Review: Dracula – Undead Awakening

Posted by Chris K on January 10th, 2010 | 0 Comments | Tags:

Hunting ghouls and ghosts seems to be the cool thing nowadays. With the vampire craze at an all-time high, Dracula – Undead Awakening couldn’t have come out at a better time. As surprised as you may be, it is actually quite fun.

This game has one feature that for some reason not every PSP title has, the ability to save at anytime. I love it that I can start up one of the four modes, Super Survival being my favorite, pause the game when you need to, save and be on your way. Sure you can put the PSP in sleep mode, but what if you wanted to play a different game. While this is a “twin stick shooter”, I put that in quotes since you don’t really have two stick at your disposal, the control seem to function as you need them too. The ability to use either the d-pad or the analog nub is a plus.

While playing there is another thing that I just love, the perks. While this is not the perk system you know and love from Call of Duty, it still adds to the game. Waste enough of the undead and you will be given the option to add a perk to your character for that play-through. They range from more health and ammo, all the way to faster movement, and even more points to add to your highscore. They really add fire to the fuel, otherwise I think this would just be a boring shooter. I do wish that there was a way to know when they are coming.

There progression of the weapons is another thing that makes this title stand out. You start with a simple pistol and can work you way up all the way to a rocket launcher. As long as you have ammo, you can switch to any of the weapons you have found. It is rather clunky at times changing weapons and be sure to turn off the auto-switch option from the menu. I have been killed a few times by a weapon change that I did not want.If you are playing Rush mode be sure to check out the chain saw, loads of fun.

While this game has four great modes, the amount of levels is kind of a disappointment. There are three total and although they look different, they all seem the same to me. I might have given this mini the five star treatment if there were just a few other levels.

A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review purposes. For more info on our review policy click here. This review is for the PlayStation Portable version of the game.