The game will use all the power and capabilities of the PlayStation 2 through the Asura Engine, a versatile 3D engine developed in house by Rebellion. The rendering code has been specifically optimised to accentuate the platform’s strengths and capabilities

Judge Dredd vs. Judge Death will feature a unique new storyline, but one that fits in perfectly with the continuity of the comic with a full cast of characters from the Judge Dredd stories, including Judge Anderson and the Dark Judges, and many of the famous Mega-City One locations. The history and character of the Judge Dredd stories will be absolutely central to gameplay. For instance, because Dredd must obey the law he upholds and react according to the severity of all crimes, gamers won’t be able to just blast their way through the game, shooting petty criminals at will (not unless they fancy spending the rest of their life breaking rocks on Titan).

Jason Kingsley, CEO and Creative Director of Rebellion, says, “Judge Dredd has always been an obvious choice as a videogame licence, but no one has ever managed to put across the atmosphere and awesome visual scale of the comics in a game before. Now a combination of our powerful Asura engine and our love for the character will enable us to put out the Judge Dredd game that gamers and comics fans have been demanding for so many years. In VU Games we have a partner with a great deal of experience in publishing and marketing cutting edge games, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship for Dredd and other future titles.”

“We are proud to have Judge Dredd vs. Judge Death in development for the PlayStation 2, and we hope it will allow the millions of owners of this console to discover the rich universe of the comics that have been published for 25 years now,” commented Dominique Cor, CEO of NDA Productions. “. ”

Judge Dredd was recently voted ‘Best Character’ at the British National Comics Awards, beating off competition from Spiderman, Batman and Dennis the Menace.

Judge Dredd vs. Judge Death is being developed for PlayStation 2 and PC, and is planned for release in the second-half of 2003.