Violently cleansing the wild west frontier and wilderness from the walking dead as John Marston is gory entertainment
Contains: Strong Bloody Violence, Language, Horror and Gore
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Undead Nightmare is a zombie-themed add-on for Red Dead Redemption, and is the perfect excuse to step into likeable protagonist John Marston's shoes once again, this time to rid the world of deadly monsters raised from the dead in an exceptional adventure riddled with mystery and gore.
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STORY - 2/5
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Seemingly overnight, an Undead plague ravages the once bountiful frontier, decimating the landscape and reawakening the dead. In towns, settlements, and outposts throughout the world, the uninfected citizens are left to fight for survival against waves of the undead. John Marston must ride out into the vast and terrifying world and survive long enough to find a cure for his wife and son. Along the way; through frontier towns, deserts, prairies, and mountain passes, Marston will help survivors, cleanse towns and graveyards, and put an end to the ever-growing undead hordes.
Finding answers is the core objective of the plot. Is it a plague caused by man? No more room in hell? Or the telltale signs of an apocalypse? And is there even a cure or possible way to reverse the murderous transformation? It's an unfair and weighty task that has been placed on the protagonist's shoulders to attempt to restore order to a once civilised area he recently called home, but a hostile force has claimed this detailed land and his families minds, and John Marston certainly won't refuse the challenge of prevailing against evil, outnumbered odds if it means the country is back together again and, more importantly, he gets his wife and son back.
It's never mentioned when in the timeline this horror-themed plot is set, and so you can only judge or speculate that it takes place somewhere towards the end of the main game. Unfortunately, the implementation of zombies (who feature predominantly in modern movies and games alike now it seems) doesn't create any real drama or compel you to be interested in the ridiculous turn of events unfolding. And in much the same way as Red Dead Redemption, the story doesn't end strongly.
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CHARACTERS - 4/5
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What the short story does brilliantly, despite the weakness of failing to captivate you into committing yourself into risky situations, is incorporate most of the main game's characters into the thick of side missions and story missions, even if most have brief cameos. Their returning appearances with the actors reprising their roles is greatly admirable, and a couple will succumb to the plague within minutes of conversation, while a few characters you killed in Red Dead Redemption rise up in graveyards in undead form and require a repeat death.
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GAMEPLAY - 4/5
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Undead Nightmare features the same authentically detailed open world you know and love from the main game, but with several zombie-related twists to exploration and random encounters. The fame and honour system is absent from Undead Nightmare, but given the current crisis, the context of having it implemented would have been pointless since law enforcement is non-existent. Therefore, the game gives you the option to aid people in need without being credited, postpone your kindness for some other time and murder and rob what little survivors have carrying on them without being noticed and punished for your cruel actions, or just ignore their desperate need for a quick saviour and pursue your own goals you increasingly want to see through without hesitating to prolong your objective. However, pausing to show good gesture and warm-hearted nature-like behaviour to someone in dire need of your assistance will occupy you and your guns shortly in a variety of enjoyable ways. A doctor randomly camped out in the wilderness may ask a favour of you to capture one of the undead and bring them back to his secluded spot for an ammo reward on behalf of the risk you took as he attempts to find out what makes these soulless monsters tick; while a few armed, but stranded, civilians may need you to lend your guns to eliminate the targets threatening their little fortification in the middle of nowhere. A host of optional activities await you if you feel like extending game time and reaping rewards for your efforts, and as ammo is sparse early on, you'll take it into consideration to aid these unfortunate people in any way you can if it means you'll get more bullets for your revolver or shells for your sawn-off to help fend off and dispose of the flesh-eating zombies that now plague the entire region. In a similar fashion to Red Dead Redemption's bounty missions, in which you view the details of your target and rip the poster off the wall outside a Law enforcement building, Undead Nightmare incorporates side missions that are very much the same in theory, with the exception that the posters detail missing persons and you must travel to their last known place, extinguish the zombie threats outside their hideout spot, and then escort them safely back to the safe zone where the survivors are hold up. Cash is non-existent in Undead Nightmare, and because of the zombie epidemic, no stores are open for business. Therefore you must scrounge off corpses to keep well loaded and help innocent people in trouble to earn ammo. And the sooner you have the bullets to place in the chamber, the sooner you'll get to relish critical headshot strikes on the walking dead, where heads explode in a gush of blood and brain matter.
Combat is straightforward and satisfying - aim for the head, pull the trigger, and witness the blood eruptions from accurately placed shots. You start off with very few weapons, with basically a simple revolver, repeater and a torch. The torch is an ideal tool to burn zombies to a slow death while also coming into importance when cleansing graveyards later on in the story. To earn better weapons, you must save towns that are under attack and under threat of being overrun by the undead. Systematically going from town to town to rid them of walking monsters not only grants a place of refuge for John Marston, to save game, change outfits and fast travel to other safe locations, but possibly rewards you with a weapon you previously unlocked in the main game. To be honest, they aren't much use to you, since every gun can kill a zombie with just one bullet to the brain, but it gives you the opportunity to use your favourites in this desperate time nonetheless. Saving towns also happens to be enjoyable and sometimes tense. You have to aid the survivors there by supplying them with ammo and killing the undead in the vicinity, and various chests are scattered around to restock you on the ammo they desire. Early on in the game, these activities are fresh and exciting, with frantic moments of trying to fend off the hordes of undead without using up too much ammo so that you're left dry, and it always feels satisfying to save the town without dying in the process because of the huge possibility of doing so and the amount of zombies that pursue your human scent until they are laid to rest once and for all. After awhile though, gunplay feels a bit repetitive, and the lack of zombie variety enhances this unfortunate sensation towards the end. Even so, killing zombies is bloody good fun, especially when using the unique Blunderbuss which uses undead parts as ammo and explodes them in a fragmented puff of gore.
As a renowned gunslinger of the wild west, you have had the pleasure of being a famous hunter, preying on predators and gangs alike throughout your adventures, but in Undead Nightmare you'll feel the horrifying realisation of what it's like being the hunted, and being stalked by hungry undead animals and citizens as you perilously traverse the newly transformed western wilderness. The glory days have suddenly turned to the gory days, and even possibly the end of days unless you find out the cause and instigate a cure to the flesh-eating plague devastating American and Mexican land. You'll begin to notice after a short time, that not only have the human inhabitants altered physically and crazily, but the animal population has also taken a turn for the worst, with undead bears, cougars and boars proving just as fierce in the afterlife as they were with a clean coat of flesh and fur, and bats now control the skies eerily to contribute nicely to the creepy atmosphere.
An awesome integration to this add-on is the optional challenge to track down mythical mounts - namely the 4 horses of the apocalypse - and it's really entertaining to hunt down, tame and subsequently ride and reap unique benefits from War, Pestilence, Famine and Death while admiring their suitably cool appearance that represents their dark abilities within mythical and fantasy lore. Even the legendary cryptid Chupacabra, mythological Unicorn and hairy, ape-like Big Foot make memorable and meaningful appearances for those that complete enough of the game's various challenges or opt to undertake certain missions. On the topic of challenges, there are a few different ones that each have 5 ranks. An Undead Hunter challenge sees you trying to kill certain amounts of zombies, while the Sharpshooter challenges focus on your skill with dead eye, and a treasure related challenge with hidden secrets to be located around the land using the treasure map. All of this adds length to the story, and the extra content doesn't stop there as you have a couple of extra outfits to try and unlock by completing a set amount of requirements, all of which are fun and worthwhile.
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GRAPHICS/ATMOSPHERE - 5/5
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To coincide with the massive outbreak of ravenous, cannibalistic creatures roaming about the map, the weather is suitably drizzly, cloudy and gloomy, and the atmosphere moodily dark, occasionally scary and carrying a severe sense of foreboding for the hellish minions that now exist across the world. The clouds part at intervals to signal you are safe, but once the rain pours down and the sky turns grim, you'll know exactly what awaits nearby. The departure of sunlight can make the task at hand slightly more mentally draining and a more daunting prospect, while the undead march towards you through the layers of fog that once-in-a-while cover the world which can make for some moderately unsettling instances as the horror factor is ignited. To coincide with an increase of horror, is an increase of blood. The gore factor has been amped up dramatically, making the tasty colour red far more common than a dazzling clear sky blue. The presentation remains similar, but now a tasty new colour palette brings a cool style to the zombie theme, with gooey greens combining to good effect on the menus and map.
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SOUND - 5/5
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The soundtrack is a mixture of spooky horror and classic western themes, with the scored pieces of music you hear, as you gallop across the nightmarish wilderness, evoking both the original game aswell as popular zombie movies. Long stretches of horse riding will be frequently accompanied by the varied music, which differs between nerve-jangling quiet tunes, to more upbeat, tense and dramatic development of instruments trying to instigate terror while establishing the deadly threat on all sides of you. Horror even manages to masterfully collaborate with some pieces of Mexican music, making for some unusual, but effective, vibes when travelling around the region in jeopardy, and a some of the soundtrack is noticeably (for those with good memory) just creepier, distorted versions from Red Dead Redemption, but equally awesome.
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ENEMY AI - 3/5
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Zombies have an unquenchable appetite and urge to feast on the flesh and entrails of the living, and if you aren't killed in this grisly action of being eaten alive, then you'll be transformed into one of them, reprising the same instinct every one of the hell-descended monsters has stored somewhere inside their rotting shell home to something of pure evil. The undead flesh eaters are the typically brain-dead monsters that feature as the standard, more frequently encountered type, lacking in any rational thought and being driven on their feet towards alive and well citizens solely by instinct engraved in their blood-covered face behind dark red eyes devoid of anything but bloodlust. But they are aggressive if you are spotted, and will make quick work of you if you aren't able to kill them or escape. If within proximity, they'll claw you rapidly in the hope you'll fall down for a meaty meal, and if close when you are riding your trusty mount, you'll be viciously pulled off and attacked without hesitation and without pause. When encountered singly there is minimal threat, but you are most likely going to encounter large groups of zombies at a time, especially when aiding people. And in large quantities, their mass can briskly reduce your chances of survival if you aren't quick on the trigger or aren't well equipped or accurate enough. Make no mistake, the undead hordes are scary adversaries that are mean and hungry that won't stop until they are headless.
Aside from the standard zombie, there are 3 other types that share an affinity with the normal ones. A Retcher prefers to attack from range by spitting chunks of acid, and can be identified by the green bits integrated into the flesh; Bolters are agile and fast, and manoeuvre about menacingly on all fours; And lastly, Bruisers are big and slow, but make up for their sluggish movement by initiating a charge attack to knock you off your feet. Their traits aren't unique, and not exactly devastating to your health unless you are careless, and this generally adds to the easiness of the combat which never really increases to establish a sense of danger or challenge.
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LENGTH - 4/5
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By taking your time and engaging in the wide array of optional activities and challenges Undead Nightmare offers, this zombie-themed add-on can take you around 10 hours to complete, and given that there aren't many story missions, the outside free roaming makes up a large portion of that time. For DLC it's a reasonably positive length, and considering it's basically a zombie open world game, you're bound to enjoy stepping into John Marston's cowboy attire once again to thwart something out of the ordinary.
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REPLAY VALUE - 3/5
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Undead Nightmare follows the exploits of John Marston as he searches for a cure for an infectious zombie plague that has swept across the American Old West, and the game does a really impressive job of balancing out western and horror with appropriate presentation and a fittingly creepy and inspired soundtrack, making it replayable. This zombie-themed, single player add-on expansion pack for Red Dead Redemption that deals with life-threatening ordeals and saving small towns and settlements from terrorisation is the present day (and night) shift for John Marston, who is battling the flesh craving creatures of unknown origin as he constantly seeks answers for the sudden plague that has striked the western outback. It's solid entertainment from the opening cinematic, and since John Marston is such a likeable protagonist, it's great to have him back for what will inevitably be the last time. Though the storyline is dull and far-fetched, it still positively includes lots of memorable characters with often farcical lines, and asks the million dollar question: How far will you go to save the ones you love the most amidst a violent zombie apocalypse? Undead Nightmare is worthy of the hours it offers and keeps you engrossed by it's spooky atmosphere and powerful gameplay, giving you unlimited opportunities to cause bloody havoc against famished monsters in the boots of a legend.
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OVERALL SUMMARY - 8.5/10
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Good Points: John Marston is back, Soundtrack is an excellent spooky mixture of classic western and horror themes, Many characters from the main game make worthy returning appearances, Shooting and killing the undead is bloody good fun, Cool new mythical mounts to find and ride each with unique gameplay benefits, Saving towns under attack from zombies is tense and enjoyable, Many optional challenges and activities to undertake when you want, Suitable colour palette adds a tasty new style to the presentation.
Bad Points: Combat eventually gets repetitive, A few glitches, Story is far-fetched and dull.