Dead Meets Lead

"Players can expect a fairly straight forward action game."

Developer: Keldyn Interactive
Publisher:  Keldyn Interactive
Release Date: May 3, 2011
Platform(s): PC
Genre: Action, Horror


We’re back once again with the whole ‘zombies equal gold’ method! It’s amazing that Hello Kitty hasn’t jumped on the zombie train yet, as every other developer in the world is scrambling to implement the undead in their game. In any case, this time the rotting fiends will pollute the tropical paradise of the 18^th century Carribean. It’s not quite Sid Meier’s Pirates unfortunately, as Dead Meets Lead is fairly straight forward in what it wants to accomplish: killing the already deceased.
 

Dead Meets Lead welcomes you to the hell of The Challenge.
 

Newly found Swedish developer Keldyn Interactive gives players the chance to live this tropical nightmare through the eyes of The Captain, who seems to have caught the wrong cruise liner to hell. In this isometric action game, the goal will simply be to destroy and outlive many, many enemies by shooting them with a powerful shotgun blast or alternating to a melee weapon. Just like the top-down classics such as Smash TV or the recent Dead Nation, there isn’t a whole lot of depth to be found in the game. Rather, it’s the constant action and rumbling threat of oncoming waves that seeks to keep the excitement going.

To survive, The Captain can switch between weapons, but can also use an alternative attack as he builds up his rage. These special attacks can create new and more powerful strikes to block or decimate waves of foes. Zombies also hint at individual attacks, with some throwing ensnaring nets to immobilize the player. This creates an additional difficulty to overcome adversity, as mobility is key to survival. Other than that however, Dead Meets Lead will play out fairly much like any other survival game in the genre. It’s shoot, slash, kill, repeat; which is fun, but it doesn’t offer a lot more to pack a punch. At least the difficulty itself is spicy enough and the action well-paced, so playing is exciting enough in its shallowness.
 

There! A good dozen undead un-undeaded. Now to rela...son of a...!
 

Also well-implemented is the overall world of Dead Meets Lead. With a clear and crisp look, there is a surprising amount of detail to be found in the Caribbean terrains and a lot of hand painted menus add an artsy touch to the 18^th century feel of the game. A minimalistic interface and control scheme offer up a lot of space to center on a clear overview, which helps anticipate attacks.

Unfortunately, the line isn’t drawn through entirely, as the survival mode is extremely limited, with instant malaria coming and going as The Captain oversteps his bounds. Additionally, the terrains shown use a fairly monotone brown and green color scheme. With a tropical setting, a lot more paradisiac sceneries could’ve been used other than the murky swamps of these exotic depths. There’s also a lot of rehashing with textures and enemies, though that’s a minor detail that is easily overlooked as the action draws the attention away from these small issues. A bigger detail is the strange animation from The Captain, which always runs around as if at robot soccer practice. With only a handful of animations for attacks and an unnaturally high hiking of his legs, the protagonist’s silliness is something players can’t overlook.
 

 

In general, players can expect a fairly straight forward action game from Dead Meets Lead. There’s a little merger of action RPG and survival shooter with upgrading special attacks and melee weapons to slash through hordes. Other than that, there isn’t a lot different to this game, except the setting. It’s hard to see what Dead Meets Lead will throw on the table to create a face for itself, but fans of Smash TV and other splatter series can start paying attention already. It’s basically what Pirates of the Caribbean would be if not created by Disney, but by George Romero (not to be confused with John Romero). Even Disney is using the undead these days; they truly are everywhere.

Keldyn Interactive offers a taste of what the game will be with The Challenge, free for everyone to try. Dead Meets Lead will invade the world on May 3, 2011 on PC.

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Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed. (@Daavpuke)