Review: Deadlight (XBLA)

For the past few days, I’ve been playing nothing but Deadlight, and I’ve definitely been enjoying myself a lot. Developed by Tequila Works and published by Microsoft Studios, Deadlight is the third title in this year’s XBLA Summer of Arcade promotion. There has been a major oversaturation of the zombie market over the past few years, but when a game does it right, the oversaturation doesn’t come into play. With Deadlight, see what would happen if a zombie outbreak occurred in Seattle.

Deadlight is a sidescroller/interactive cinematic title set in a survival horror environment. A zombie outbreak has hit Seattle. Your name is Randall Wayne, and you have come from Canada to Seattle looking for your daughter and your wife in this post-apocalyptic landscape. The basic story (a man traveling across the country to find his wife and child in a post-apocalyptic scenario) is not exactly new or unique, but it’s well told. As you play the game, you will enter comic (not as in funny) cinematic sequences that develop the story and advance the plot. These comic interludes occur at key/turning points of the game, and is definitely a great method for exposition.

The game has a very Limbo-like feel to it. There is a great deal of puzzle solving involved in game progression, which is quite nice. On top of the puzzle mechanics, however, you’ve got an outbreak of zombies (remember those?). As such, you not only have to solve puzzles, but you have to shoot and otherwise disable zombies at the same time. The puzzling is very well done, with logical conclusions and hints for those who have trouble. The combat is nothing to write home about, but it’s not bad either. The game’s graphics are very interesting, featuring Limbo-like silhouette graphics with more color and detail, and the comic exposition is very well designed. The game’s audio, as well, is well done. The soundtrack is fitting, and the voice acting is very intuitive and emotive.

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Overall, the game is very well presented. The audio is top-notch, while the graphics have the silhouette feel of Limbo with some color and detail added in. The game will take some hours to complete, and even when you’ve beaten it, you may find yourself wanting to play through again to make sure you’ve found every item in the game. Heck, that’s one of the main reasons I’m in my second playthrough now. It may not stack up to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD and Wreckateer, but it is definitely a solid entry into this year’s Summer of Arcade promotion. Deadlight will be available on XBLA Wednesday, August 1st, for 1200MSP.

Deadlight was provided for review purposes. For more information on this game, please visit http://www.deadlightgame.com.