Romeo Is A Dead Man is a violent, surreal, unapologetically weird action game that feels like Suda51 completely unfiltered.
There are games that try to be different, and then there are games that simply do not care if you understand them or not. Romeo Is A Dead Man belongs firmly in the second category. This is Suda51 at his most unhinged, most creative, and honestly most confident. It feels like a game made by someone who stopped worrying about focus groups, trends, or expectations a long time ago and just decided to go all in on pure vibes.
And somehow, against all odds, it mostly works.
Romeo Is A Dead Man is weird, loud, messy, and violently original. It is also kinda one of the most entertaining action games I have played in a while, even when it stumbles. I enjoyed this game a lot, not because everything it does is perfect, but because almost nothing else feels remotely like it.
A story that barely makes sense and absolutely does not care
You play as Romeo, a deputy sheriff whose life goes completely off the rails after encountering something known as the White Devil. Within minutes, Romeo loses an arm, half his face, and technically his life. He is saved, sort of, by his grandpa Ben, a mad scientist type who would feel right at home next to Rick from Rick and Morty. Ben injects Romeo with a serum that brings him back in a half-dead state, complete with a cybernetic arm and a ridiculous but very cool helmet.
Ben does not survive the encounter, but death is more of a suggestion in this universe. He returns as a flat, animated 2D patch stitched onto Romeo’s jacket, acting as a constant narrative companion. Think Mimir from the God of War games, but filtered through Suda51’s brain. Surprisingly, Ben never becomes annoying. He comments on events, offers guidance, and reacts to the insanity around you in a way that grounds the experience instead of overwhelming it.
From there, things escalate fast. Romeo becomes the DeadMan and is recruited by the FBI Space-Time Police, which is exactly as absurd as it sounds. You jump across a fragmented universe, hopping between time periods, hunting time criminals who transform into grotesque monsters. Looming over all of this is Juliet, Romeo’s love interest, who may or may not be a monstrous entity herself. The story spirals into madness almost immediately, and honestly, I stopped trying to fully understand it pretty early on.
And that is fine.
This is not a game you play for narrative clarity. It is a game you experience. The story is more about tone and momentum than logic, and once you accept that, it becomes much easier to enjoy the ride.
Combat that is simple, slick, and brutally satisfying
At its core, Romeo Is A Dead Man is a third-person action game, and the combat is where it shines the most. The system itself is refreshingly straightforward. You have light and heavy attacks, simple combos, dodging, and a few special abilities. It is easy to pick up, and within minutes you are carving through enemies with confidence.
As you attack, a blood meter fills up. Once it is full, you can unleash a devastating area attack that shreds everything around you. These moments feel incredible. The screen floods with blood, particles, and absurd visual effects. It is excessive, messy, and completely intentional. This game does not believe in restraint, and combat benefits greatly from that attitude.
Weapons are a big part of the fun. Romeo’s chainsaw katana is ridiculous in the best way possible, and pairing it with heavy firearms like the rocket launcher turns fights into chaotic spectacles. I spent most of my time switching between melee carnage and explosive crowd control, and the game absolutely supports that playstyle.
Boss fights are hit or miss. Visually, they are fantastic, full of grotesque designs and wild animations. Mechanically, some bosses feel like they are meant to be fought at range. Getting close often results in getting demolished, especially later in the game. The final boss in particular felt less like a test of skill and more like a test of patience, as I ended up slowly chipping away at it with rockets from a safe distance. It works, but it is not especially elegant.
That said, finishing a boss is always worth it. The death animations are outrageous. Romeo RKO’ing a giant monster never gets old, and these moments are pure Suda51 spectacle.
Progression systems that are strange, clever, and maybe pointless
Killing enemies earns you currency, which you use to upgrade Romeo. But this being a Grasshopper Manufacture game, upgrades are never straightforward. Instead of a standard skill tree, you play a Pac-Man-like mini-game where you guide a small character through a maze, collecting buffs while spending currency to move.
It is weird. It is unnecessary. I love it.
Weapon unlocking is handled through a shop, and honestly the prices are so cheap that I unlocked almost everything very early on. I quickly settled into using the dual swords that combine into a double blade thing, alongside the RPG. You can upgrade weapons using consumable items, similar to how upgrading works in Elden Ring, but I never really felt a significant difference. Even at max level, upgrades did not seem to drastically change how fast enemies went down.
That might be intentional, or it might be poorly balanced. Either way, combat remains fun regardless, so it never became a real issue.
The Last Night spaceship and the game within the game
After each mission, you return to the Last Night spaceship, which completely shifts perspective. The game becomes a top-down 2D pixel art experience, complete with NPC conversations, mini-games, and side systems.
Here, you can cook dishes using ingredients like onions and tomatoes that you somehow collect during missions and even out in space. These dishes grant temporary buffs. You can also plant Bastards, which are zombies with special abilities you can summon during combat. One creates healing circles, another shocks enemies, another launches a bowling ball that explodes after hitting enough targets. None of this makes sense, and all of it fits perfectly.
You can also scan the universe by playing a Pong mini-game, which lets you then pilot the spaceship toward corrupted space portals where fugitives hide. Talking about this out loud sounds insane, because it is. But in motion, it somehow flows.
Presentation that refuses to sit still
From a technical standpoint, Romeo Is A Dead Man will not win awards for graphical fidelity. Character models and environments are serviceable, not stunning. But art direction is where this game goes completely off the rails, in the best way possible.
You get 3D cutscenes, comic book panels, wildly different UI styles, pixel art sections, surreal digital subspace levels where you jump between realspace and subspace using keys and portals, and even a bizarre animated music video that appears out of nowhere. No two menus look the same. No system feels recycled.
It feels like a game constantly reinventing itself, sometimes just for the hell of it.
Performance issues that hold it back
Unfortunately, performance is where things fall apart. Early on, playing in Performance mode felt smooth and responsive. But as enemy counts increase and visual effects pile up, the frame rate drops hard. There are moments where it dips well below 30fps, especially in late-game areas and optional dungeons.
Some high-difficulty dungeon challenges are borderline unplayable due to frame rate drops combined with very dark visuals. The final level is particularly rough too, with so much happening on screen that performance tanks even in Performance mode. It is frustrating, and it absolutely hurts the experience.
Despite its flaws, I still recommend Romeo Is A Dead Man without hesitation. It is strange, violent, messy, and unapologetically original. In a world full of remakes, remasters, and safe sequels, a game like this deserves attention.
You might not fully understand it. You might get annoyed by performance issues. You might question why half of these systems exist at all.
But you will not forget it. And sometimes, that is more than enough. Thanks for reading!
The game was reviewed on a PS5 via a promo copy provided by PR. Romeo Is A Dead Man is available PS5, PC and Xbox Series X/S.
