Deadlight, the XBLA game from tequila works, is free for the latter half of April with the games with gold reward scheme. For those of you who don't know Deadlight is a post apocalyptic side scroller that looks into the gritty story of Randy, a troubled man looking for his wife and child amongst the wasteland. Essentially a 'zombie apocalypse' game you must guide Randy through the hordes of Shadows - Deadlight's version of zombies/infected - whilst trying to survive on limited ammo and a trusty axe.
What really pops immediately with Deadlight is the art style. The world is gritty and desolate. Burnt out buildings are silhouetted against the background. Shadows rummage around in search of human flesh to feast upon and are alerted to your presence as you travel through a myriad of settings that range from cityscapes, sewer systems and rural towns. Despite being a 2D side scroller the backgrounds have depth, you can see into the distance behind the area you're playing in and this really gives the world life despite how void of it it actually is.
Unfortunately the art style is where this game really peaks. The gritty, desolate atmosphere really does not transpire within the dialogue. Randy's commentary on the world around him is dull and gets repetitive fast. You find yourself getting annoyed by the repeated, almost corny, phrases that really contrast with Randy's gruff voice and it just doesn't fit.
Much like the dialogue the gameplay is okay at first but becomes tedious and repetitive as you find yourself doing the same tedious things over and over. In some areas it even feels unpolished, the main example being the jump mechanic that clearly needs some fine tuning, countless times you fall to your death because you missed the timing by a split second or because Randy jumps up instead of across. The other fatal flaw with the gameplay is the death screen. Upon every death you're prompted to press a button to re-spawn. Yes this is tedious but it adds unnecessary time between death and playing. This in addition to the loading screen really breaks the mediocre level of immersion this game has.
Overall Deadlight is a game that's good to look at but, as in life, looks aren't everything. This isn't going to be a game that you stick with for hours but the little appeal it has can provide a couple of hours of entertainment. Go into this game with low expectations and you'll somewhat enjoy the experience.