Graphics in this game are outstanding. The backgrounds are detailed and atmospheric. The use of shadows is great also, especially the way the characters are all silhouettes.
Deadlight has a solid story in a tired genre with good voice acting even if the main character is a bit of a cliche tough guy.
As I proceeded through the game I had a lot of fun with the puzzles. There are times when you have no weapons and have to find ways to defeat traps/puzzles by using the zombies instead of fighting them, which is interesting.
There isn’t really a lot of combat if you’re looking for an action game. You will spend most of your time evading or running from enemies. Weapon selection is limited and at times non-existent. I thought it worked well for this game, since the game design doesn’t require you to fight that often.
Deadlight is full of Steam achievements, some of which are obtained just by reaching checkpoints, so it regularly rewards you with a sense of accomplishment.
On the downside, the game can be frustrating. There’s a lot of trial and error. Sometimes the color scheme of the game can make it difficult to discern certain objects. I fell through floors I thought were there a few times. On the plus side, checkpoints are very frequent, so you can afford some trial and error. Save points are frequent too, but if you quit the game, be prepared to repeat a few checkpoints, which is really no big deal.
Here’s the MAJOR problem. This game is a port from XBOX Arcade, so it was designed with a 360 controller in mind. The conversion to keyboard and mouse is not pleasant. I eventually just gave up after COMPLETELY failing to outrun a helicopter through an obstacle course about 25 times. It requires fast reflexes and precision timing that I just couldn’t manage on a keyboard (but maybe you could). You need to sprint away from the copter, then basically stop and inch your way up to fences, because if you hit jump while moving you will just bounce off the fence. Fence climbing in general is frustrating. Sometimes it would just take too long for the character to interact with the fence to get away from the helicopter in time. If you ARE using a 360 controller it may work better for you. I tried a PS2-style Logitech PC controller but couldn’t remap the pre-configured 360 controller commands. Even my L1, L2, R1, R2 buttons weren’t doing the same as the 360 buttons.
I was disappointed that I ultimately put this game down (at least until I get a 360 controller I guess), because I really liked the puzzles, graphics, and atmosphere.
