The brainchild of Shinta Nojiri, who previously directed the creation of Metal Gear Acid series, and co-developed with Rebellion Software, NeverDead stars an immortal hero named Bryce Boltzmann who, alongside his partner Arcadia, works for an agency tasked with defeating demonic incursions.
While demons from the dawn of time emerge on present-day Earth, players take on the role of Bryce, an immortal demon slayer, as they seek and destroy the hostile invaders.
"In NeverDead, we've gone all out to change the approach the player takes in battle," said Shinta Nojiri, creator of NeverDead." Losing a limb is a mere inconvenience and Bryce's physical skills allow a wealth of ways to take out the enemy -- from close-range combat, to throwing limbs into clusters of monsters and shooting them remotely. This adds a level of humor to the game that brings the world-weary main character to life, while players revel in game worlds that are fully interactive and eminently destructible."
Filled with nonstop action, NeverDead offers a radically new gameplay experience within the genre based on decapitation and regeneration. While attacked, players can be torn limb from limb, but can then reattach the parts to their body. Even when all limbs have been removed, players can roll around as a head, looking to reattach lost parts. Featuring third person action gameplay, gamers can also use their amputated body parts as weapons, throwing arms into clusters of monsters, or lobbing their head into seemingly impossible areas to gain access to new sections of the NeverDead map.
In NEVERDEAD, players become the immortal Bryce Boltzmann, a tragic hero who has endured a suffering existence due to the murder of his wife at the hands of Astaroth, the Demon King. Moving through life without aspirations other than where he will find his next drink, he fights alongside his partner Arcadia for the National Anti-Demon Agency (NADA), exterminating modern day demonic forces.
Players make use of the hero's immortality to tackle obstacles featuring the new and often gruesome decapitation and regeneration mechanic. Rip off your arm to explode a detonation device against an enemy, tear off your head to scout the level, shoot electric bullets by getting electrocuted and brutalize your hero in every way to discover what abilities he possesses.
"The release of NEVERDEAD is extremely satisfying and exciting for Konami, taking the third person action genre to a new level of player interactivity" said Tomoyuki Tsuboi, President of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "In a destructible environment where even the amputated and severed pieces of the hero can be a weapon, anything is possible."
NEVERDEAD also includes online co-operative and competitive "challenges" where teams of up to four players can compete against each other or the enemy. The destruction of entire buildings, pillars, floors and interior wall sections adds elements of strategy and various abilities needed to destroy players' foe. Gamers seeking more NeverDead thrills will be able to expand their online experience with exciting downloadable content, including new characters and additional missions within the multiplayer mode. More information on downloadable content will be announced later.
NEVERDEAD is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and is now available for purchase at retailers nationwide for an SRP of $59.99
