By Jason Nimer

When it comes to game systems, the Playstation Portable [PSP] has had a more troubled childhood than most systems before it. Sony's first entry into the Nintendo-dominated portable market has started more fanboy arguments than the Sega Genesis and its "We Do What Nintendon't" slogan. While Nintendo's DS handheld, the PSP's direct competitor, has racked up international sales like no system before it, the PSP has remained quietly in second place. One oft-repeated reason for the PSP's lacking sales numbers is that the system just doesn't have very many good games. While I vehemently disagree, the PSP has had trouble shaking the curse of less-than-stellar original releases, the worst RPGs in recent memory and direct from the PS2 ports.

Every time a new, exclusive PSP game surprises the detractors, it is not only good for the die-hard PSP fans, but for the potable's reputation as well. Vicious Cycle's Dead Head Fred is one of those surprises. Is the game perfect? Will it push the PSP beyond the DS in units sold? Probably not, no; but this solid action game provides a lot of excitement, some truly challenging segments (all too rare in games these days) and some genuinely funny moments (even more rare than challenge) making Dead Head Fred a ride every PSP fan should consider buying a ticket for.

Though it might be an unconventional way to start a review, there is one element to Dead Head Fred that needs to be addressed before getting to anything else - You, the player, will NOT like this game when you start it up for the first time. The key to enjoying Fred's first game is persevering through the ho-hum introduction and past the first boss fight. After that, the game picks up and is great fun. A lot of games start off wonderfully and drop in quality after the initial levels (I'm looking at you, The Darkness (360, PS3) and Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (360)…). Dead Head Fred starts terribly and somewhere between exiting the first level and entering the second, completely redeems itself.

Describing what is so obviously wrong with the introduction makes a great segway into what is right with the rest of the game, so we'll start there. From this point and through to the first boss, you'll find a lot of minor problems with Dead Head Fred. The tutorial is just ok; it doesn't cover the most important fighting technique, countering, adequately. Your goals aren't very clear and you'll do some serious exploring before you figure out what the next step should be.

Perhaps the worst of all is the first boss encounter. Without spoiling anything about the fight itself, it can be said that you'll never actually be attacking the boss. Instead, you'll be fighting her undead minions. This is where the game's glaring problems really come to a head. The minions you are tasked to fight are formidable opponents and often attack in numbers. The problem lies with countering the attacks of these enemies. As you'll soon figure out, you need to have a certain head equipped to counter certain attacks. That would be fine, except that the head you need hasn't been made available to you yet. Imagine if a Zelda game had its first objective in finding an item. To get the item, you need the Master Sword…but wait…the sword isn't available yet! That is basically the premise you'll be dealing with for the first boss. This makes Dead Head Fred's first battle a frustrating and maddening ordeal.

Page 2 »