Judge Dredd is an intense first-person shooter set in the future megalopolis of Mega-City One. It is the 22nd century and this city is home to 400 million citizens, everyone a potential criminal where the only thing preventing the city from descending into utter chaos and anarchy is the group of elite law enforcers better known as the Judges. You take on the role of Judge Dredd as he patrols the overcrowded streets of the city, arresting lawbreakers and dealing with the breakdown of law and order, as he can dispense instant justice because he is Judge, Jury and Executioner …. all in one. He is the Law !!

From the main menu, you are presented with three options of play – Story, Battle & Arcade. ‘Story’ mode is the main part of this game which takes you on a tour of the darkest depths of Mega-City One in search of a group calling themselves the Death Cult. This weird group of people are devising a fiendish plan to free the evil Dark Judges from their holding chambers within the Justice Department penitentiary. Whilst that plot is hatching, the Judges of PSI Division have foreseen a terrible plague if going to hit Mega City One. Soon enough, as predicted, there are outbreaks of vampirism across the city. Can you stop the plague ? Are these outbreaks related to the Dark Judges ? Is this the return of some ancient, forgotten evil ? Only Dredd can find out !!

Gameplay:
There are 11 single player levels, but all of them can be played co-operatively with a friend. The start of the game lets the player get used to the controls by taking you through basic training inside the Justice Department. The controls are standard issue for a Xbox First Player Shooter (FPS), so unless you haven’t played a FPS on the Xbox before…you should be quite used to them. Being Judge Dredd means you get to choose who lives, who dies or who gets locked up and this is one major aspect of the game. Where it would be nice just to go blasting everything in sight and go on a mad killing spree like in most FPS, inside this game you have apprehend criminals, if possible, so you can boost your rankings at the end of the level. There are several ways to cuff the law-breaker, from shouting to them to drop their weapons, to shooting them in the leg or even shooting their weapon out of their hands. Worse case scenario, if they continue to resist…kill them. There are a huge variety of NPC’s (non-player characters) with a decent enough AI to ensure a different behaviour pattern each time you play.

Multiple mission objectives update throughout the level ranging from obvious elimination of enemy, arrests, rescue missions to intelligence gathering , opening locked areas and destruction of specific equipment. As you can tell, there are many objectives, but it is the way you handle them that go towards that all important ranking at the end of the level. The more arrests you make, will see an increase in status but poor reckless killings will result in Dress facing the SJS (Internal Police) which will ultimately mean ..Game Over. To help you achieve the mission, you come equipped with your very own Lawgiver, which include five different abilities – Armour piercing, Heat seeker, Ricochet, Standard Shot and Incendiary. Of course, if this wasn’t enough, you can pick up any other weapons lying around but be wary, you can only handle two weapons at a time. It’s up to you to decide which two are needed the most against your opposition.

Completing each Story Chapter unlocks up to 5 different multiplayer models, depending on the rank achieved at the end of each level (Cadet, Rookie, Street Judge, Senior Judge, Judge Dredd). With over 60 models to unlock in total, it will take some time to get everything. These unlockables open up extra game styles in Arcade Mode, and on completion of these modes in Arcade open up even more unlockables for ‘Battle and other features that will benefit all three options of play.

Graphics:
At first you will notice the style is hugely based on the comic thus not being as smooth or polished…like Halo, but in this case it works as Judge Dredd is a very dark character, not to mention the vastness of Mega City One. The NPC’s have what they call a ‘Ragdoll’ effect. This allows the bodies of the NPC’s to stay around a little longer than just disappearing after a few seconds when they are killed. Also the dynamics of the ragdolls are determined by the movement and animations of the character as well as the force (e.g. bullet impacts) applied. No two deaths look the same. Corpses can be repeatedly shot at, blown up, set on fire etc etc with a high gore count. Burning NPC’s will result in their bodies decaying into skeletons.

Sound:
All very atmospheric with a good supply of one liners for you to shout out to the villains of the game. The most interesting and sometimes missed feature is how a person will get louder, the closer you approach them, and even if you turn your head away, the sound becomes quieter. Gunshots, screams, explosions….all the usual sound great.

Longevity:
The Story mode will not take you very long to finish but if you are aiming to unlock everything, than some time and patience is needed. With the options of Multiplayer, this game can last for some time but lacks the most essential requirement to last beyond most games – LIVE. A shame as the ‘Battle’ Modes would have been nice to see online.

Round Up:

In my opinion, you would be better off hiring this game than buying it unless of course you intend to battle away against your mates. Great game but not enough to last.

Pros:

• Being Judge, Jury and Executioner
  
• The many deaths of a NPC
  

  Cons:
  

  • No Live
    
  • Not enough levels in main ‘Story’