I'll admit it, I really wanted NeverDead to be a great game. From the first time it was announced, back at E3 a few years ago (complete with headless presenter), it seemed like a unique mechanic to introduce to a third person action game. Now, upon the game's release -- that's true, the game's intention are still as pure as before, but everything else is so incredibly disappointing that it almost feels unfair.

There's really only one word to describe how NeverDead turned out -- terrible. It's a sloppy, mis-produced excuse for a game that takes everything it has going for it, including its novel concept and turns them into annoyances and frustrations. No one should play NeverDead. Ever.

NeverDead tells the story (and please understand that I use that phrase in the most loose way possible) of Bryce, a demon hunter who thanks to a curse placed on him more than 500 years ago, can't die. Now, your first thought is probably that that's a pretty lame plot -- where's the risk in playing as a protagonist that can't die, right? Think about it though, not having to worry about your character's wellbeing, and being able blow him into a mere pile of limbs can prove for some interesting and fun scenarios. Except, that's not what the development team did.

"...it's clear that it's been overdone."

There's a rule in comedy writing -- do something once, and it's funny, twice and it's repetitive, but doing something three times means it's hilarious. But what happens when you do something over..and over..and over? It becomes incredibly annoying and frustrating. Such is the case for NeverDead's Bryce. The first time you lose a body part in a fight, it's laughable, but when it begins to happen every single time you get into a fight, it's clear that it's been overdone. When Bryce loses all of his limbs, you're forced into a quick time event mini game to stop a group of dark beings from carrying your remains off to an evil monster, where you'll spend eternity (don't worry, you'll only have to press one button each time). What results is a protagonist that seems vastly unqualified for the position he seems to have come in to.

NeverDead's concept of an indestructible protagonist never really reaches the potential it should. There are few times where you're put into a position where your abilities will be anything less than a novelty, and you're merely tasked with running up to a bunch of similar looking enemies, using bland weaponry on them and repeating until you get to the end credits. If you've got the time, patience and willingness to sit through it, each and every fight in NeverDead can easily be completed without much effort.

"...babysit one of the most brain-dead AI partners in gaming history."

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of all of this is that throughout the whole NeverDead experience, you're asked to babysit one of the most brain-dead AI partners in gaming history. Your partner Arcadia loves to run head first into gun battles, stand near explosions and seems to not know how to get into cover. The inclusion of Arcadia and her needs often feels like a slap in the face to those who bit it, and paid the $59.99 asking price.

NeverDead does feature both co-op and competitive online modes, but they're as forgettable and poorly developed as the rest of the game. The maps are lame and unimaginative, it's almost as if the developers just tacked it on at the last minute as an added selling point.

Presentation wise, the game is exactly what you'd expect it to be. While the character models are surprisingly good looking, the environments and environments are so unremarkable and boring that it really doesn't matter. The animation jumps and often lags when there's almost nothing going on.

With its novel concept and cool ideas, NeverDead could have been one of this year's biggest sleeper hits, but the developers had different ideas. It's repetitious, sloppy, and quite frankly boring. Already in 2012, we've got some great games, and there's no reason to play NeverDead. At all.