Dead Head Fred Review - PSP

Any time the PSP gets an original title rather than a cheesy port or some hand-me-down from a long-in-the-tooth franchise, it’s worth having a look.  Dead Head Fred is one such game. What appears at first to be little more than a by-the-book beat ‘em up turns out to be more than meets the eye.

Drop Dead Fred

Take a dash of Tim Burton, add in a pinch of Psychonauts, stir in an ounce of Ralph Bakshi, and you’ll come close to the visual and narrative style found in Dead Head Fred.  As the recently deceased and newly reanimated Fred, players must discover why he was murdered by powerful crime lord.  And then there’s the trouble with Fred’s head.  It’s missing.  Fortunately a kindly mad scientist has replaced your missing noggin with a jar containing a brain and two eyes. 

Despite the ghoulish nature of the proceedings, the game is clearly being played for laughs.  This doesn’t always work as many of the situations fall flat. The innuendo and profanity is cute, but wears thin after extended play. But the main problem with the story as told is the reliance on overly wordy cut scenes that tend to go on for too long.  They really interrupt the flow of the game, especially during the first hour.  However, John C. McGinley who lends his voice to the main character is excellent.

Filled with Heady Goodness

Once you make it past the excruciating tutorial level which throws way too much at the player way too fast, the game settles into a very well crafted action adventure with lots of gameplay variety.

The main mechanic here is Fred’s ability to swap heads on the fly.  In classic video game form, each head grants Fred different powers and abilities.  Most of the time these abilities come into play as players try to negotiate the numerous environmental puzzles found in the game.  For example, you might have to use your bloated corpse head’s ability to suck up and expel various fluids to do things like put out fires or fill up gas tanks.

While the head mechanic is the best Dead Head Fred has to offer, the combat is only so-so.  While there’s a blocking and counter system in place, too often bad camera angle and somewhat slushy control get in the way, makes some of the encounters much more frustrating than they should be.

Right Said Fred

Quibbles aside, Dead Head Fred is more than the sum of its parts.  For every annoying quirk, there are several great ideas or fun moments.  It’s an engrossing and challenging game that’ll have you using your noggin even though the main character lost his.

Review by: Greg Bemis
Video Produced by: Jonathan Solin