Day 6, Game 6 - Deadlight

I'm not going to lie, this weekend has been a pretty horrific one for me. Sure, I would have spent the same amount of time watching football that I did had I not been sick, but having the Flu of Death has not made anything done these past couple of weeks enjoyable. While I am feeling significantly better than I was, say, two days ago, I'm not near 100% by any stretch of the imagination. I'm down to all the little annoying symptoms, like running nose, severe coughing and body fatigue. When I'm not sneezing or or blowing my nose, I'm coughing, and when I'm doing any of them, my chest is hurting. Plain and simple, I still don't feel like myself, and that's all I want right now.

I know none of this has to do with gaming, and it's not the reason any of you are coming here to read this blog. But how I'm feeling tonight did impact which game I decided to play. Deadlight, an XBLA game that was released as part of the Summer of Arcade this past summer, is a unique twist on the zombie game genre. Yes, a zombie game: because that's how I have felt recently. Oh, and it takes place in rainy Seattle, which low and behold, is damn near my stomping grounds. And it rained today.

So there.

When I first got this game last summer, I was so excited for it before hand. It had a decent amount of hype surrounding it, considering it was just an XBLA game. Everything I had read and saw about it then made me feel like this was going to be just an amazing, mind-blowing gaming experience. And then I played it. And I felt then what I felt tonight, playing it. So much potential, poor execution.

Granted, I felt like a zombie tonight while playing, but I'm pretty sure that didn't hinder my experience. If anything, it should have enhanced it. But as I sit here, deciding how much further I want to play to see where the story takes me, I have to ask myself if it's worth it. I didn't finish the game back then and I really don't feel like finishing it now. It's not that Deadlight is a bad game, I just thought it would be better.

The visuals are stunning, in a grim, dirty, dark kind of way, but the puzzles are repetitive, and finding clues about the story just isn't that interesting. I think I've been spoiled with other awesome zombie games recently, so even going back to this game now, it just doesn't hold my interest.

Neat little game, just not one I can spend significant time playing. Like I said, I have better zombie games to play. Even if I might not make it to them...

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My Year of Gaming – Project Stats

Games played: 6
Systems played on: NES = 1, PS Vita = 1, PS3 = 2, WiiU = 1, Xbox 360 = 1
Total time played: 8.25 hours