Wanted: Dead is a wild game, but to describe what type or genre of game it is, it's kind of a shooter / hack-and-slash hybrid.

What Type of Game Is Wanted: Dead?

Wanted: Dead casts you as Lt. Hannah Stone, leader of the Zombie Squad. But with her toting a sword and a gun, is this a shooter, a hack-and-slash, or something else entirely? Here’s the answer to what type of game Wanted: Dead is.

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Developer Soleil Calls Wanted: Dead a Hybrid Slasher/Shooter, but There’s More to It Than That

Wanted: Dead is, in developer Soleil’s words, “a hybrid slasher/shooter,” but there’s more you need to know. Even though there’s shooting, this is a third person action game. Your view only switches to first person when you are aiming your gun — this is not a first-person shooter.

Also, while “hybrid slasher/shooter” isn’t wrong, we’d add the word “frenetic” in front of that. This isn’t a game where you take on small groups of bad guys at a time while they obediently take their turn. A lot of enemies will descend on you guns blazing and, if you don’t keep on the move, will gun you down.

It’s also a little retro — as a few people have noticed, it’s got a certain amount of PlayStation 2-style charm/jank (depending on your perspective). Soleil itself calls it a “love letter to the sixth generation of consoles.”

So, we’d call it a frenetic, retro-inspired, third-person hybrid slasher/shooter. And while that may be a bit of a mouthful, that’s what type of game Wanted: Dead is.


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Chris McMullen
Chris McMullen is a freelance contributor at The Escapist and has been with the site since 2020. He returned to writing about games following several career changes, with his most recent stint lasting five-plus years. He hopes that, through his writing work, he settles the karmic debt he incurred by persuading his parents to buy a Mega CD. Outside of The Escapist, Chris covers news and more for GameSpew. He's also been published at such sites as VG247, Space, and more. His tastes run to horror, the post-apocalyptic, and beyond, though he'll tackle most things that aren't exclusively sports-based. At Escapist, he's covered such games as Infinite Craft, Lies of P, Starfield, and numerous other major titles.