We know a lot of Pure Xbox members have been awaiting the reviews for Romeo Is A Dead Man this week, which is the latest game from Grasshopper Manufacture of No More Heroes and Lollipop Chainsaw fame (amongst other things).
And, with just one day to go until it releases on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S this Wednesday (February 11th), those reviews have arrived! They're also pretty darn mixed right now, so we've got a range of impressions to bring your way — some very positive, some in the middle, and some quite negative ones.
Here's a sample of reviews for Romeo is a Dead Man:
CGM (9/10)
"I could go on and on about ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN, but I think by now you get the picture. Even thinking about it as I’m writing this review just makes me want to play it more. If you’re a fan of Suda 51, then you’re absolutely going to love ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN. If you’re not, playing this will undoubtedly make you one."
Game Informer (8.25/10)
"Romeo is a Dead Man continues the bizarre, violent, and unexpectedly thoughtful style of game Suda51 has made a career out of creating, or in this case, shepherding. Looking at Grasshopper’s gameography, this one lives near the top of the ordered list for me. I was left wanting more from the love story incidentally promised by the protagonist’s names, but I was eager to keep playing to make Romeo stronger, see where I was going next, and learn more about the colorful cast of characters."
GamesRadar (4/5)
"An oddly emotional game, Romeo is a Dead Man is Suda51's best in years, marrying entertaining combat with pop culture references and constant creativity. Get through the game's somewhat flat start and you'll find auteur game design at its best – idiosyncratic, strange, and thoroughly enjoyable."
GameGrin (7.5/10)
"In the end, I recommend ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN to anyone who loved GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE’s previous titles. It’s fun on its own with interesting progression and awesome game mechanics. It is rough around some edges, but these problems can be ignored for the most part… except for the framerate drops, which aren’t that great."
IGN (7/10)
"Even after writing all this, I’m not sure how I feel about Romeo is a Dead Man. Like the Fractured Universe Romeo is in, it’s a whole lot of disparate parts that don’t always add up to a coherent whole. But I’ll be damned if I can stop thinking about it, and I respect how it tells its story through its gameplay. Is it good? Maybe. Did I enjoy the act of playing it? Sometimes. Did it stick with me? Yeah. Yeah it did. Enough that I might go back. And so we reach the end of the sphere, and start again."
PushSquare (6/10)
"Just as enjoyable as it is frustrating, Romeo Is a Dead Man is an incredibly uneven experience. You’ll love it one minute and hate it the next. Persevere with its more annoying elements, and you’ll discover a unique and entertaining hack and slasher at the end of it all. It just takes a lot of effort and restraint to get there."
GameSpot (5/10)
"Sometimes it's charming or funny, but these moments are fleeting, and artistic flair does not cancel out the tedium of the game's combat and exploration. . It's not a tragedy on the scale of the real Romeo and Juliet, but this is one Dead Man I'm not inclined to mourn."
Stevivor (4.5/10)
"There’s something admittedly unique about it, but that quirkiness doesn’t make up for its middle of the road design. In fact, it’s not long before quirky is just there for the sake of quirkiness, not serving anything larger. If your whole thing is about playing something completely outside the mainstream, ignore me and gobble this one up."
So, as you can see, Romeo is a Dead Man is landing very differently with some critics than others. It's all amounting to a 73 average on PS5, 75 on PC and 77 on Xbox at the time of writing, although keep in mind that the PS5 is the version with the most reviews on Metacritic by some distance.
If you're interested in playing Romeo is a Dead Man, it will be available as of 9am EST / 2pm GMT on Wednesday, February 11th for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC (with Xbox Play Anywhere support as well). It doesn't look like we'll be getting digital pre-orders on Xbox, so keep an eye out for the game when it launches tomorrow!