THE DEAD TIMES
DEAD ARE COMING...
2023: Preview of the Dead: Part 2 - Games
With 2022 now behind us, time vanished into the quagmire of history, I, a mere pawn to undead masters, am taking a look, a glimpse, a short peek with withered and decaying eye at the holiest of unholy Zombie products coming to our mortal world in 2023. We started last week, with a quick preview of the Zombie movies on offer and, if you read the article, I'm sad to say, there number is extremely lacklustre. Now the currents of the river of lifeless souls have shifted and it is the turn of the enormously gruesome and fiendishly black-hearted, video games. Rest assured, masters of the dark, the number and variety of offerings is far more pleasing than their cinematic counterparts.
Still, rules govern everything, even in death. Here are the three that guided my putrefying hand this apocalyptic year.
- Any project that was destined to be released in 2022 but failed to reach said destiny has been dispatched to the dreaded MIA section - ooo, how delicious.
- Any project from last year's MIA section that has received no official update has been cast into the fires of Hell, never to be spoken of again.
- A fetid malignance known as "Early Access" infests the world of video games. In this state, video games are playable by the masses but are unfinished and, in my mind of eldritch terror, cannot be considered as released projects. Games may languish in this necrotic world of incompleteness for many, many years (some, never leave the foul place) so to continue to write about them would be an exercise in tedium. The titles of these 'half-alive' 'half-dead' games are given; nothing more, nothing less.
The new stuff
Dead Island 2
My brain has been fevered with where to put this entry. Technically Dead Island 2 was announced way back in 2014 so it really should be in the MIA section. However, after development hell that has seen the game move from developer to developer to developer and that has altered the style of the game dramatically (it's amusingly not actually that massive a departure from the poo-poo'd original which is very amusing but that is a tale for another time), the almost infamous Zombie game can now be considered a completely new game. The game itself sees the Zombie virus from the tropical islands of Banoi (or maybe a completely new Zombie virus) move to Los Angeles, the region being dubbed HELL.A.. You have been bitten, you have the virus but, you are more than just immune. Journeying across this Zombie-ridden land of horror, dark humour, action and adventure, you seek to unravel the truth of the situation and who - or what - you are. This one is exclusive to the Epic Games Store for PC players.
The House of the Dead 2 remake
Not much is known about this remake of hugely-popular arcade Zombie shooter, released back in 1999 for the Sega Dreamcast. Sega announced their intention to remaster the aging game along with the original The House of the Dead game. I would guess the game will feel very similar to the remake of the original, being an "on-the-rails" light-gun style blast'em'up. I would also speculate that we will see the game released on Nintendo Switch initially, with ports to every other platform at a later date, following the release schedule set out by the first remade game in the series. Still, that is entire speculation - any other reimaging of the original arcade game's formula is possible at this point.
Wanderlost
I'm not really sure this cutesy, cartoon-style game deserves a place on this list - the enemies are Zombies though. Basically, it's a survival sandbox game set after a Zombie apocalypse; you explore the world, hunt animals, build structures, craft tools, scavenge from the environment, farm the land and, of course, kill Zombies. The main draw does seem to be the art-style which is reminiscent of old super Nintendo games with bright colours and 'cuddly' pixel-graphics.
Resident Evil 4
For a game that releases in March, we again (in what seems to be the trend now), now surprisingly little about it - in fact, whether it even involves Zombies is still up for debate. It is a remake of Capcom's oh-so-good game Resident Evil 4 and, while that game did not involve Zombies (the game went to great lengths to ensure the player knew that the enemies were not Zombies), Capcom has confirmed that the remake takes a great deal of liberty with the story, making it a lot darker and horror-focused to keep it in line with other Resident Evil titles. This could mean that Zombies are back, albeit mixed with RE 4's famous Las Plagas parasite, to make them suitable to the plot.
Infection Free Zone
The planned release date listed for this game is "after the apocalypse" so I would not expect it anytime soon but, hey, it is a new Zombie game so needs a place on the list. This game is a RTS (Real-Time Strategy) with the surprising twist that you play in real-world environments using real geographic data. Will you help defend New York, Paris, Warsaw, or any one of a legion of other places from the Zombie plague that is infecting the entire world? By day, you move squads of battle-ready soldiers to adapt, destroy or scavenge from nearby buildings. You'll build defences and sow crops, whatever you have to do in order to keep the populace alive, for it's at night, when the horrors come. Hordes of fast-moving Zombies, former people who were infected by "The Mad Virus", fill the streets, hunting and killing all they can.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution
This is our first new Virtual Reality (VR) game coming in 2023, February to be precise, and, if there was an award for game with longest title, it would surely win. The next chapter in The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners picks up almost immediately after the first. You are back playing as "the Tourist", exploring an undead New Orleans whilst being hunted by the mysterious "Axeman" and hounded by efforts of total dominance from "the Tower". This time there'll be more environments to explore, more enemies to face, more friendly survivors to talk to and more weapons to get your hands on.
Drop Dead: The Cabin
This next VR game aims to bring the fun of co-operative, wave-based, old-school Call of Duty, Zombie-shooting to the VR world. It is not a complex game; you and a bunch of friends hold out in a cabin until help arrives, grabbing ammo and weapons to defend against the waves of enemies that attack you, each wave increasing in size and featuring more powerful Zombie variants as extraction gets nearer. That extraction (ending the game successfully) will only come if you can keep the power on at the cabin. You'll have to manage your time well between slaying the ravenous undead trying to eat your face off and running back and forth to keep the power generator topped up with fuel.
MIA
The Day Before
The Day Before is an open-world MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game that is a cross between Tom Clancy's: The Division and DayZ. However, you would be forgiven for forgetting it even exists at all; apart from the announcement of the delay to March of this year from its previous release date of June 2022, there has been very little new information about the game, raising concern amongst fans. I'm pretty sure the game will be released this year but will it meet the high-expectation out there for a top-quality Zombie MMO? I'm not sure.
Projekt Z
This interesting sounding Zombie FPS (First-Person Shooter) is still progressing, albeit slowly and with fairly infrequent updates. The good news though is that the small independent game has secured an official publisher which may well mean development will progress a lot faster now.
Undead Citadel
I've got grave concerns about this VR game which demonstrates breathtaking melee combat with the undead. The most recent development update does show that the game was shown with a playable demo at a Steam Festival in July last year but all other updates come way back in 2020.
Taviana: The Origins
This standalone DayZ-inspired game is still in development but does anyone really care anymore?
Development of this DayZ-inspired game seems to be slowly progressing. The real question is; with the world having moved on from DayZ fever for quite a while now and the imminent arrival of a new big-budget Zombie MMO, The Day Before, does anyone really care anymore?
Urban Strife
Unlike many other games on this list, the future of Urban Strife seems clear - it is well on the road to release having a playable demo and frequent updates. I see no reason why this turn-based, resource management, Zombie-apocalypse survival game that is heavily based on the old, independent game Dead State (a game that developed quite a significant fanbase) will be released on time, in 2023.
Daymare 1994: Sandcastle
This is another one where I have no idea what is going on. This prequel to Daymare 1998 was scheduled to be released in 2022 but, as is disturbingly becoming a trend with Zombie games, there have been no new updates or reason given for the delay.
Dead Man's Country
Dead Man's Country is a very ambitious project - to make an entire Zombie MMO from scratch in the very unique setting of the wild west's gold mining era. It is also helmed by a very, very small team so, judging by their facebook page, which, by the way, has not received an update since July 2020, I'm calling it: this one is dead, never to breach the surface world, its passing marked by just another tombstone in the line of failed Zombie game projects.
Dead Matter
Another title to be concerned about is Dead Matter. Things were going seemingly smoothly following the successful kickstarter and indiegogo campaigns back in 2017. However, the small development team ran into creative direction troubles a few years ago and seem to have found it difficult to get back on track. There is progress - recent development videos show as much - but that progress is slow. Surely, the game will be at least playable in 2023, released into the fabled "Early Access", incomplete and buggy but at least something that the hundreds of backers can enjoy before a full release, in later years.
Early Access
Fargone
Undead Horde 2: Necropolis
Cepheus Protocol
SurrounDead
Undying
The Unliving
Zombie Killing Simulator
Mist Survival
Project Zomboid
7 Days to Die
The Black Masses
No More Room In Hell 2
Night of the Dead
DESCRIPTION:
2023 is blossoming into reanimated life as the annual "Preview of the Dead" article series continues. In part 2, my twisted vision is set upon the glorious of glories, Zombie games. Rest safely in your crypt's evil ones, their number far exceeds that of the disappointing movies covered in part 1.
CATEGORY:
Preview of the Dead
WRITTEN BY:
DATE UPLOADED:
08/01/2023