Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
Review
Never ending nightmare
by Ryan Cope
reviewed on X360
Forget Black Ops Zombies
Forget Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombie mode, the new walking dead killing machine has just waltzed into town on horseback, wearing a cowboy hat. If you are fed up with the swarms of Nazi zombies, then why not take a shot at an open world adventure set in the Wild West, where one loan cowboy takes on hordes of crazed undead? Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare is the new zombie based DLC expansion pack from Rockstar.
While it can be downloaded straight from Xbox Live or the PSN network like a normal DLC, it is also so big and amazing that it can be bought as a game on its own from any game selling store. So if you have never graced the Wild West with your presence before, there is no need to buy the full game and download the expansion: you can just go straight out and buy it. A great move on Rockstar’s behalf as this game is a must for fans of the zombie genre. As an added bonus, the disc version of the DLC includes all the previous multiplayer and Co-op downloadable content made available on Xbox Live and PSN. What a deal eh?
Marston Returns
While set in the Red Dead universe, Undead Nightmare is not a true part of the storyline. Although it can be interpreted to fit in towards the end of the overall Red Dead Redemption story arc there is no need to have actually played the main game in order to understand the plot. While you will constantly come across characters from Redemption who talk about past events, it isn’t essential to know who they are in order to have a good time playing. This DLC doesn’t take itself too seriously. Instead it is just an extremely fun extension using the environment, characters and world of Redemption in a way that puts a fun spin on the source material.
After months of travelling John Marston returns to his family ranch to once again be reunited with his wife and son. On one stormy night he returns home from the market to spend an eerie evening with his family, which ends in his uncle acting like a crazed fool and biting his wife, who in turn bites their son. The two soon turn into brain hungering zombies and Marston ties them up, locks them in a room and sets off in search for a cure. Set in a typical B movie horror film style, Undead Nightmare mixes comical, stereotypical moments with some scary heart racing action.
Tasks of the Undead
While Marston is given missions to undertake in order to progress through the story’s main plotline, Undead Nightmare remains an open world game experience. So while the option to follow the main mission is there (which is highly recommended to experience this fun adventure) it is not set in stone. The challenges and costumes return with specific tasks needed to be completed in order to wear interesting and fun clothing, while the challenges take a new twist with the goal to kill X amount of zombies or zombie animals etc. There are also various side quests that will see Marston helping out old friends and gaining new weapons as a reward. Aside from these you can also take on the task of saving all of the towns or settlements in the land of Red Dead.
Each town has been overrun by the zombie hordes and the last pockets of survivors are trying to fend off the relentless monsters. Marston can help to secure these locations by heading to any town and lending a hand to the survivors. To do this he can fetch ammo from crates and bring them back to the defenders or just plain slaughter all the zombies until they are all gone. A combination of both gets the fastest results. Once a town has been saved the zombie threat drops significantly. While there still remain a few wanderers dragging around, for the majority the town is safe to explore. A safe house will also become available, allowing you a place to save and rest from the nightmare. However, these havens won’t always remain safe as over time the zombie hordes will once again infest and overrun, meaning you will need to keep an eye on them and go back every once and a while to save it again.
Since the world is in chaos, the normal shops and services are no longer available, which leads to fast travel via carriages ceasing assistance. The loss of the ability to camp also makes the fast travel obsolete.
9.8
fun score
Pros
Ridiculously fun, with fast paced comical and scary gameplay that fulfils every zombie lover’s dream of surviving in an open world game.
Cons
It hasn’t been turned into a feature length game yet!
