Upcoming game Wanted: Dead has released a detailed trailer focused on its slick finisher moves. The trailer follows a previous clip that detailed the challenging third-person hack-and-slash combat mechanics of Wanted: Dead that when well utilized give a John Wick-like experience.
First announced in 2021, Wanted: Dead is being worked on by Soleil Game Studios. The studio was formed by Yoshifuru Okamoto, who had previously worked on Dead or Alive 4 and Ninja Gaiden. Soleil Game Studios has already released Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time, Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker, and Ninjala, displaying the studio’s razor sharp focus on stylish action. Wanted: Dead will see players take on the role of Hannah Stone, a member of a Zombie Unit police squad, working through a cyberpunk conspiracy plot.
The trailer coolly states “When you have to kill, do it in style.” Wanted: Dead is set to have some intense fighting, pitching the player into close quarters combat, balanced out with shooting, both of which will need to be utilized to defeat specific and varied enemies. Similarly, the trailer informs that the finishers will be varied and context specific, with some unique finishers for certain enemies, or environmental fatalities, and “situational kills.” The 50 plus finishers took over 100 hours of motion capture by a group of dedicated stuntmen, promising a filmic experience similar to the stunts in John Wick. The finishers aren’t just for flourish, but also help Hannah Stone regain health, which in a game filled with so many imposing enemies should be very useful.
The narration goes on to say that performing these finishers won’t be “as easy as press X to win,” but will soon become a part of the player’s arsenal. An early unlock will help Hannah perform a chain-finisher to clear out an area of staggered enemies. Those enemies will have an invisible stamina bar, which will slowly break down as the player fights them, before finally being staggered; that is when Hannah will be able to perform the finisher moves. The method seems somewhat reminiscent of the boss fights in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, especially as last minute parries are set to play a big role in depleting the enemies’ stamina. The trailer goes on to say that the game has a finishers’ algorithm that calculates the best finisher to use, whether it be a generic move, one that uses the enemy’s weapon on them, or an environmental kill, the algorithm should pick something fresh each time so that players don’t see a repetition of the same moves.
Games such as cult classic Sleeping Dogs had great environmental takedowns, but due to the limits of the time, players often watched the same animations over and over. Even blockbuster hits like God Of War reused the same animations repeatedly. Wanted: Dead is set to make each encounter feel unique and visceral.
Wanted: Dead releases on February 14 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
