Dexter the Game

Spoiler Alert: Dexter Morgan is a serial killer who kills the guilty, almost like a vigilante. He likes smashing crabs, long walks in the middle of the night, and duct tape. Okay? Okay. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let me just say that my expectations were pretty low for Dexter the Game. Yeah, I’ve seen the reviews in the iTunes store, but for someone who is substantially less than rabid as far as the Fan Scale is concerned, the game is… decent, and kind of fun.

The graphics were better than I expected. Each character looked like who they were supposed to look like, but slightly warped in a way I’m not sure was intended. Hunting the targets at night was adequately spooky, and having normal Dexter do normal Dexter things at his brightly lit and colorful workplace was a pleasant contrast.

The background music was quite fitting and reminiscent of the show. Background ambiance helped to set the scene, and the voices of the characters surprised me by their quality. Dexter sounded like himself, and yes, this also surprised me. Dexter’s mention of his “Dark Passenger” was a nice touch the first couple of times I heard it. After the umpteenth time, not so much.

Mostly, I enjoyed the sound of the bonesaw and the screaming of Dexter’s victims as he chopped them up, but that might just be me.

The controls for moving around are relatively easy to use, if you’re familiar with the iPhone. If you aren’t, it’ll take some practice getting used to, but that’s what the first mission is for. There are two D-pads located in either lower corner, the left for movement and the right for camera angles. When Dexter can interact with a nearby object, the object flashes white and a small button appears at the right side of the screen, just above the D-pad. Simple.

However, when it comes time to sneak up on a criminal for Dexter to capture and then kill, the controls can get a little aggravating. Moving at such a slow speed can seem almost frustrating the first time around, especially if you’re trying to sneak up behind a target and can’t get to a safe location to hide before the screen flashes red. Luckily, the only penalty is having to start the attempt over.

If you’re a fan of puzzles, then rejoice for this app has a good amount of them. Dexter offers different tasks to complete in lieu of problem solving, and a journal that keeps track of the more important quest lines. There are mini-games available at Dexter’s workplace and on missions to hunt down his next unsuspecting criminal.

Oh, and you get a choice of one killing tool out of three, and perform the killing actions by tracing the pattern on the screen. Extra points if you slice them up in a timely manner.

There’s a dialogue system in the game, but it’s not all too clear when anything but light-sided or neutral answers are necessary, except when maybe trying to needle a confession out of the naked criminal on the table. Tying in almost directly to that are what’s referred to as the Mask, and the Dark Passenger, as shown by the black and white bar at the top of the screen. The more dark the bar is, the more grumpy are Dexter’s responses to people. I didn’t find the system all that useful or engaging, but it was a nice concept, I suppose.

The same can’t quite be said for the mini-games which, while clever and interesting, can be infuriating at the precision needed to complete certain tasks. On the one hand, I’ve gained some respect for the talented people who specialize in blood splatter. On the other hand, I very nearly wanted to smash something out of pure frustration during the first few times I attempted the blood analysis mini-games. At some point, I had exact matches on the screen, only to receive NO MATCHES in big red letters. Eventually I had to set down the iPhone and walk away for a while. But then I came and resolved not to do every single sample available, if only to save my sanity.

You can breeze through the game relatively quickly in a single playthrough, but you’ll miss quite a few… clues. A second playthrough likely won’t find you every single piece of evidence available, but that’s okay, because you don’t need them. Sure, it’s rewarding, but at some point you simply stop receiving mask points, so it’s mostly a moot objective.

Overall, if you’re not a fan of Dexter or haven’t yet seen all of season one, I would not recommend getting Dexter the Game. For someone who’s unfamiliar with the show, the end will feel like a glorified advertising stunt, because the main issue isn’t actually resolved whatsoever. But aside from that, the game offers some replayability, reasonable play time and challenge, and a relatively amusing experience as far as puzzle games with little plot go. You know, after being reminded of the Dark Passenger a thousand times and failing at the blood splatter analysis. But if anything, Dexter the Game feels like Dexter the show, so that’s a plus in the end.

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