“As Enjoyable As It Is Frustrating” — Romeo is a Dead Man Launches on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S
Hennadiy Chemеris
The action-adventure Romeo is a Dead Man has officially launched on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, earning a high rating on Steam and mixed reviews from critics (71 on Metacritic).
Review Scores:
- Console Creatures — 90/100;
- GameBlast — 90/100;
- Hey Poor Player — 90/100;
- PlayStation Universe — 90/100;
- Hobby Consolas — 88/100;
- Game Informer — 83/100;
- Meristation — 82/100;
- Gamereactor UK — 80/100;
- TechRadar Gaming — 80/100;
- VG247 — 80/100;
- Gamesurf — 75/100;
- Loot Level Chill — 70/100;
- TheSixthAxis — 70/100;
- IGN — 70/100;
- Checkpoint Gaming — 65/100;
- GamingTrend — 65/100;
- Push Square — 60/100;
- WellPlayed — 60/100;
- Gamer.no — 50/100;
- Stevivor — 45/100;
- Guardian — 40/100.
Romeo Is a Dead Man is yet another strong action game from Grasshopper that’s sure to be divisive. It may not be the best game of the year when all is said and done, but it’s hard to imagine anything else feeling quite as unique.
I was left wanting more from the love story incidentally promised by the protagonist’s names, but I was eager to keep playing to make Romeo stronger, see where I was going next, and learn more about the colorful cast of characters.
Overall, it’s the touches of mischief which make Romeo is a Dead Man stand out in a ‘good enough’ landscape dominated by Live Service and competitive games. Stuffed with one-off moments and boisterous action honed over nearly 20 years of carnage, it’s a game that never sits still, never settles for boring but functional and dies with a live hand grenade slipping from its fingertips.
Just as enjoyable as it is frustrating, Romeo Is a Dead Man is an incredibly uneven experience. You’ll love it one minute and hate it the next. Persevere with its more annoying elements, and you’ll discover a unique and entertaining hack and slasher at the end of it all. It just takes a lot of effort and restraint to get there.
Romeo Is a Dead Man is certainly not predictable. It’s capable of getting a baffled smile out of you, and its anti-gaming-establishment attitude will have diehard fans searching for an irony-drenched reason to celebrate it. But where No More Heroes’ simplistic yarn kept the fights flowing and the jokes rolling, Romeo Is a Dead Man’s sprawl feels disappointingly directionless. Instead of coming together as a kitschy universe-spanning epic, this sci-fi story is sadly told with all the mastery of a rambling drunk in Wetherspoons.
The story unfolds in a shattered space-time continuum: the protagonist, rescued by advanced technology, becomes a special agent for the Space Police FBI, investigating crimes across the universe and searching for the missing Juliet — gradually uncovering the connection between her disappearance and the collapse of reality itself.
Gameplay combines sword and gun combat, letting players battle waves of enemies, upgrade their weapons, and unleash special moves — including the Bloody Summer ability, which grows stronger as you absorb enemy blood. The story is divided into chapters and features side missions, allowing you to play at your own pace.
Romeo is a Dead Man is the latest project from Grasshopper Manufacture, showcasing the studio’s signature style alongside dynamic combat and a sci-fi atmosphere. Incidentally, we also recently covered the release of the action-horror Crisol: Theater of Idols.
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