REVIEW -- Deadlight

Since Deadlight is the second of April's helpings of Microsoft's Games on Gold, I decided to check this game out, despite my growing distaste in the survival horror/zombie outbreak genre as of late. Set in Seattle in 1986, Deadlight tells the story of Randall Wayne, a former park ranger who sets out to find his family in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse.

Deadlight is a 2012 sidescrolling survival horror/cinematic platforming video game for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, developed by Tequila Works and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released for Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade on August 1, and for Windows via Steam on October 25.

The Plot: (FULL Spoilers)

The game takes place in Seattle in 1986 after the near-total decimation of society following the outbreak of a virus that reanimates the dead. Randall Wayne, a park ranger from the town of Hope in Canada, is a survivor of the event, and has since been separated from his wife Shannon and daughter Lydia. Randall has come to Seattle because of reports that located within the city is the last remaining "Safe Point" in the Pacific Northwest, and he is convinced that this is where Shannon and Lydia have come. Accompanied by his friend and fellow park ranger, Ben Parker, Randall has since joined with a group of three other people; an elderly police officer named Sam and two twin sisters, Stella and Karla.

As the game begins, Randall has just shot Karla in the head, as she has been bitten and is about to turn into a Shadow. As Sam and Stella return to the warehouse in which they are sheltering, the building is attacked by Shadows who have been drawn to it by the gunshot. The trio flee through a skylight, but the ladder breaks before Randall can follow, and so he tells them to get to the safe point, and he will meet them there, reminding them to stay on the lookout for his family.

Goddamn, this game is gorgeous...

Randall escapes the warehouse and sets out across the dilapidated city. He soon learns of a violent militia group calling itself "The New Law," who kill anyone that won't join them. After finding Sam's van crashed on the side of the road, Randall comes across Sam in a nearby shop. He is seriously wounded, and bleeding to death. The van had been ambushed by The New Law, who took Ben and Stella with them and left Sam for dead. Sam tells Randall that the safe point isn't real, but is actually a trap set up by The New Law, hoping to lure in survivors, so they can kill them and take any supplies they may have. After Sam dies, Randall sets out, determined to rescue his family and friends from the The New Law.

As he heads towards the safe point, he is cornered by a herd of Shadows. However, before they can attack him, a hand reaches up from a manhole and drags him down into the sewers. Randall begins to have strange dreams and flashbacks of his life before the outbreak, mingled with vague memories of returning to his house upon the onset of the Shadows. Waking up in the sewers, Randall meets the "Rat"; a strange old man who has turned the sewer system into an elaborate series of booby traps to kill Shadows and The New Law, should they venture down. The Rat tells Randall that if he can make it through the traps, he will help him find his friends. When Randall does so, the Rat tells him that his teenage son is missing, and asks Randall to bring him home. The Rat promises Randall that he will search for his family and friends, and reveal what he knows upon the safe return of his son.

Randall agrees and sets out to the surface to search for the boy. After crashing a van, Randall is contacted via radio by an unknown person, who guides him to safety on a building rooftop. The person is the Rat's son, who was looking for food when he was attacked by The New Law. As Randall and the son speak, a New Law helicopter appears, opening fire on them. They flee, and eventually return to the sewers, whereupon the Rat tells Randall that Ben and Stella are at a nearby sports stadium, held by The New Law. The Rat has not been able to find out anything about Randall's family, however.

Randall heads to the stadium, finding Ben being tortured by The New Law, who leave a Shadow to kill him. Randall rescues Ben, who tells him that The New Law have taken Stella to the safe point. After acquiring medical supplies for Ben, they head to the safe point via a helicopter. However, en route, Ben loses consciousness and the helicopter crashes. Ben is killed, but Randall survives, eventually making it to the safe point. He is captured by The New Law, but manages to escape, and sets out to rescue Stella. He does so, and in order to cover their escape from the facility, Randall turns off the power generator, allowing the Shadows to penetrate the facility, killing off many New Law soldiers in the process. Randall and Stella make it to a dock but are cornered by a group of Shadows. Stella pleads with Randall to kill her, which causes him to recall a repressed memory; upon returning to his home in Canada after the outbreak, he found he had only two bullets in his gun. As the house was under siege from the Shadows, Shannon pleaded with him to kill her and Lydia. With great reluctance, Randall did so. Having remembered the incident, he refuses to repeat it by killing Stella, instead telling her that she must survive and never give up hope. Breaking the wood of the dock, Randall sends Stella into the water, where she makes it to a nearby sailboat and drifts away. Randall apologizes to his deceased daughter, who appears in front of him, as he laments that he should have died with her. However, he is happy that they will be together again soon. As the horde of Shadows race towards him, Randall accepts his fate, and the game ends.

In an alternate ending, unlockable by completing "Nightmare" mode, it is revealed that Randall is a murderer. He killed Karla even though she wasn't bitten, he smothered Sam upon finding him in the shop, and he choked Ben in the helicopter. The game ends with Randall struggling to come to terms with who he really is.

The Verdict: 

Gameplay:

Ever since the Xbox Live Arcade hit, Shadow Complex, I have been hoping for another 2.5D style Metroid/Castlevania hybrid to come along. While this game sports some beautiful environments that take complete advantage of either the Xbox 360 or PC's graphical power, sadly the gameplay itself falls a little short in that department. While I can't speak for this game's PC equivalent, but the Xbox 360 version has a few minor glitches that will either cause players to reload to their previous checkpoints (and lose their current progress) or cause the game to slow down to a snail-like pace.

Players are encouraged to avoid the "Shadows" (zombies) as much as possible while platforming and solving puzzles. Even when you are cornered and forced to fight, Randall can't defend himself for extended periods of time thanks to the stamina gauge located below your health bar. Players start off the game without any weapons, but Randall acquires a fireman's axe, a pistol, a shotgun, and a slingshot (which cannot be used in combat, but rather for assisting with solving puzzles) by the end of the journey. Each one of these weapons consume stamina with each use, while firearms require ammunition that is very scarce in this game. This stamina management creates a dynamic of high tension for players, causing them to carefully plan out every encounter as who knows what is around the next corner. The survival horror hasn't seen this level of actual fear and helplessness in a very long time... well, until 2013's acclaimed PlayStation 3 exclusive, The Last of Us, but that's entirely a different story altogether... This natural sense of urgency and fear is truly what makes this title fun. 

To add to the degree of realism in this game, Randall can actually trip up. Yes, you read that right. Trip up like almost every screaming female chased by a chainsaw wielding antagonist in any typical horror film. It's very realistic and adds to the horror element of the game significantly but at the same time, it's downright infuriating during gameplay at times. For example, you could be running from Shadows or trying to survive during another chase set piece in the narrative, and direct Randall to jump over a harmless stack of boxes. Mistime this jump any degree that causes Randall to land on it and he falls face-first into the floor and this old bastard takes forever getting back to his feet. Shadows take FULL advantage of this situation. Oftentimes they will hold you in place while pummeling your health bar into submission for you can see that Game Over screen more times than you would like. 

Speaking of Game Overs, Deadlight's respawn/checkpoint system isn't too forgiving at all. More times than not, I found myself restarting right in the middle of the mess I just died from, such as during Act III where Randall and Stella are running from The New Law's soldiers. I died and restarted, only for the soldiers to be ALREADY be shooting me in the back when the game gives me back control of Randall. If I weren't holding down the Run button during the loading screen I would be still stuck on that sequence. 

The game contains many hidden collectable items strewn throughout its levels. Some are entries from the Randall's diary, revealing more about his backstory. Others are personal memorabilia lost by people in the early days of the outbreak. A recurring collectible comes in the form of identification cards, all of which feature the name of serial killers (such as John Wayne Gacy, Albert DeSalvo, Aileen Wuornos and Jeffrey Dahmer), although the photo ID on the cards feature members of Tequila Works' staff. Sadly, if you don't find these collectibles during your initial playthrough, then you're going to be out of luck as the game doesn't allow you to backtrack off the set linear path of the plot's very brief narrative.

The game as a whole is extremely short. I cleared the game at exactly 4 hours, 37 minutes, and 12 seconds with about 87% completion. There's little replayability outside of higher difficulties or revisiting previous Acts of the narrative to obtain 100% completion on all collectibles. I'm positive most gamers can complete this in one session. 

It's a damn shame too. Given the popularity of the zombie outbreak/survival horror after TellTale Games' The Walking Dead and Naughty Dog's The Last of Us, this game manages to bring something new to the table for this genre. While the narrative here won't be talked about for years to come by gamers, but it's satisfying enough to make this tour de france worth the effort. Solving puzzles and navigating throughout the terrain in the style of Prince of Persia was a combination I thought that never could have worked so seamlessly in this genre. For Deadlight, it manages to work.

Closing Words:

Deadlight manages bring its own unique mark on the survival horror genre with platforming elements from the Prince of Persia series, while keeping players engaged with a compelling narrative and a sense of high tension/urgency from the always looming threat from the Shadows around every corner. Unfortunately, players will spend a brief time with Randall Wayne in this linear adventure before completing the game in less than 4-6 hours. While I enjoyed what Tequila Works brought to the table with Deadlight, I was left with the feeling of wanting more than what was presented here. For what it's worth, I can only give this game a 7 out of 10. Pick it up while it's free on Xbox Live before the end of April or dirt cheap on a Steam sale, but I cannot warrant paying more than $10 otherwise. It's a damn shame too as this game is visually stunning, but leaves a lot to be desired.