough for that. For the amount of running around and random mashing of the X button, trying to locate the object you're supposed to pick up or interact with, any sense of achieving progress is gone. I don't feel angered by failing the infrared puzzle; I don't feel fulfilled by acing the sniper part. It's all just a big, amorphous mess.

Death by Degrees is just as bad as one of its ultra-low-budget predecessors in the female-agent mold, Rogue Ops (the nine-dollar game nobody buys, and for good reason). Even if you're a die-hard Nina fan like me, avoid this one and get Tekken 5 instead. Hard to believe Namco unleashed this garbage on us. With this kind of performance in the stealth/espionage arena, looks like Namco should stick with releasing more Tekken and Time Crisis games, and leave the espionage genre to experts.

An adventure/brawler very worthy of your perusal

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: May 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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.

Not bad, but....

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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.

Dont even try to evade or block! Just watch Nina bounce

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: June 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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.

Fun..but it has left the point which should be improved.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: May 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First of all..if you are Nina's fun, buy this definetly.
It'll be really fun.
An enemy will be beaten by the powerful and invigorating attack on Nina, and it will become stress alleviation.
If you are not, hmm buy Tekken5 or another game.
It may be frastlating by a new and aggressive game system.
First:bad camerawork, onetouch kockout by a laser, long loading time, severe save system, game level...it needs many improvements Nina2.I hope Nina2 will be a master piece.

I recommend who don't know about Nina Tekken2.
'cos Tekken2 Nina is really awesome in various meanings
.

cool game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

i got this game for my birthday yesterday and this game rocks. nina's techniques from this game is awesome as well as her looks and outfits. so this game is a must play for adults and young kids.

Awesome!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: February 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The game is sooooooooooooo fun. The fighting system is similar to Rise to Honor where u use the right analog stick for fighting. The graphics r really great. The sound is good like the punching, kicking, stabbing, shooting, and the character voices. I would have given this game five stars except the game is pretty hard. Still this is a great game for any Tekken or Namco fan. Two words...BUY IT!!!!!!!!

Good Actioneer!!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Take a blend of elements from Onimusha puzzles, Metal Gear gameplay, Resident Evil fixed camera perspectives to an innovative fighting system and you've got DBD. What's best about this game is that it's a solid action title, but what more would you expect from the likes of NAMCO. This game details how exactly Nina Williams and her sister Anna come to the Tekken tournament in Tekken 1. It also gives some background info on the characters through lavish flashbacks. So if you're a fan of Tekken in general or just want a good action title then this might keep you occupied for a while.

Could have easily been a Resident Evil...without the zombies?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

reminded me of some of the older resident evil titles (sans zombies) but had that slightly annoying task list that you have to keep completing to go forward in the game. i've played many games where a lot of the harder stages are 'optional,' but this game sometimes throws the kitchen sink right at you!
in a nutshell:
- it's challenging, frustrating, interesting and annoying and then interesting again
- the graphics (especially the cut scenes) are ALMOST PS3 worthy
- the game play itself is a little choppy at first (you 'attack' by moving the right joystick in the direction of your victim) but does get easier the more you play. the special 'bone breaking' attacks are the BEST part of the game!
- i don't really listen to the soundtrack of a game, but i did notice this game had pretty good 'ambient' sounds- enough to make my two dogs think there were real dogs howling!

STORY= 4 stars
GAMEPLAY= 3.5-4 stars
OVERALL= 4 stars

A must for all Nina fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I own this game and i'm playing it even after 2 years after I bought it! this game is unique and could be good or bad, but if you have a mind open enough you will like the fantastic fight parts, the incredible number of fight moves, weapon, minigames, and all the amazing stuff you will unlock after completing the game once! Belive me the only flow (except some loading screen too many) of this game is that is very very hard too unlock all the bonuses and some challenges are pretty impossible but better too hard than too easy!

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