Now Playing: Deadlight

Seattle. July 4, 1986. 185 days after the infection. The zombie apocalypse is well underway. Every day becomes a battle for survival against insurmountable odds. Do I continue on with my search for hope, or just put a bullet in my head and end the misery? Wait a minute! How many of these apocalyptic nightmare games have I been a part of? Way too many I suppose, but who cares. Bring on the zombies! Now where was I? Oh yeah, I’m struggling to survive to hopefully one day reunite with my family.

With no cure for the infection and no hope in sight, Randall Wayne goes on his endless search for hope. His urge to find his family is his only motivation for survival against the “shadows.” That’s the term used for the dark, red eyed menace that populate the streets of Seattle and are ready to ravage my corpse if I fail. The shadows are everywhere. Just when I think that the rotted mound of flesh on the ground is just another dead body it will end up being the one coming after me. The shadows aren’t the only problem in town. There’s also a faction called “The New Law” that seems to have their own agenda as well.

Deadlight, from Tequila Works, brings me back to a rather familiar territory…zombies. Sure it’s another apocalypse, but this time things feel a little different than what I’ve went through many times before. Most of the time it’s me putting round after round into the heads of the undead leaving them in a bloody mess. Deadlight is a little different as it’s more about surviving. There is the occasional weapon here and there which allow me to dish out some zombie justice, but ammo is limited and stamina becomes an issue. Sometimes it’s better to run from the danger rather than face it head on.

Playing as a 2D/3D side scrolling platformer, Deadlight channels memories of when I played the trial and error nightmare of Limbo especially when I reached the second act featuring a character known as “The Rat.” Running and jumping was more important than shooting and melee attacks as I reached for new heights. Sometimes I failed a jump or twos which led me to my death as I was impaled by spikes, but after a while I got the mechanics down making the game a tad easier while still dying here and there. At least when I died I would revive at the last checkpoint due to my ability of the unlimited continue.

The zombified shadows reminded me of walkers in The Walking Dead which is quite creepy. I never knew if a person was alive or undead as I walked past them. Then the chill set in as they got up and started to chase me down. Good thing these shadows are rather dumb as I would solve a random puzzle here and there to do things like electrify them, cause them to fall to their deaths from a deep hole in the ground, and even drop a heavy object or two on them. Watching the shadows die was pretty satisfying and even drew a chuckle from me. As for The New Law? Well that’s a challenge in itself especially when they have a chopper and they’re shooting at me.

Unique visuals reminiscent of Shadow Complex, graphic novel presentation, tough as hell platforming, plenty of collectibles to find, easy to earn achievements based on popular ’80s songs, and a few plot twists that had me saying “What the fuck!” Deadlight clearly is a game that is far from perfect, but it does have just enough to keep me interested in the 2-3 hours that it takes to beat the game.

Developer: Tequila Works
Platform: Xbox Live Arcade
Players: 1
Price: 1200 Microsoft Points ($15.00)