I’ve been on a zombie kick lately and with The Walking Dead returning soon I thought I would replay and review Deadlight.
Deadlight is a Action, Adventure, Platformer game by Tequila Works. In Deadlight you play as Randall Wayne. Randall is originally from a small town in British Columbia but after the initial “incident” he and his friend, Parker, make their way to Seattle. Once in Seattle they encounter a small group of survivors, two men and two women, who they then decide to travel with.
The game starts on a somber note. One of your female traveling companions breaks the rules and travels outside by herself and receives a bite for her trouble. You decide to put her out of her misery with a bullet to the head. When the others return, they’re a little upset but with your mercy killing. Your gunshot alerted nearby zombies and soon the place is crawling with them. Your companions make their escape up a weakened ladder, but just before it’s your turn to escape the ladder, ironically, breaks off and leaves you stranded to fight by yourself.
You decide to meet up with your companions at a designated “safe zone”. From there on out you will be running, rolling, and parkour jumping your way around zombies and up buildings. I have to say that this is probably what I like most about Deadlight is the platforming puzzles. Some of the platforming seems that it should be physically impossible, and has me going “How in the hell did I just do that” but I take into consideration that yes this is a video game, but nonetheless it does make for some great action scenes.
Your companions are not the only ones who you are hoping to meet up with. When your town was overrun with the dead, you were separated from your wife and daughter and your only hope of finding them is also the safe zone.
Another part I like about this game is that, like most zombie/survival games, you don’t have a lot of ammo and it’s easier to use misdirection to avoid conflict entirely. Using your taunt action you are able to attract attention to yourself causing zombies to gather just below where you are perched in order to jump past them and make a mad dash away to safety. Trying to dispatch a swarm of the undead is near impossible (which it should be). Your stamina meter depletes quickly when using melee attacks, and as mentioned before, ammo is scarce.
Zombies aren’t the only enemies you will face in Deadlight. It seems that the remnants of an Army unit have taken up residence in Seattle. Their objective is unknown but it’s apparent that they’re not the friendly types.
Along the way keep an eye out for Randall’s journal entries. They’ll tell you more about Randall and the events that have happened prior to the game. They also give you a better feel about Randall’s personality.
The art direction in Deadlight is stunning. The color palette chosen by Tequila Works accentuates the isolated, morose tone of your journey exceptionally well. The use of shadows and pastel colors are a perfect contrast to distinguish the living from the dead. Deadlight succeeds in almost every way that it attempts to. The only thing lacking (slightly I might add) was the story.
+Fun platforming
+Interesting Story
+Smooth controls
+Great scenery and atmosphere
Review Score: 8/10
Author: Zach Zellmer
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