Killswitchmad's Deadlight Review

PUBLISHER: Microsoft Studios
DEVELOPER: Tequila Works
PEGI: 18+
MULTIPLAYER: None
COST: 1,200 Microsoft Points
RELEASE DATE: August 1, 2012

It's difficult not to think about Limbo and Shadow Complex when you first fire up Deadlight and rightly so as Deadlight shares many similarities with both, As a 2.5D platformer the clear emphasis here is on devious puzzles and exploration. Set in 1986 Deadlight puts you in the frame of one Randall Wayne as he desperately searches for his family in the ruins of Seattle where an outbreak of the now common zombie virus has occured once again. Put your gun away though as this is no Left 4 Dead style shooter.

While you may occasionally fire the odd round from a hand gun or remove a rotting head from a reanimated corpse the clear way to move forward in the game is through running and boy will you be running! Tequila works have managed to create a wonderful atmosphere where you constantly feel under pressure to keep moving forward, It's hard to explain but it feels like your constantly riding a knife edge and occasionally the game pushes to the point where you almost fall off. It's a brilliant way to play and will keep you on your toes at all times, You'll have to think quick to find escape routes from many situations because Randall always feels like an "everyman" He can handle the odd zombie but come within grabbing distance of two or more and your finished.



The game looks sublime and add's so much to the atmosphere with Randall always appearing as a dark silhouette on the foreground with a heavily detailed and mostly jaw dropping backdrop through the levels. It's a style that will instantly appeal to fans of Limbo and it works very well, The only issue is that occasionally the dark sillhouttes on the foreground can make it difficult to see the way forward.

The controls are very similar to that the of the original Prince of Persia games, It's a blessing and a curse....It gives the game a great feel of momentum and movement and the hand drawn animations are nothing short of superb but sometimes the fast pace of the game is just a little too much to be handled with these heavy controls and you'll find yourself plummeting/crashing/getting mauled occasionally through no fault of your own however this rarely becomes an annoyance as the game has a healthy checkpoint system that puts you right back to where you are.

The narrative of Deadlight is quite the breath of fresh air from all these Hollywood blockbuster plotlines and tasks you with the simple feat of just finding your family amongst the chaos around you. A small cast of characters that are (mostly) well acted gives you a personal albiet slightly flat take on the zombie apocalypse. Act II dips a little as you'll spend most of it away from the surface (and the zombies) trying to navigate a booby trapped sewer but it picks up again towards the end and offers a twist that you won't likely see coming.



My only large gripe with the game is that of length, at 1200 points I expect to get a nice chunk of game but within 3 hours I had finished the game, found all the secrets and popped all the cheevos. It's not the length or the price that bothered me it's the fact that it left me clamouring for more as it was such a good experience, The game however does include 3 of the best collectibles I've seen in any game that most might sink a little more time into. You'll find 3 replicas of real 80's handheld LCD games that you can access from the main menu and they offer some real fun but do lack highscore leaderboards which is frankly criminal.

Overall I really enjoyed Deadlight but left it wanting more. It's a mark of a good game usually and that rings true here however I did feel that Tequila Works could have eked just one or two more levels out of it.

8/10

Fans of Limbo, Shadow Complex, Flashback and Prince of Persia will absolutley love this. At 1200 points I would say it's just worth the asking price (Not through lack of quality though! just length)



A playthough of Deadlight's first level from FWG's own Devilsniper

Nice one Tom, I liked what I saw from Devil's playthrough so will give this a look when I have some points

a tenner for 3 hours, i think not!

Great review Tom.

If you are happy with I would like to link the Review in the Video EP 5 as I have done 4 EP's and direct them here as I feel people need to read quality unlike IGN - LMAO : )

That's fine with me mate