This is a game I wish I could give a sideways thumb. While it has its moments, the experience is actually quite flat.

Deadlight is a 2D side-scrolling adventure game set in Seattle shortly after the zombie apocalypse has overtaken most of the world's population. The story focuses on Randall, a former Canadian park ranger who is traveling with a small band of survivors while looking for his wife and daughter. The game has beautifully rendered visuals of a city in ruins and relatively simple controls that don't take long to master.

However, the story has nothing that hasn't already been done to death with this genre, and even then the plot is mostly about getting from point A to B with no compelling stakes articulated beyond, "I must meet/save my friends". What you learn of Randall's story along the way (that isn't in his collectible journal pages) is relayed by uninspired writing and voice actors who deliver their lines sounding rehearsed and more appropriate to a melodramatic radio play.

And while the technical gameplay is mostly solid, there are dodgy mechanics such as an axe swing to a helpless zombie on the ground that will often insta-pop the zombie back to a standing position where it can attack you. There's also places there the zombies can approach and retreat from you in 3D space whereas you are stuck in the 2D plane, leading to annoying moments of getting mobbed because you can't hit enemies right next to Randall because they aren't directly in front of him.

Level design is mostly good except for a part in the Seattle sewers in Act 2 that takes you away from the realistic decaying infrastructure of modern society to a fantasy video game dungeon of massive handmade spikes, traps, slides and elevators. Who knew one crazy bum could do such an amazing remodel of the Seattle Underground while society was falling apart?

All this can be wrapped up in a few short hours, a bit longer if you want to get all the collectibles for achievements. So if you do find yourself wanting to play, it will thankfully be over without too much bother.

Rating: 6/10
A thumbs up only because it could be fun if you are pretty easy to please, in the right frame of mind, and don't have to play more than a couple of hours to finish. Otherwise you'd probably get bored of this zombie parkour/platformer pretty fast.

This is a game I wish I could give a sideways thumb. While it has its moments, the experience is actually quite flat. Deadlight is a 2D side-scrolling adventure game set in Seattle shortly after the zombie apocalypse has overtaken most of the world's population. The story focuses on Randall, a former Canadian park ranger who is traveling with a small band of survivors while looking for his wife and daughter. The game has beautifully rendered visuals of a city in ruins and relatively simple controls that don't take long to master. However, the story has nothing that hasn't already been done to death with this genre, and even then the plot is mostly about getting from point A to B with no compelling stakes articulated beyond, "I must meet/save my friends". What you learn of Randall's story along the way (that isn't in his collectible journal pages) is relayed by uninspired writing and voice actors who deliver their lines sounding rehearsed and more appropriate to a melodramatic radio play. And while the technical gameplay is mostly solid, there are dodgy mechanics such as an axe swing to a helpless zombie on the ground that will often insta-pop the zombie back to a standing position where it can attack you. There's also places there the zombies can approach and retreat from you in 3D space whereas you are stuck in the 2D plane, leading to annoying moments of getting mobbed because you can't hit enemies right next to Randall because they aren't directly in front of him. Level design is mostly good except for a part in the Seattle sewers in Act 2 that takes you away from the realistic decaying infrastructure of modern society to a fantasy video game dungeon of massive handmade spikes, traps, slides and elevators. Who knew one crazy bum could do such an amazing remodel of the Seattle Underground while society was falling apart? All this can be wrapped up in a few short hours, a bit longer if you want to get all the collectibles for achievements. So if you do find yourself wanting to play, it will thankfully be over without too much bother. [b]Rating: 6/10 A thumbs up only because it could be fun if you are pretty easy to please, in the right frame of mind, and don't have to play more than a couple of hours to finish. Otherwise you'd probably get bored of this zombie parkour/platformer pretty fast. [/b]