Game review: Deadlight

Well folks the time is with us again. Grab your baseball bats and let’s buckle up for another zombie killing/end of the world time joy ride, with an interesting 2D/3D side scrolling game from TEQUILA WORKS and MICROSOFT STUDIOS.

DEADLIGHT is set in SEATTLE in 1986. A virus that re-animates the dead has brought society to its knees, as if the eighties weren`t bad enough.

As RANDALL WAYNE a lone survivor you have to climb and jump your way back to them, whilst being pursued by the dead and the not so dead.

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DEADLIGHT doesn`t win any awards for original story, but what it does have is interesting gameplay and stunning graphics. As a side scrolling platform game it did remind me of SHADOW COMPLEX released way back 2009, that had a similar 2D background.

You are limited as to what freedoms your character has. He can climb jump and run, and not having a free running option was a let-down, especially during helicopter chases.

Gameplay is good; there are a few glitches here and there, your character doesn`t always do what you want him to do, resulting in a few irritating deaths.

You climb and jump your way through dank dirty streets, and even dirtier booby trapped ridden sewers, in an increasingly desperate search for your wife and daughter (something you are reminded of constantly).

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The graphics really make DEADLIGHT more interesting than it actually is. They give the game depth and added a nice gloomy atmosphere to the whole proceedings, and it’s worth slowing down just to look at the beautiful backgrounds.

Weapons-wise, well not really much to write home about. The best one is the axe but it still takes a couple of blows to take out a zombie, and with each swing your stamina bar decreases, the gun is nigh on useless for killing zombies, but necessary for shooting locks at a distance, as is the sling shot.

You pick up weapons randomly as you progress. The main objective being to avoid zombies instead of going on a killing spree, which won`t do you any good.

There are plenty of health kits and other objects to pick up including ID cards (if you look carefully they are all famous serial killers) keep an eye open for booby traps, you can actually shout at the zombies to attract attention, allowing you to manipulate them either setting off a booby trap or just giving you a chance to escape their clutches, you do have to use the old grey matter at times to work out some of the puzzles and they all work well.

Summary

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DEADLIGHT is one of the more interesting games to come out on XBLA recently and worth checking out, visually stunning, and interesting to play DEADLIGHT brings a whole new look to the zombie genre. Story wise its nothing new.

Deadlight

Developers: Tequila Works

Publishers: Microsoft Studios

XBLA

Genre: Sidescroller/platformer

Release Date: 1st August 2012

©theleet