Publisher 110 Industries advertised Wanted: Dead as a love letter to the sixth generation of consoles, and, for better or worse, the game certainly lives up to that billing. From its simplistic yet stylish visuals to its charmingly bizarre voice acting, it feels like a game that would have felt right at home on the PlayStation 2 or the Sega Dreamcast. In fact, it could perhaps be argued that there are elements of the game's design that predate even that.
Those old enough to remember gaming in the nineties will no doubt recall how punishing some of the era’s action games could be, particularly those that were developed in Japan. Wanted: Dead takes great pride in emulating this demanding style, which, for some, at least, is a big part of the game's appeal. For others, however, these elevated levels of difficulty could prove to be problematic, even when playing the game on Normal mode.
Does Wanted: Dead Have an Easy Mode?
When players first boot up the game, they’ll be given a choice between Normal and Hard difficulty settings, with a third option, Japanese Hard, becoming available once they have completed the game. However, what a lot of people might not realize is that Wanted: Dead has a secret difficulty setting which has been specially designed for players who just can’t cope with the frantic and fast-paced action of the other three modes. This mode is called Neko Chan, which effectively translates to “Little Cat” mode, for obvious reasons.
How to Unlock Easy Mode in Wanted: Dead
In order to unlock easy mode in Wanted: Dead, players simply need to press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Left, Right, Right while on the title screen. If the code is entered correctly, players should hear a chime, signaling that Neko Chan mode has successfully been unlocked. They'll then be able to choose this secret difficulty mode when starting a new game, which will lead to enemies being noticeably weaker and players getting a few additional stimpacks. In addition to unlocking Neko Chan mode, inputting this code will also allow players to access every mini-game in Wanted: Dead directly from the main menu without having to play them first in-game.
Players should be warned that playing Wanted: Dead on Neko Chan mode will cause the playable character to wear a pair of cat ears for the entirety of the playthrough.
Are there Other Cheat Codes for Wanted: Dead?
Prior to the game’s release, members of the development team hinted that there would be numerous cheat codes in Wanted: Dead. Many will see this as yet another nice throwback to a bygone era of gaming, though, at the time of writing, only the code for Neko Chan mode has been shared by the publisher. That said, it would not be surprising if more codes are discovered soon, with things like invulnerability and infinite assault rifle ammo likely high on many players’ wishlists.
While not strictly a cheat code for Wanted: Dead itself, players can use the easy mode cheat code listed above (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Left, Right, Right) while on the title screen of the Space Runaway mini-game in order to unlock the game's Hard Mode right away.
Wanted: Dead is available now on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series S|X, Xbox One, and PC.