Review: Deadlight

G'day there guys and gals!

This title missed my gaze and interest at its original release, only doing so when it became free last month for Xbox Gold members. And boy was I a fool for missing it. Deadlight is a small Arcade title made by Indie Developer Tequila Works, Deadlight being their first title released as a company. The game follows an ageing man named Randall Wayne, the opening scene showing him killing a young girl who has been bitten by a "Shadow", a form of Zombie like creature with pure black skin and deep red or white eyes. The year is 1986 and the Cold War between the former USSR and the US had reached boiling point before the fall of the entire world began, the Shadows near taking over the world by 1986.
In a radio broadcast, Randall and other four in their group - Klara, Sam, Ben and Stella - hear that the only safe haven left in the Pacific Northwest is in Seattle.

The game begins slowly, giving players the chance to become accustomed to the world and navigating it, Deadlight is almost like LIMBO and Telltale's The Walking Dead had a baby. A 2D sidescroller (Also described as a 2.5D scroller) Deadlight plays with some parkour elements and puzzle solving, especially with electricity, water and heights. At first, players are also given three health notches and a small bar of stamina, which is used for climbing, jumping, hanging and running. However the killing controls are simplistic. Early on players will find a firefighter's axe, the melee combat mostly there as a button masher. 2-3 swings will knock down a Shadow and luckily timed, decapitate them. Knocking on the ground, players will have a small chance to ground smash their axe, but this will severely deplete stamina, leaving you open for enemy attacks (A single hit will reduce a notch by one) or worse.
Graphics are gorgeous but in small detail. Backgrounds of the game are diverse and dirty but close up are mostly grey and blacked out, however the detail on Randy himself is quite well done. Cutscenes are limited to stills of the characters in question with small motions such as head turns, rain, explosions ect. Gameplay is fluid and well made, sprinting and leaping roof to roof is exhilarating and incredible, even when controls become sticky especially during climbing or timed events, with everything coming down to the A button. 

Combat is mostly fun and rewarding, especially with weapons such as the pistol or shotgun. The slingshot is useful midway through the game but becomes relatively useless after its use in a chapter, literally while the fireman's axe has its use when saving bullets or keeping quiet. A good mention with the gameplay would be the checkpoint placement; expect to die a lot while playing, but checkpoints usually activate moments after climbing into a new screen so be thankful for that, the load screens could have been a little quicker though.
The storyline is fleshed out well enough for some emotion bond to be made, however it can be a tad predictable to fans of Zombie games, with obvious nods to various series. The soundtrack isn't too noticeable or effective until the very end of the game, but the voice acting helps tie in the game's feel and point (The same can be said with the sound effects), especially impressive with the fact that the cast is mostly unknowns. Parts can be a bit melodramatic but overall pleasantly surprising.

The game isn't necessarily long, including failure time taking about 4-6 hours, but it can be beaten within a good afternoon. Despite the few game freezes, sticky controls and frustration of being killed by something offscreen, the game is definitely worth your time and money, doubly so for its simple and worthwhile achievements/collectibles.

Out of 10, I give Deadlight a 7/10

+Song title Achievements = Awesome
+Great/moving storyline
+Beautiful scenery
+Surprisingly decent voice cast
+Checkpoints excellently placed
-Controls stick, especially in timed events
-Two main weapons slowly become useless
-One or two game crashes
-Off screen killers T-T

Deadlight is out now for the standard price of $15