Provides a new spin for zombie games by going the 2D platformer route. Rather than letting you rack up the kills, Deadlight forces you to approach the undead with caution. Groups of them are to be avoided due to a lack of ammunition, a stamina bar that drains when you use melee attacks and leaves you vulnerable when it empties, as well as a very real sense of mortality. You're given all the tools to outsmart and outrun them, so combat is minimal leaving the game open to provide some solid platforming challenges.
With a silhouetted visual style akin to that of Playdead's Limbo and comic book style cutscenes, Deadlight is dripping with style. The tale it tells and the world developer Tequila Works has built is filled with dread. It has the kind of bleakness The Walking Dead TV show has been struggling to attain for years now. Collectibles scattered throughout the game, on top of being well-hidden at times, flesh out the experience with dark side stories to go along with that of the main narrative. A shame there's so much overacting and outright bad voice work though.
There is a little bit of extra content in this director's cut. Such as the new survival mode. Something I find to be a very questionable addition. It feels out of place for a game largely about not fighting the undead to have such a combat-centric mode. It's not much fun because of that. Those looking for an extra challenge can play through the Nightmare version of the campaign upon completing it the first time, which tasks you with playing through story with checkpoints only occurring between chapters. While you're gifted with an alternative ending upon finishing it, the control issues like the unreliable wall-jump and occasional unresponsiveness make it much less appealing to do so when you can just check out a YouTube video instead. Then there are the multitude of technical issues that can screw you out of progress. I don't know why this rerelease didn't get more bug testing.
Overall, Deadlight is a worthy prospect for the zombie fanatic. It's got a decent little post-apocalyptic plot and the visual aesthetics make exploring its rundown locations a blast. I was put-off by the glitches and control flaws, but in the end I was kept engaged by itss solid platforming. There are some really fun moments to be found. While there isn't enough new content to make it worth revisiting for those who already experienced it on last gen consoles, this director's cut is now the definitive way to go for new players.
7/10
With a silhouetted visual style akin to that of Playdead's Limbo and comic book style cutscenes, Deadlight is dripping with style. The tale it tells and the world developer Tequila Works has built is filled with dread. It has the kind of bleakness The Walking Dead TV show has been struggling to attain for years now. Collectibles scattered throughout the game, on top of being well-hidden at times, flesh out the experience with dark side stories to go along with that of the main narrative. A shame there's so much overacting and outright bad voice work though.
There is a little bit of extra content in this director's cut. Such as the new survival mode. Something I find to be a very questionable addition. It feels out of place for a game largely about not fighting the undead to have such a combat-centric mode. It's not much fun because of that. Those looking for an extra challenge can play through the Nightmare version of the campaign upon completing it the first time, which tasks you with playing through story with checkpoints only occurring between chapters. While you're gifted with an alternative ending upon finishing it, the control issues like the unreliable wall-jump and occasional unresponsiveness make it much less appealing to do so when you can just check out a YouTube video instead. Then there are the multitude of technical issues that can screw you out of progress. I don't know why this rerelease didn't get more bug testing.
Overall, Deadlight is a worthy prospect for the zombie fanatic. It's got a decent little post-apocalyptic plot and the visual aesthetics make exploring its rundown locations a blast. I was put-off by the glitches and control flaws, but in the end I was kept engaged by itss solid platforming. There are some really fun moments to be found. While there isn't enough new content to make it worth revisiting for those who already experienced it on last gen consoles, this director's cut is now the definitive way to go for new players.
7/10