During my playthrough of Deadlight, I was wondering about the identity of this game. Zombies have been a part of several video games over the years, so the question was whether Deadlight could do something new with an established trope. After completing the game, I feel that it doesn't.

Deadlight places a strong emphasis on the narrative. You play as Randall, a man travelling through the apocalyptic wasteland in search of his family. It's relatable enough, but also a tired trope. The game doesn't do much to distinguish Randall or his journey from countless others.

Mechanically, the game is a 2.5D platformer with left-to-right progression. There are some flashes of brilliance in the gameplay - the occasional backtracking to approach a room through a different route, having to solve a puzzle while being pestered by zombies, and a general tenseness to combat. However, the larger experience is extremely fiddly. As one example, water valves can be activated if you're standing to the left or right, but not from the front. Another example is the precise running leap - there's nothing more demoralizing than watching your character die because you jumped while you were one feet away from the edge. Add to that a checkpoint system - you get thrown back to an earlier position when you die - and the gameplay just saps itself devoid of any kind of joy.

Visually, the game is pretty great. Gameplay levels capture the desolate look of the city nicely, and the cutscenes are stylized comic panels that lend themselves well to the story. Audio and music were serviceable, but I can't remember anything memorable about them.

There is an exclusive item in the Director's Cut - an alternate ending to the game. I looked this up on YouTube, and was floored by it. It recasts the whole experience into an even grimmer tone, and I would have loved to see it as the primary narrative. I'm not saying that it magically fixes all of the game's narrative issues, but simply that it felt like a more potent story.

In a nutshell, Deadlight is a game that can't quite carve out an identity for itself. It pulls inspiration from several excellent sources, but ultimately remains a brief and shallow experience on its own.

At the end of Deadlight, you get a message saying ‘You have unlocked the nightmare mode!’

Honestly, I thought I was already in it.

I really wanted to like this game. For the first 30 mins or so, I actually did. This post-apocalyptic 2.5D side-scrolling that mixes elements of puzzle solving, platforming and survival horror caught my eye for its aesthetic and potential, and on the visual side it mostly delivered. Deadlight comes with an impressively crafted bleak atmosphere, really conveying the sense of a true post-apocalyptic world run by monsters and madness. It has this comic book feel to it (especially in the cutscenes), a style I’m not always fond of but that I definitely enjoyed here. There’s only one problem with the art design, which is that the colour palette is so dark that it often made it almost too difficult to see, adding this layer of artificial challenge as you try to navigate your way through the threats. I suppose this is no small caveat, but on the whole, Deadlight is still an impressive looking game. I also thought environmental storytelling was very well done, giving you a proper sense of the world, its characters, and how dark and miserable it all turned out.

Everything else, however, makes the game fall apart in a somewhat spectacular way, even for an indie.

My main issue with Deadlight is its obscene amount of instant death areas. There are so many times where you reach an area and you’re already dead before you even have a second to think, forcing you into this dragged out section repeating pattern. Now that doesn’t have to be an issue by itself, but the problem is that barely any of the mechanics reach the level of polish they need to in order to make these sections enjoyable and, at times, even fair. Platforming isn’t exactly refined which sucks especially in the fast-paced segments, shooting is passable but melee is clunky and a bit unresponsive, and the controls aren’t overall as tight as they should be. This leads to several ‘for fuck’s sake’ moments’ that are anything but fun, with the game essentially devolving into a trial and error loop that makes you die a lot more than you needed to. Add to this some uninspired sound design (the effects are often glitchy, and the voice acting is way too formulaic and borderline off-putting), and the end result is an unremarkable experience that I sadly can’t recommend.

Like I said, I really wanted to like this game, and the atmosphere-obsessed part of me really dug it for a while. But ultimately, Deadlight has too many issues for its own good considering what it asks of the player. There are some cool ideas here, but the lack of mechanical polish across the board was a pain to deal with even in a 5hr playthrough. Maybe the PC version is better, but for my own experience, I can’t say that, on the whole, this game stands out in any meaningful way. 5/10.

A 2.5d zombie platformer that is just a license away from being a Walking Dead game. Essentially it plays like a platformer but it's 3d rendered.

Visually it's not bad. Some of the scenery is quite well done with a lot of depth. It's pretty gray and grim - a standard zombie abandoned world. Cut scenes are done in a comic like style that remind the Walking Dead comic a lot. Basically if you're into Walking Dead - you'll be right at home. If you'd slap a Walking Dead franchise on it - no one would be surprised.

As for story. Well it's a classic walking dead story. A world swallowed by zombies and a guy on a mission to find his family learning along the way that that the zombies are not the worst in the world - it's the people.

Honestly I didn't think I've had enough of zombies but after playing this game I think I do. The story was predictable to certain point and just felt like a hundred other zombie stories - really did not get me invested in it.

As for game play. It works and plays fine. However the game can't seem to find a spot for itself - it's a classic platformer at time, a shooting plarformer on other occasions and a puzzle solving one at times. But the transition between them somehow doesn't work. The platforming is fine but not really to enjoying - the controls does not feel all to responsive. The puzzles are either easy or dull or both. The shooting part was fine as well but nothing too special.

Overall there is something missing I can't quite pin point that could have made this game way better. I've found myself most of the times just pushing forward without any interest in the world or any real joy of progression. A bit disappointed as I've expected a bit more from this game.

A note - also did encounter a bug where could not progress further without cheesing my way through a certain level and almost threw my controller in anger - which might have added a bit to the overall disappointment.

This game is a side-scrolling cinematic platformer set in a bleak, post-apocalyptic 1986 Seattle overrun by zombies, referred to as "shadows." The MC is called Randall Wayne, a survivor searching for his family amidst the ruins. The game stands out for its moody, silhouetted art style and environmental storytelling, evoking a strong Limbo-meets-Prince of Persia vibe.

While its atmosphere and visuals are striking, the gameplay can feel stiff, and the platforming occasionally clunky. It’s a short experience, but one that delivers a somber and visually memorable journey. As already said, the standout really is the visuals, which was what made me want to play it, though, everything else is pretty much only decent enough I'd say, overall a good platformer.

As for the narrative, it leans heavily into quiet despair rather than action-driven storytelling. Much of the MC's past and the state of the world are revealed through journals, background details, and sparse dialogue, which helps reinforce the feeling of isolation. It doesn’t always land with emotional impact, but there’s a grounded, human tone to the writing that fits the setting well, making the journey feel personal despite its limited scope.

Mechanically, it clearly favors tension over power fantasy, combat is deliberately limited and often awkward by design, encouraging avoidance and careful movement instead of direct confrontation. This can be frustrating at times, especially when paired with imprecise controls, but it also strengthens the survivalist tone. In the end, this title feels like a game best appreciated for its mood and presentation rather than its mechanics, a flawed but atmospheric experience that leaves a lasting visual impression.