Suspended Sentences: Judge Dredd Gamebook

In these days when every name has to be carved up to fit a headline (Subo, Jedward, Codblops), I’ve been wondering how ‘Judge Joseph Dredd’ would fare on the front page of the Mega City Sun. ‘Jujo’ has a nice familiarity about it, don’t you think? “JuJo Thins Out Fatties” – I’m not sure the big man with the square jaw would approve though. Just mentioning it would likely be rewarded with a few weeks in the iso-cubes for disrespecting an officer of the law. You could probably get away with ‘Jredd’ though. To his face at least.

The reason I’m pondering Dredd-lines is because Tin Man Games‘ latest adventure gamebook Judge Dredd: Countdown Sector 106 was released to the App Store the other day. Though it’s not a direct tie in with the imminent Dredd movie, it does of course allow you to wear the boots, helmet and badge of the UK’s greatest ever sci-fi lawman as he pounds the ped-ways of Mega City One in search of perps and juves to pass judgement on – almost all of which are guilty of something.

I’ve been reading (playing) the game for a grud couple of hours and while initially I was a tiny bit underwhelmed, with Mega City One seemingly more like a fictional estate from an episode of The Bill, as old characters and references to various city blocks have popped up I’ve found myself increasingly enthralled by Dredd’s search for clues in what seems to be more than just an illegal weapons smuggling operation. This is proper old school Dredd, where everyone is presumed guilty and if the innocent get caught in the line of duty, so be it.

As soon as I’ve got to the bottom of things and have saved the city I’ll be sure to enlighten you with a final judgement. In the meantime, why not catch up with our interview with Tin Man’s Neil Rennison from a few weeks ago.