Deadlight: Side scrolling zombies please!

     Deadlight is yet another game that is set during a zombie outbreak and you are trying to survive. Yes this genre is overdone and seems like it should be put to rest. However, Deadlight manages to create a very fun and unique zombie game that ends up being a breath of fresh air. The main reason for this is that it is a side scrolling game.

     Deadlight is set in 1986 in Seattle Washington. You play as Randall Wayne and you are searching for your wife and daughter. You'll end up meeting some survivors that add some drama to the story, and of course you'll meet plenty of zombies. There are some twists in the story which make you want to keep playing to find out what happens. The story progresses through a moving graphic novel which I liked and thought worked well for the game.

     One thing I liked about Deadlight is the combat and movement mechanics. You won't have a large disposal of weapons at hand. In fact, the only weapons you get in the entire game are an axe, pistol, and shotgun....and ammo isn't plentiful. Since the game is a side scroller you will be running, jumping, and climbing most of the time. Randall has both a health and stamina bar. Hanging on a ledge too long, sprinting, or swinging your axe too much makes your stamina drop. It's also easy to get a horde of zombies on you and it only takes a couple hits and you're dead. This really adds to the tension in the game.

     I loved the graphics and entire art direction in Deadlight. If you have every played the arcade games Limbo and Shadow Complex you will see many similarities. The main character is silhouetted as are certain areas of the environment. The backgrounds are colorful, but also maintain the overall dark and dreary tone of the game. Buildings are in ruin, vehicles are overturned, and you get the sense of how bleak and abandoned the world is in the game.

     If you're a treasure hunter then you're in luck. Throughout each level you will be able to find hidden pieces of Randall's diary, ID's of the dead, and various artifacts from the city. Randall's diary is actually interesting to read and worth finding all the missing pages. Some really cool items to find are three old school handheld gaming devices. Once you find them you can actually play them. It really takes me back to some of the handheld games I had when I was little. Some of the hidden items are pretty easy to find, while others may take a little more searching.

     The game isn't overly difficult. Most of the time you will die because you jumped across a gap too early. Also, the entire game isn't that long. Depending on how much you die, or how long it takes you to find all the hidden items, the game can be anywhere from 3-5 hours. I ended up unlocking all the achievements in one play through. Deadlight is a really cool take on the zombie series and is definitely worth a try.

Final Verdict: 8/10

Written by: Alter Ego 83