Thanks to Headup Games we could test their Zombie-Hack&Slay-Game Trapped Dead Lockdown. This game is made by the portuguese studio Bigmoon Interactive.

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Let us begin with the story. The developers have keep it simple: The earth is plagued by undead zombies, who have made popular cities uninhabitable. Military and other official factions have tried to get the situation under control. You play one of the five characters in this chaos, which each of them have their own reasons to leave the bloody city. The game has not the deepest story. It has not quiet interesting animated paintings who introduce players into the story, also rare dialogues that are only addressed to the specific mission and a narrative that seems equal over a long distances. On the other hand, because of this the game gets this great B-Movie-Atmosphere and we like it that the developers have the courage to try something new. We think that this is what pushes the games industry forward: ‘To try something new’. Games should not been build only because of a great story. The gameplay is more important for many players than what happens with the characters.

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Let’s talk about the level design. We would prefer if we could turn or zoom into the scenes. But this is nothing that have to be. It is also not possible in other great Hack&Slay games. We could say now, that the character-designs, the animations and the effects are not on the current standard of today’s games but we think that you should take a look at jadoRendr’s Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic Review. Pixel Heroes is a 8-Bit looking RPG but we had a lot of of whit it, too. We also think that you should not compare Trapped Dead Lockdown too much to other games. We noticed that the developers wanted that this game looks like a 80s B-Movie and they have achieved it at the most time.

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Let’s take a look at the gameplay. This is more important for us if developers try to do something new with the design. Everyone of the five characters, that means, for the Exorcist, Marine, Butcher, Marshall and the Hitman, have their own development tree. This is splitted in Melee-Attacks, Ranged-Attacks, Defense and Passive-Behaviour. We like that every single character has his own style of playing, for example, the Exorcist tries to keep with his spiritual attacks the enemies away while the Butcher likes more to fight in a close combat style. We wished this game would have more different weapons which we could find or bye at the dealer. On the other hand, every character can use only certain weapons. That means that you have to think about how you attack and how you move forward. Like in many other games you can sell not useful gear or repair weapons etc. at the dealer, which is very useful if you play the game with three other players in co-op.

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The combat system is like in other Hack&Slay games very simple, but the developers have included a little surprise. Not only players can use the two weapons you have in the hands. It is also possible to use them separately from each other. This allows players for example to use a weapon in one hand, to shoot enemies from the distance and to use a machete with the other one, to attack them if they are close. It is also possible to use healing stuff without a need of a break. We wished that the enemies would attack us in more different ways. Because of this we had a tactic of playing that keep us alive for a long time very soon.

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Trapped Dead Lockdown gives us also the opportunity to drive with a car through zombie-hordes. We wished that the enemies would have more influence with their attacks on the car. This should be changed with the next patch. If the zombies would do more damage on the car, would not stay in line to drive them over and for example cling on the car, it would be more challenging. We think that the developer wanted to include with this a funny element.

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Let’s summarize! We think that the developers take the game too seriously. This game includes a ‘zombie-apocalypse’ and if they want to design the game like a 80s B-Movie, just do it. The game misses the humor and some allusions on classic horror-movies. The games design is not the best one, but this is not very important for us, too. We like it that the developers tries to create something new. The gameplay is simple but solid. We had a lot of fun with this Zombie-Hack&Slay-Game and it was a lot of more fun to play it with friends in co-op. For the price of 19.99€ you could give the game a try but we have to say, it is not a game for everyone. Because of the developers try to mix a special design with a little bit modified but known gameplay, it is nothing special that this game is not perfect from the beginning on. So, it is up to you to get it or not.

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