In case we really find ourselves in a zombie invasion right now, you can be sure that there will be more games related to this plague than the creatures themselves: exploded with The Walking Dead mania, but already planted in the minds of the viewers / players thanks to Romero and the Resident Evil saga, in 2016 we can say without a shadow of a doubt that the topic has been quite abused. Starting from the aforementioned TV series, moving on to minor programs, films, remakes, video games and so on, as soon as we are told the magic word zombie, our reactions tend to be either an unconditional refusal or a craving to rush over the product. But Deadlight, to be exact Deadlight Director's Cut, manages to get out of this loop, and now I will explain how.
Deadlight Director's Cut is the re-edition for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC consoles, for the modest sum of € 20.99 in the retail version, of the game Deadlight by Tequila Works, already released some time ago for PC and Xbox 360. In the title we will play the role of Randall Wayne, one of the survivors of this zombie epidemic set in Seattle in 1986: Having moved away from his wife and daughter for some time, he will look for a way, making his way through dangers and difficulties, to get closer to them and find them again. I'm not going to spoil anything about the story, other than the fact that the whole plot will be narrated with supreme mastery, making you live the story in the shoes of a scared Randall, terrified but still intent on finding his family. And if the zombies try to eat you, a dictatorial militia will absolutely want to kill all the people who try to hinder them.
On the gameplay side, the title is a 2.5D platformer with cinematic folds and a survival / horror setting: Randall will be able to move left and right, having the ability to walk, run, crouch, roll, jump and climb. Using these skills, the player will have to solve puzzles and avoid direct contact with these infernal creatures. During the game the protagonist will find objects on corpses or in certain locations, useful both to discover the history of the game world, and to deepen the plot linked to the character, and finally in recovering objects such as medkits or weapons. These objects, real collectibles, will drive you out of your mind in an attempt to recover them. A stamina bar will make your life difficult which, during your every movement (such as climbing a ladder or running) will begin to sag, e to recharge it you will have to stop and catch your breath. On the other hand, your life will consist of 3 bars, and therefore you will have the possibility of making mistakes 2 times before dying from zombie bites.
In artistic terms, what greatly differentiates this game from many of its peers is the trait used throughout the game: the whole adventure will give you the impression of a moving picture, with dark and desperate tones, useful to empathize the player and the protagonist: sounds reproduced at the right point, shaded areas and dark locations will be your travel companion for the duration of the game. But this is where we fall intothe only problem of the title: the length. Deadlight Director's Cut is very short, although it contains additional elements from its first version of 2012: adding this lack of longevity to the linearity of the title, a sort of bitterness is created in the mouth in the conclusion of the game, perhaps due to an authorial choice, in how much this platform takes inspiration from those released in the 80s and 90s.
