7.5

Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest

The latest PlayStation Move title arrives just in time for Christmas as players are turned into Deadmund, a skeleton boy who has been given the quest of finding an ancient amulet that has the power to return him to the living. 

While alive, Prince Edmund was your average boy, however as Deadmund, he now has powers and more specifically the weapons to set things right and with every evil death, he becomes more powerful and closer to being alive again and vanquishing Morgrimm from his family castle.

The fun aspect about the story of Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest is that the game has this real Tim Burton feel to it with some parallels to A Nightmare Before Christmas, especially with its comedic elements and touch of black humour. Remember... this game is still for kids!

The gaming environments of Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest is quite colourful and diverse with a variety of areas that you will explore, all with a Medieval theme. My favourite places are the crypts which have this foreboding nature to them with a couple of scares thrown in food good measures.

At its core, Deadmund's Quest is an on-rails adventure which has a fixed point of view from your character. As control is left up to the game, the player must concentrate on other important activities such as attacking enemies, finding collectibles and solving basic puzzles.

The game is reminiscent of those on-rails shooters such as House of the Dead which require you to use the Move controller to dispatch your enemies. Weapons are the highlight of the combat system which includes a sword,  throwing stars, dynamite and a bow and arrow. Add in a shield and you have all the tools you need to fight and defend.

My favourite weapon is the sword because the game allows you to swing the Move controller just like you would a real sword. Your bow also is ideal for taking out enemies from a distance as are your throwing stars. Dynamite however causes you to take out several enemies.

The aiming mechanics for your bow is a little out which reminds me of those rifles at a Theme Park with the bent barrels.  Although it is fun to mimic pulling an arrow from your virtual quiver on your back and then cock the bow. Another aspect with your ranged weapons is that you have an unlimited supply of arrows and throwing stars which does assist when the enemies come hard and fast.

As mentioned, dynamite is the most powerful weapon in the game and using this is quite fun via the Move controller. There are power-ups for your weapons and this is engaged by moving the controller to your belt.

In order to use dynamite, you need to cover the ball of the Move controller like you are protecting the wick from the wind which then allows you to lite the stick and throw it. Very cool!

BOOM! If you do become injured which you will, Deadmund needs to drink milk in order to restore his health and this action is performed by pretending you are drinking from the controller.

Overall, the controls work in Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest, however the gameplay does become quite repetitive midway through the game and although enemies change, you are limited to a set number of attacks which remains constant through the entire game.

The game even supports a two-player competitive and cooperative mode if you want to team up or challenge your friends. You can even play online too. It's fun but for the most part, single-player is the winner here.

Graphics & Audio

As mentioned the game has this real Tim Burton feel to it with all the skeletons and Medieval locations. I really enjoyed the cartoon atmosphere behind this spooky tale for kids and all the characters and bosses are well animated with lots of shadows, lighting and special effects thrown in for good measures.

Cut scenes are another highlight of the graphics which sometimes jump out at the player as they have been exceptionally well made. Music is great with a eerie atmosphere behind the tunes and sound effects come together rather well with the gameplay.

Final Level

Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest is a game aimed at kids, so if you're a veteran gamer, don't expect this to be a game changer in relation to Playstation Move games.

I did arrange for my 10-year old nephew to come over and play this game with his dad. My nephew had a ball, although all that swinging did make my heart race, especially with my trusty 3D TV only metres away from his sword shenanigans as he was killing skeletons by the dozen.

All in all Medieval Moves is not the most original game but as an on-rails shooter type game for kid, it hits the spot.