Topic: DEAD PIXELS -XBLIG - Great fun for a buck!!

[Vampire Killer]

At first glance Dead Pixels looks kinda boring. Zombie games, especially on XBLIG are a dime a dozen. But I decided to give it a try anyway, considering that it's only $1 (80msp), and that I might be pleasantly surprised.

And pleasantly surprised I was. Dead Pixels is a great little game, that plays almost like an 8bit version of Left 4 Dead.

 
  GRAPHICS

     Graphically the game looks like River City Ransom mixed with 8bit Mega Man's art style. By that I mean that the playable character, as well as the zombies, look somewhat like remastered Mega Man sprites. The overall presentation comes across as very 70's, possibly meant to emulate an oldschool b-movie zombie flick. The animation, while simplistic, is well done.

  GAMEPLAY

     Think Left 4 Dead, mixed with River City Ransom. There are shops to buy and sell weapons, ammo, and other items in. There are 3 basic gun types in the game. Shotguns, rifles and handguns, and automatics. Of these several varieties exist. For instance, you start out the game with a single barrel, pump-action shotgun. Fairly soon though, you can find or buy a double barrel shotgun (and possibly even a quad barrel if you're lucky). Each gun type has different brand names attached, with different stats depending on brand name. Basically, every gun type (save for the few select and rare varieties, like the minigun or flamethrower, of which there is only one of) has several different varieties, the more powerful of which you will find closer to the end of the game.

The object of the game is to get through a set number of blocks (portion of street or mall). That's it. How you do this, either by dodging and weaving through the mass of zombies, or by killing them, is entirely up to you. There are many items that can help you along the way, like health packs to regain health, adrenaline to temporarily increase speed, and there's even a firework (a ground mounted roman candle I think) which can be used to distract the horde.

The zombies themselves have a lot of variety as well, making strategic gameplay a necessity. Some are fast, others slow. Some can take only one shot to kill, others MANY. And while you can, for most of the game, do more running than fighting (at least at the beginning of the game) to get by, some areas have a mega zomibe which must be killed before you're allowed to progress, thus making them into quasi-boss battles.

Point being, watching the trailer for this didn't make me want to buy it. It looked boring and simplistic. It's not. Five minutes after playing the demo, I bought it.

Oh, and it even has co-op.
 

  MUSIC

     Not much to say here. It's not bad, it's not great. It works for what it is. Importantly, at no time did I find the music annoying. The music within the shops is actually soothing, being a rendition of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.


  STORY

     The game appears, like Castlevania games of old, to take place within a movie. Only the movie in question for this game is an 70's/80's b-movie zombie flick, instead of a 50's monster movie.


  SUGGESTIONS

1) Go buy this!!! No, really, GO FEK'IN BUY THIS!!!. It's only $1, and it's great fun!

2) Play it on HARD!

3) Make sure you turn the INTERMISSION, within the options menu, to ON!! It's funny, and does a great job of keeping within a drive-in b-movie vibe.

4) Keep the film grain ON as well.



Anyhoo, GO BUY THIS!! It's not only a great little game for $1, it's a great little game, period!

The devs have even said that if they reach 4000 sales, they will make some FREE DLC add-ons, offering more areas. I would love to see more of this game, especially for FREE!

[JR]

This is probably the best $1 indie game I've played on the Live Marketplace. Played it on Normal, so I was basically godlike toward the end of the game, and mostly dashed through the areas.

[Vampire Killer]

Glad that someone else bought this, game deserves to be bought.

As far XBLIG go, it's pretty high up there, quite possibly at the top.

Try playing on hard, it's a more enjoyable experience. And make sure you turn the INTERMISSION to ON in the options menu.


GOOD NEWS EVERYBODY!!

The 4000 sales goal has been met, and the first installment of free DLC is being produced. So already, we are getting more bang for our $1.

The next goal is 10,000 sales, with more free DLC being the prize.

Seriously, anyone who enjoys this game needs to start spreading the word. The more people that buy this, the more free stuff we get.