Deadlight strands you in a ruined Seattle with a fire axe, three health points, and almost no bullets. Tequila Works built a 2012 side-scroller that wants you to run from the dead, not fight them. It mostly works.
Trailer, via GameSpot.
Randall Wayne Searches Seattle
The setup is 1986. A virus has reanimated the dead, and survivors call them “Shadows.” Randall Wayne, a park ranger from Hope, British Columbia, has been separated from his wife Shannon and daughter Lydia. He travels to Seattle chasing reports of the last “Safe Point” in the Pacific Northwest.
The game opens with Wayne shooting Karla Patterson in the head. She had been bitten. Ben Parker, Sam Powell and Karla’s twin Stella flee through a skylight while Wayne is trapped below. He tells them to reach the Safe Point and meet him there.
A Militia Called the New Law
Seattle is not empty. The New Law, a militia that kills anyone who refuses to join, has become the city’s de facto authority. Wayne finds Sam’s van crashed and Sam bleeding to death in a nearby shop. The New Law ambushed the van and took Ben and Stella. Sam warns that the Safe Point is a trap designed to lure survivors in for their supplies.
Platforming Over Combat
Deadlight is a 2.5D side-scroller. Wayne moves left and right but cannot leave the aligned path. He can walk, sprint, crouch, roll, jump, long jump, wall jump, climb fences and ladders, hang from wires, and push objects.
- Fire axe for short-range melee, which drains stamina
- A revolver, then a shotgun, with very limited ammunition
- A slingshot, usable only for puzzles, never combat
The levels push you to avoid Shadows rather than engage them. The “taunt” feature lets Wayne call out and lure them into chasms or exposed electricity. Getting swarmed means almost certain death.
Three Health Points
Wayne starts with three health points, replenished by first aid kits. Health power-ups add one point each. Sprinting, melee combat and hanging from objects all deplete stamina. The design keeps you moving and keeps you fragile.
A Throwback to Prince of Persia
Tequila Works intended Deadlight as an homage to classic side-scrolling cinematic platformers of the 1980s and early 1990s, including Prince of Persia, Another World and Flashback. The reference is sincere rather than cynical, and the atmosphere earns it.
Mixed Reviews, Better on PC
Deadlight drew mixed reviews. Critics praised the graphics and atmosphere and condemned the brevity and linearity. The PC version was generally viewed as superior to the Xbox 360 version. It was nominated for Best Debut Game at the 9th British Academy Games Awards, losing to The Unfinished Swan.
Short, Linear, Beautiful
Deadlight looks better than it plays. The path never opens up, and the game ends before its ideas do. The atmosphere is the argument for it, and the length is the case against. Play the PC version if you play it at all.
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