THE DEAD TIMES
DEAD ARE COMING...
2022: Preview of the Dead: Part 2 - Games
Welcome back, underlords, to my annual preview articles for the new year. In this most bodacious entry, we'll be taking a look at all the delightfully deadly Zombie video games which are (hopefully) going to be gracing our monitors of dread in 2022 and, by Satan, there's a lot of them. However, don't get your hopes up just yet that, once again, the hideous undead will conquer the world of video gaming; many of the projects are lay-overs from 2021 (that may or may not have been on last year's preview list) or independent projects from small studios with shaky foundations (proving the immense popularity of Zombies in games yet also adding concern that such games may never see the light of day).
Before I get stuck in; first some ground rules...
- If a project was meant to be released last year, or just featured on last year's list, but for some heathen reason got delayed into 2022, it goes in the special MIA section.
- If it was on last year's list but in the MIA section of that list and it has not received any news in the previous year, it's not going to be in this year's preview; probably, the game will never be released anyway so no point in cluttering the list with it.
- As a bonus rule for the enigmatic world of electronic video games, projects that have entered "Early Access", on whatever platform is appropriate for them, will simply be listed. Games can stay in this state for years and, if you have not purchased the game in early access, it is very difficult to determine if a project is being frequently updated or not. That and it is draining on my undying soul to have to write a brief description on the same game, year after year.
The new stuff
The Day Before
This Zombie-survival MMO game sports some slick visuals; similar in appearance to Tom Clancy's The Division. It's fairly typical fair; scavenge abandoned buildings, cars and other wreckages for resources, craft items, find weapons, drive and repair vehicles, manage survival stats and fend off hordes of infected. With an expected release of June 21st we won't have long to wait for this one. The question is, with so many other post-apocalyptic survival MMOs out there, can The Day Before garner a high-enough audience to give it the staying power these large-scale games require?
Projekt Z
The concept for this indie game seems refreshingly original; you, playing as an allied soldier in World War II, crash land on an island occupied by the evil Nazi forces. The diabolical minions of the Third Reich are attempting to weaponise the Zombies they discovered on the island and use them to turn the tide of the war in their favour. Throughout the game, you'll learn more about this mysterious "Projekt Z", as well as other Nazi research projects. The developers have high ambitions for this title to make it more than just a 'shooter' by including a central hub where you can craft things and even build structures. Missions have a story arc but can be done in any order; doing some missions before others will have an effect on later missions. No word on a release date yet but the good news is that this game will be entirely free.
Undead Citadel
This awesome looking Virtual Reality game sees you, a medieval knight, slaying thousands of reanimated skeletons and other undead nightmares in various states of decomposition while exploring beautifully created medieval forts and castles. You'll use weapons such as swords, shields, Warhammers, maces and bows, killing with style and decapitating foes for particular score-bonuses. There will be puzzles to solve along the way as you gradually discover the origins of the plague that brings life to the dead.
Fan remake of Resident Evil: Code Veronica
This ambitious project from a small team of dedicated Resident Evil fans aims to recreate the entirety of RE: Code Veronica along the lines of Capcom's official remakes of RE 2 and RE 3. It has been on the go since 2019 and will release in three, four-hour chapters, the first of which is due to drop this year. It'll be completely free, as it is an unofficial remake, and Capcom has the power to cancel the project at any time, should they wish. For those that do not know, Code Veronica stars Claire Redfield as she continues her search for her brother, Chris, finding her way to a remote island, overrun by the Umbrella Corporation's Zombies.
Fan remake of Resident Evil
I can't quite believe it but the same team of fans bringing us the Code Veronica remake is also, this same year, bringing us a remake of the original Resident Evil (technically, it's a remake of the official remake). This one aims to transfer the entirety of RE to the same visual standard as Capcom's recent remakes of RE 2 and RE 3. The game will also add a section where you can explore the Raccoon Police Department and, some of, the Arklay Mountains before entering the mansion, which will be interesting for those already familiar with the main game. Only footage for Jill Valentine's campaign has been shown so far, but, with the amount of work the indie team have already placed on themselves, I'm sure they will get to work on Chris Redfield's campaign in the future.
Taviana: The Origins
This oddly named title is another multiplayer-focused Zombie-survival game featuring all the usual bells and whistles; base-building, detailed survival stats to manage, dynamic weather, hunting, weapons to hoard and vehicles to drive. The concept is heavily inspired by DayZ. What does sound innovative is the 'factions' system seeing players formed into different groups with different objectives. The only way to tell the members of each faction is by the uniforms they wear which is pretty neat in my opinion; no giant on-screen message ruining immersion by telling you who to shoot and who not to.
Urban Strife
Urban Strife is described as an old-school turn-based strategy set after the apocalypse with the obvious survival and role-playing game elements that entails. You send parties out on scavenging missions, fight strategically against the living dead, recruit other survivors into your rag-tag militia, brew beer and generally try to survive the 'whole end of the world' situation. To be honest, the game seems a little dated graphically. Hopefully the more original strategy-style gameplay will make this game a must have.
Daymare 1994: Sandcastle
Daymare 1994 is, rather unsurprisingly, the prequel to Daymare 1998. It appears largely the same gameplay-wise; it is still a third-person, over-the-shoulder, survival-horror game with throwbacks to the great survival-horror games of the 90s, especially Resident Evil. The game boasts about featuring some truly innovative and terrifying enemies that can come back even when you think they are dead - I'm guessing this is a nod to the Crimson Heads in Capcom's remake of Resident Evil.
Undawn
This is a mobile game so don't expect massive scale but, when it comes from the same team behind the ever-popular Player Unknown: Battlegrounds mobile variant (Tecent's Lightspeed and Quantum Studios), you can expect something better than average. From what I gather, the game takes the open-world of another of Tencent's games and fills it with disgusting Zombies to kill, loot to scavenge and vehicles to drive. The game is multiplayer focused and, thanks to its creative use of the Unreal Engine, hosts some very fancy visuals.
Dead Man's Country
This one is of particular interest to me as it goes against the norm. Ok, it's still a survival MMO game of which gamers really have enough of at this point but this one sets the action in the Wild West-era of musket balls, mines, cacti-strewn environments, and gold rush boom towns. It also features some really nice visuals.
MIA
Dying Light 2
This one is a biggie - the sequel to probably the best Zombie game of recent times. I'm sure you are all familiar with it already as the game has been delayed numerous times but essentially everything that made the first game so great returns, now beefed up to the max. In addition, the events that take place in the game world and the look of that world will be shaped by you, varying with the tasks you complete and the ones you ignore. Coming on the 4th of February, only a few more weeks to wait!
State of Decay 3
I don't know what's going on with this one; it was announced way back in July of 2020 but since then, nothing. The entirely computer-generated announcement trailer showed that the Zombie infection has jumped species into animals and that it has penetrated the frozen lands up north which is a surprisingly unique setting for a Zombie-survival and lightweight community management game. Surely release will come this year, or at least more info, otherwise State of Decay 3 is off the list.
Dead Pixels II: Straight to Video
Again, no idea what has happened to this fun little indie game sequel. It has disappeared and reanimated before so I maybe should not worry but, without an update soon, it's Hell for this one.
Resident Evil Re:Verse
I'm no-holds-barred cheating here as this game was not on the preview list at all last year; it being announced later in the year as the multiplayer component of Capcom's Resident Evil 8: Village. However, as you'll know RE 8 was released a while ago now (and to rave reviews, I might add) but Resident Evil Re:Verse is nowhere to be seen, nor does it even have a firm release date. From the news that came out last year, this multiplayer-only game was plagued with technical issues, forcing Capcom to delay the project. RE does not have a great history with multiplayer spin-offs of its games so here's hoping 2022 will see the release of a winner.
Scheming Through The Zombie Apocalypse Episode 2: Caged
Episode 2 of this adult cartoon game about talking animals having to survive a Zombie apocalypse without ever having to actually get their hands dirty seems to be stuck in limbo. The game has seen delay after delay and still has the awful "Coming Soon" tag. Will this game ever come out?
The House of the Dead remake
Development on the remake of The House of the Dead is, I assume, continuing steadily. The Switch-exclusive game was officially revealed back in April 2021 and appears to be a sizable remaster with new graphics, more detailed enemies and multiple different endings. I am still at a loss as to how it actually plays without a true lightgun in your hands - we might have to wait a while to find out too as no release date has been confirmed.
Dead Matter
This indie game, coming from a successful kickstarter campaign, has seen a struggling development with major delays. Supposed to have reached Early Access by now, the company making the game - Quantum Integrity Software Inc. - decided to delay your first glimpse of the Canadian-set Zombie apocalypse until later this year.
Dead Island 2
Just like the restless dead themselves, Dead Island 2 is one game that just won't stay dead. If you don't know the long-winded story by now, you're better off not knowing; the 2014-announced game has been through the worst possible development hell imaginable. The small titbit of news keeping this fateful project on the list this year is that the game is very strongly rumoured to be an Epic Games Store exclusive - whether true or not, at this point seems irrelevant as there is still no concrete evidence the game even exists.
Early Access
Undying
The Unliving
Zombie Killing Simulator
Mist Survival
Project Zomboid
7 Days to Die
The Black Masses
No More Room In Hell 2
DESCRIPTION:
This is the second part of the legendary preview articles for 2022. This time round the graveyard of future doom, my piercing gaze is fixed upon the video games - those fiendish abominations of electrical splendour.
CATEGORY:
Preview of the Dead
WRITTEN BY:
DATE UPLOADED:
23/01/2022