This review has been kept relatively spoiler-free up to this point, but wait until you get a load of the towering behemoth that caps off one of the game's five chapters. There are also some impressive boss battles that focus on the old-school pattern recognition mechanics of the 8- and 16-bit era. Luckily you get more opportunities for weapon use in the unlockable survival mode that puts all the focus on the action side than the exploration and story of the adventure portion.

You do eventually end up with an infinite projectile weapon towards the end of the game, but it's not quite as fun to use as the handful of guns available to you earlier in the adventure. Ammunition is a rare commodity in Dementium II, so the game ends up being a 'first-person stabbing' game for much of the first half of the five-plus hour adventure, which is a shame because there are some pretty fun projectile weapons to shoot here: nail guns and assault rifles are available but the strategy in this game is to only use them for emergencies. All of this takes place through the eyes of your character, so you're controlling this game as a first-person shooter: the stylus-focused 'mouselook' style enables tight and fluid movement while the game's incredibly smooth 60 frames per second rate keeps up with the action without a hitch. As you progress through the game you realize you're shifting between parallel universes, but early on it's difficult to tell whether it's actually happening or if it's just all in your head. The mystery unfolds as you move through the hallways, and you're introduced to the off-putting and seemingly random mechanic of sliding from location to location.

In this sequel, you waken on a gurney in a locked cell with absolutely no knowledge of who you are or why you're there. Like the original Dementium, Dementium II isn't going to scare the bejeezus out of you, but it'll certainly give you the willies with creatures that giggle maniacally at you as you shoot them point blank, or scream as they float effortlessly over your head while you investigate the blood-soaked halls of Bright Dawn Treatment Center. But it does link to the first game with similar enemies and a familiar mature, violent, and bloody setting. Dementium II isn't really a direct sequel to the first game's story as it's a standalone adventure with new characters and a fresh, creepy locale.

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