CID The Dummy review

A car crash of a game

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Clever concept

  • +

    "Old-school" gameplay

  • +

    At least tries to be funny

Cons

  • -

    Not even remotely amusing

  • -

    Charmless

  • -

    by-the-numbers platforming

  • -

    Lives? Really?

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What if a crash test dummy got tired of plowing his head through windshields and longed to explore the wider world? It’s a good concept that’s been squandered in CID The Dummy.

The biggest problem is it’s not even remotely amusing, despite lame efforts to entertain. The identikit hero and bad guys have stepped straight off the assembly line and into one of the most charmless, by-the-numbers platformers of recent years. Stealth sections and ‘light puzzles’? Check. Constant frustration? Check, and underlined three times. The reason for this is because CID The Dummy has lives.

You know, old-fashioned lives that throw you back to the start of the level – checkpoints erased – once depleted. That wouldn’t be a bad thing if the game didn’t play in an unhelpful, side-on perspective, making depth perception a nightmare. By the end you’ll want to unbuckle CID’s seatbelt and drive him into the nearest brick wall.

Jun 12, 2009

More info

GenreAction
DescriptionCID makes his debut in this side-scrolling 3D platformer where it's as much fun dishing out the pain as it is making this crash test dummy take it.
Platform"DS","PC","Wii","PS2","PSP"
US censor rating"Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+"
UK censor rating"7+","7+","7+","7+","7+"
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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Tom Sykes
When he's not dying repeatedly in roguelikes, Tom spends most of his working days writing freelance articles, watching ITV game shows, or acting as a butler for his cat. He's been writing about games since 2008, and he's still waiting on that Vagrant Story 2 reveal.