We played Dexter, and it’s looking even better this time around.
Back at GDC, Matt and Dave got hands on with the ambitious Dexter game for iPhone. You can read that initial hands on here. Today we got a chance to play with the latest build, and it’s shaping up nicely hopefully in time for a summer release at a price point somewhere in the region of $5-$10.
The controls are still working great, with both tilt and touch controls working equally well, so it caters to your individual preference. Visually the game has been given more polish, with textures and models looking great on the iPhone screen across both first person or 3rd person viewpoints.
The game also now includes cut scenes, and while some of these are place holder animatics, some of it, including the intro, has been fully rendered using the in-game engine and featuring the voice work of Dexter himself, Michael C. Hall. What’s nice is that Michael recorded dialogue exclusively for the game, and it doesn’t just feature voice from the show.
Character faces look great, with different levels of detail used in pats of the game, for example in close up dialogue scenes the faces are rendered in higher resolution, but for for over the shoulder exploration scenes, a lower poly model is used resulting in smoother gameplay.
We were taken through the first level of the first episode, with the game eventually covering all first season. This first level acted like a tutorial, and saw you taking dexter through the environment hunting for clues, so you can have a legitimate reason for that final kill. We picked up a shovel and in a track and field style mini game, uncovered some shallow graves of murdered children.
Next we had to catch the killer, this activates stalker mode, which is kinda like metal gear style stealth gameplay. You must follow him by using objects like bushes and benches as cover, get too close and he’ll spot you. Once he’s captured you move on to the gruesome kill room, where you must get him to confess by all means necessary. This activates a mass effect style conversation, with you choosing either dark or light options which changes the way you play, and effects your dark mask. Once he’s confessed, you get to take him out with a gruesome mini game, which unfortunately was just a placeholder swipe of the screen for now, with a more interactive death scene promised in the final build.
Dexter is looking great, and from a non-watcher of the series, it still appeals to me as a solid and ambitious adventure game. Stay tuned to iPhone Games Network on the run up to release for more on the game.
Check out the video from the show floor, plus new screens below.
