When You Will Do Anything for Love

Do you remember the 2013 romcom Warm Bodies starring Nicholas Hoult? Have you ever wondered what would happen if it were adapted into a video game directed by Suda51 and dressed in a late 2000s punk aesthetic? I ask because that is the best way I can describe Stupid Never Dies. A game like this grabbing my attention should surprise no one, since I have always been open about being a huge fan of games that are ridiculous, cheesy, and over the top.

Stupid Never Dies is the first title from GPTRACK50, a new studio stacked with industry heavyweights such as Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Shinya Shigeyoshi, and Koji Kakae. So what happens when you give developers whose résumés include Devil May Cry and Resident Evil free rein? You get a game born from letting them go buck wild with their ideas. That freedom is what makes Stupid Never Dies great, because it is what I like to call a “game for gamers.”

Davy is a Dead Man

A quick backstory about the world: Humanity once ruled the surface world while living side by side with monsters under a tense but mutual understanding. That all changed when KOM, the King of Monsters, waged a brutal war against mankind, wiping out 98% of the world’s population. In the aftermath, the monsters returned to their realm in the underworld, while all that remained on the surface were zombies and only a handful of people.

The story follows Davy, a zombie shunned by the other zombies for hiding out during KOM’s war with humanity. While wandering through an abandoned mall, he stumbles upon the frozen remains of a human woman named Julia. Despite knowing very little about her, he is determined to find a way to bring her back to life. With the help of Dr. Frank (aka Doc), he must venture through the underworld and reclaim the collective lost knowledge from KOM. There are just two problems: he is the weakest zombie, and zombies cannot survive for long in the underworld. To overcome these obstacles, he must battle his way through the realms, devour different monsters to absorb their power, and grow his strength.

I was not kidding when I called it Warm Bodies adapted into a Suda51 game, because that is exactly what it feels like. The story is very similar, as it follows the love story between a zombie and a frozen human woman. The romantic comedy elements are strong, as Davy has an adorkable crush on Julia and is willing to do anything to bring her back to life. While the game is not directed by Suda51, you would be forgiven for making that mistake. Like Lollipop Chainsaw, No More Heroes, or Romeo Is a Dead Man from earlier this year, it has all his trademark elements: a balls to the wall outrageous tone, a pop-punk soundtrack, the use of rainbow colors during the right moments, and a collection of upbeat and colorful characters. While GPTRACK50 did a solid job of recreating his style, the game is far from an imitation, as it stands out on its own with a balance between the romantic comedy and being over the top.

The Power of Love

At its core, Stupid Never Dies is an action RPG with beat ’em up combat and roguelike elements. The foundation of the combat system is the classic beat ’em up, with light attacks, heavy attacks, parries, and jump attacks. With Body Hacks, there is the option of additional attacks or boosts during a dive. Unleashing Davy Burst will transform the stage into a mind-bending moment. As players defeat monsters and traverse the many realms, they acquire the parts and skills needed to upgrade and become stronger during their journey. However, a zombie’s time in the underworld is limited, so Davy needs to grow strong fast and pick the right skills after each battle. Sometimes, it is best to retreat and go back to the Mall with the loot that has been collected. When Davy begins a new dive, the player will start from scratch, but with the body modifications that have been made. Be aware that the layout will not be the same either, so Davy is truly starting fresh to some degree.

Two of the game’s key elements are Style Eat and Body Hack. Style Eat requires Davy to defeat an elite monster and consume its core. There are 11 cores ranging from werewolves to harpies and cyclopes. Once the core has been consumed, he will have the ability to transform into that monster and use its powers. While the powers can be switched on or off, players are limited by how many floors they can traverse before losing them. It is best to collect the right ones, use them as much as possible, and then replace them before the next floor. Body Hack allows Davy to modify parts of his body to optimize his combat proficiency during a dive. It starts with the left arm, and other body parts become available as players find new parts. Picking the modifications is based on the player’s preferred combat style over the course of the game.

The Mall serves as the player’s hub, where they get updates about their quest from Doc and everyone else helping Davy. Acelino provides the Body Hacks players need for the journey. Bessie runs the burger shop in the food court and provides the updated skills and the skills that can be acquired during a dive. Both Acelino and Bessie can be encountered between floors during a dive, should Davy need to heal or modify his body. Next, there is Goyle, who is working to recover data from Julia’s phone and learn more about who she was. Finally, there is Davy’s room, where he can browse a tablet to read about Julia or make a mixtape for some tunes during a dive.

Dead Meat

When it comes to its issues, let us start with the most obvious: it is built on Unreal Engine 5, and you know exactly how I feel when developers use it improperly. To its credit, this is not the worst example I have encountered, as it does work fine at first glance. It is when you take a closer look, or during moments that require smoke or water, that the issues become obvious. The game itself does not perform poorly or look bad most of the time. It is just that the visual jank is obvious when it shows up, and it could have been avoided had the devs properly optimized the engine when making the game.

Next is the repetitive look and design of the levels, along with the lack of variety in the underworld. A roguelike game that switches things up as part of the gameplay mechanic needs variety to make it feel fresh or unique as you progress. That seems to be absent here, as each dive consists of a few types of stages, with layouts that are only marginally different as you progress through the story. Yes, the levels do change with each dive and floor you descend, but after a while, you begin to see the same layouts overused. It would be nice if there were a lot more variety to the stages in terms of theme and how they are laid out.

Davy X Julia

Stupid Never Dies is what happens when a group of industry veterans decides to make a video game adaptation of Warm Bodies in the style of a Suda51 game. On the surface, it is a callback to late 2000s and early 2010s pop-punk culture that has been incorporated into a beat ’em up with roguelike and RPG elements. Underneath is a unique experience brought to life by a team that knows how to focus on fun first. The result is a game that is easy to get into and stupid fun, with its cheesy story and rich collection of characters.

Disclaimer: The publisher, through a PR representative, provided the game used for this review.

This review of Stupid Never Dies is the thoughts of one critic. If you want to see how other critics felt, check it out on OpenCritic.

8Bit/Digi is a news outlet that provides insightful reviews for Bay Area Gamers.

Stupid Never Dies

10

Masterpiece

10.0/10

Pros

• It's Warm Bodies made into a video game.
• Pop-punk style and soundtrack that nails late 2000s nostalgia.
• Easy to pick up and is stupid fun to play.
• A rich collection of upbeat and colorful characters that stand out.

Cons

• Another instance of Unreal Engine 5’s mishandled implementation.
• Level theme, design, and layout get repetitive way too fast.