Valentine’s Day Massacre
Publisher 110 Industries has announced that its dopey-looking action-adventure Wanted: Dead has been hit with an unfortunate delay and will no longer meet its initial 2022 release window. It will now launch on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox platforms February 14, 2023.
It has been a hot minute since we last talked about Wanted: Dead, but for those of you yet to hear of this quirky little release, developer Soliel is creating a delightfully po-faced action title that is seemingly fully coming to terms with its own sense of dramatic and technical clunkiness. Players step into the finely-hones biceps of Hong Kong cop Lt. Hannah Stone, whose black ops police unit attempt to uncover and put an end to a dangerous corporate conspiracy in a dystopian, futuristic take on the capital city.
While that might all sound a little by-the-numbers and rote, it appears that Wanted: Dead is actually leaning into its own 1980s bullshit, offering up cardboard characters, tired action movie tropes, and lashings upon lashings of unashamed visceral violence to power its paper-thin storytelling. Utilizing Lt. Stone’s mastery of firearms, bladed weapons, explosives, and any other tool she can lay her hands on, players will wreak havoc throughout the syndicate, leaving a trail of guts and viscera in their wake.
And when not decapitating gangsters, or disemboweling mercenaries, players can also take time out with any number of side activities, including gacha games, karaoke, and some ’90s arcade action. As you can see from IGN’s trailer above — which features old-school U.S. cock rock, Asian influences, white-ass characters, anime cutscenes, FMV commercials, goofy dialogue, and even a random close-up of a cat — Wanted: Dead is a fucking train wreck of design cultures and global influence.
Will this bewildering-looking release hold it together to provide a delightful dose of satire, or will it simply be blissfully unaware that it is being laughed at, and not with? I guess we’ll find out come spring, when Wanted: Dead launches, February 14, on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox platforms.
