General information:
Deadlight is an adventure game made by Tequila Works. The game takes you to Seattle, 1986. The world is devastated by the war against Shadows - the undead. The protagonist is a middle-aged man called Randall Wayne who gets separated from his group at the start of the game. He tries to make it into the safe zone but before that he must find his wife and daughter.
The game consists of exploring, puzzles and combat. However, direct combat against the Shadows is always ill-advised since Randall is extremely vulnerable. Deadlight is a 2.5d game, meaning that the player can only move in 2 dimensions but the surrounding world functions in 3 dimensions.
Pros:
Deadlight is extremely beautiful. The developers have used the 2.5d graphics in a very imaginative way. The biggest single positive factor in Deadlight is, however, the atmosphere. The post-apocalyptic Seattle is depressing. Sky is gray and everything is in ruins. Food is scarce and many of the survivors are even worse than the undead. From time to time, player can find messages and details that unravel the mysteries of this darkened world. On a paper this doesn't really sound like a brand new idea. Nevertheless, the atmosphere is constructed so well that you will be totally absorbed into the game itself. Good narrating and comic- like cutscenes also play a huge role.
Cons:
Deadlight is short. It took me approximately three hours to finish the game. Considering the low price this is acceptable. The combat is somewhat clumsy and Randall keeps dying because of that. One of the biggest goals of the developers was to make it look like the 80s. Honestly, it's quite hard to tell that most of the time. Furthermore, the fact that Deadlight is supposed to be in 80s is usually visible only from the details so most players will miss them completely.
Summary:
Deadlight takes the zombie apocalypse to a completely new level. The beauty of the game is only matched by its perfect atmosphere. Nevertheless, everything good must come to an end, but Deadlight does so prematurely. Even so I can recommend Deadlight to almost everyone even though the combat is quite clumsy.
