“Deadlight: Director’s Cut” is a side-scrolling, survival horror game focused on a post-apocalyptic Earth devastated by zombies. This was created and developed by Tequila Works and was published by Microsoft Studios and was released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Here is my review of this short zombie game after completing the main story for only two days.
Vague background stories, interesting main story
While the main focus of this video game is the protagonist, Randall Wayne, the background stories of the other characters and factions in the game are not quite clear.
Some of them are just there with a few tidbits of what happened to them, but there are others that have scattered information about their pasts. It was up to you to uncover their stories that are in torn pages scattered in the game.
Uncovering the truth of what happened to the family of Randall was great though. He was trying to deny what happened to his loved ones and in doing so it showed some clues along the way. The side stories were a bit unclear, but focusing on the main story was interesting in its own way.
A bit glitchy at times
The gameplay of “Deadlight: Director’s Cut” was a bit glitchy at times and the controls did not respond well, especially the jump function. There were times that it moved to another direction instead of what I entered and it killed Randall in the process.
It was a bit frustrating, but at least the checkpoints were not that far off and made it easier to calm down.
Fighting off enemies was difficult to do, especially the zombies. These things were relentless in hunting you down and melee attacks would not do it justice. It made the game thrilling and exciting, but at the same time it was frustrating because it made no sense why they were not disabled by several hits already.
Great graphics, emotional soundtrack
One of the better features of this game is its 2D graphics that really did well with the game. It was dark and gritty, which made the game have that depressing effect of its post-apocalyptic zombie world. It also turned up the dial of its horror to great levels as well.
The music was also dedicated to being depressing and a bit terrifying, which amplified the theme of the video game.
The tracks amplify the emotions that are being shown in the game and make it immersive.
A short main game, challenging challenges
The main game of the story is quite short and it did not take me a lot of time to finish it all up in just two days. While the ending was quite satisfactory, it was still too short in my opinion. There should have been some other side stories to tell or other missions that would have made it longer, but not too long.
The fun part is its challenge mode where Randall has to survive inside the hospital infested with so many zombies. Players will get ranks based on how long they survived in it, but I am not sure if there is an end game to this mode since I did not survive long enough.
The PC also has an exclusive alternate ending where Randall is actually a deranged murderer. This is a good alternative that tells another story to the main one.
“Deadlight: Director’s Cut” was a good game to play despite its short main story and its several flaws. The other features were also fun to play and made it interesting. I would rate this game an average 5 out of 10 points.
Check out "Deadlight: Director's Cut" Launch Trailer here:
