I realize this review is a bit late. I actually wrote it back in October of 2009, and it got lost somewhere. Still is a good game.

[tweetmeme]I’ve been a fan of Dexter since just before season two started up. The thing that makes Dexter so awesome is the main character. He’s the serial killer you root for. You want Dexter to get his man. That’s what makes it possible to turn Dexter into a game. If you had no stake in him, and couldn’t want him to succeed, the game would neither work or be fun. As it stands however, much like the show, it’s easy to enjoy killing people in the iPhone Dexter game; cause your victims deserve what they get.

The game sets the tone right away with Dexter unearthing the bodies of three young boys that have been murdered. You’re tasked with setting up a kill room, and stalking your prey; ultimately catching him in his own car and taking him to his own demise. The graphics in Dexter are beautiful; especially for iPhone. The audio is top-notch as well; with the real actors from the show voicing Dexter and Batista. Too bad the rest of the cast doesn’t voice their characters in the game. The cast is that from the first season. The story line draws most of its stuff from that first season, thus characters that have since died are still included in the game. To control Dexter, you get two virtual thumbsticks in the bottom corners of the screen. Because the majority of gameplay is detective work, and quick movement isn’t required, the touch-screen controls don’t get in the way too much. But it should come as no surprise that precise movement can be tricky when navigating a crime scene or lining yourself up with NPCs. It’s not a deal breaker, thankfully.

As part of your investigations, you’ll get involved in a lot conversations. Dexter has three options: dark, light-hearted, and something neutral. You have to keep Dexter’s dark side and good side balanced overall, so how Dexter talks can have an effect. Should you get into a confrontational situation, you use the accelerometer to keep an indicator near te center of the screen, in a sense, balancing Dexter. For bonus points toward maintaining that light and dark balance, you can hit the lab and solve case files in mini-games like blood splatter analysis and DNA matching. They can be somewhat tedious, but aren’t that necessary if you’re skilled in your kills and conversations.

So what are the kills like? You’re required to find evidence to put Dexter’s mind at ease, and then you find a kill room. The trickiest part ofthe game is stalking your kill without being spotted. I know, no one likes stealth anymore, but it’s inherent to the plot. The control sticks get in the way a little bit, but since you don’t have to get right up on the victim, just close enough to trigger a cutscene, it’s not too bothersome. Back at the kill room, you have another conversation, and try to extract a confession. Once you have it, you trace your cuts over a black screen; never seeing the real body being sliced up. That might be the biggest gripe I have. Dexter has a 17+ rating, but there is no gore. You can hear the cuts and a couple screams, but you don’t see the usual stab from the show.

Overall, I like Dexter on iPhone. I kinda wanna see it done up on PS3 too. I can see the Six-Axis being used well. If you’re a fan of the show, you’ll get something out of this game, even if it is rehashing the first season. It’s $5.99 in the App Store.