Summary
- Romeo is a Dead Man is the next title from Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture.
- The gruesome game features a cyborg hero fighting hordes of zombies with guns and a high-tech katana.
- The game will be released for PlayStation 5 sometime in 2026.
Romeo is a Dead Man is the latest action title from Grasshopper Manufacture, and it looks like a cross between No More Heroes and Dead Rising. Whether it’s the laser sword-swinging mayhem of No More Heroes or the colorful zombie-slaying hijinks of Lollipop Chainsaw, Goichi “Suda51” Suda and his studio Grasshopper Manufacture are known for creating over-the-top action titles that are as bizarre as they are stylish.
Grasshopper Manufacture’s most recent game was No More Heroes 3 back in 2021, which was eventually ported to systems outside of the Nintendo Switch a year later. The years that followed would see several remasters of previous Grasshopper Manufacture titles like Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, Lollipop Chainsaw, and Shadows of the Damned. Now the time has come for Suda51 to reveal his next completely original action game, and it is about as strange and imaginative as his fans have come to expect.
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Romeo is a Dead Man was one of many games shown during June 4’s PlayStation State of Play livestream. The game’s announcement trailer starts off with a crudely animated, cel-shaded cutscene of a family sitting down for dinner. The doorbell rings, and the titular Romeo answers to find a monstrous zombie waiting for him outside. While he is left mortally wounded by this creature, his grandpa happens to have invented a device that will keep him alive as a cyborg – or “Deadman,” as he puts it. The device is activated by being shoved directly into Romeo’s eye, triggering a gruesome transformation that completely replaces his head with a machine.
Romeo is a Dead Man Blends No More Heroes With Dead Rising
Once Romeo is fully converted, the trailer switches to fully 3D gameplay footage of the cyborg hero cutting down hordes of the undead with a high-tech katana. The over-the-top action quickly brings to mind Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes, though Romeo can also use guns to dispel any monsters in his path. At one point, Romeo can be seen fighting in a mall, drawing comparisons to Frank West’s original trek through the zombie-infested shopping center of Dead Rising.
The rest of the trailer is filled with brief glimpses of the story and possible minigames, including what seems to be a retro-style arcade game and 2D anime cutscenes. Romeo also seems to have a love interest named Juliet, a nod to both the classic Shakespeare tragedy and Juliet Starling from Lollipop Chainsaw. Romeo is a Dead Man is currently set to launch for PlayStation 5 sometime in 2026, and looks like it could be a fun and ultraviolent romp for fans of zombie games and Suda51’s past work.